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The Wheel of Darkness  By  cover art

The Wheel of Darkness

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Narrated by: Rene Auberjonois
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Publisher's summary

FBI Agent Pendergast has taken Constance on a whirlwind Grand Tour, hoping to give her closure and a sense of the world that she's missed. They head to Tibet, where Pendergast intensively trained in martial arts and spiritual studies. At a remote monastery, they learn that a rare and dangerous artifact the monks have been guarding for generations has been mysteriously stolen. Pendergast agrees to take up the search.

The trail leads him and Constance to the maiden voyage of the Queen Victoria, the world's largest and most luxurious passenger liner - and to an Atlantic crossing fraught with terror.

Investigate more of Agent Pendergast's cases.
©2007 Splendide Mendax, Inc. and Lincoln Child (P)2007 Hachette Audio

What listeners say about The Wheel of Darkness

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Story
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Answer to two of the questions you might have ...

If you are an incarnated Preston/Child fan, you are most likely asking yourself: “Is it of the same quality as the Brimstone trilogy?”

The short answer to this question is: Absolutely!

It is yet another unputdownable page-turner from the dynamic Preston/Child duo – that seems to continue to write mega-hits together. In my opinion, they are much better together than when they write solo.

If you listen to this book while commuting to work, please be advised that you will find yourself sitting in the parking lot to hear “just one more chapter” after you have arrived.

This is how a thriller should be.

Your second question might be: “What were they thinking, when they decided NOT to use Scott Brick as the narrator?” In that case, I have more good news: Rene Auberjonois does a tremendous job.

I hope you will enjoy this audio book as much as I did.

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71 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome!

This book takes all of the overused words and phrases that critics use to describe great books and breathes new life and meaning into them: awesome, page-turner, action-packed, unique,imaginative, mind-blowing, couldn't put it down, two-thumbs up, not-to-be-missed. . .well, you get the idea. In short, this book is fantastic!!! So is the narrator! Over the years, Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston have consistently enthralled me with their great stories--this one though, I think, is their best. After finishing this book, I realized that I now consider these two to be my all-time favorite writers--topping my other perennial favorite authors such as Clive Cussler, Issac Asimov, David Baldacci, Jeffery Deaver, James Patterson, and John Ludlum, to name a few. DON'T MISS LISTENING TO THIS AUDIBLE BOOK!

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Just Plain Silly

To begin, I'm a big fan; I've read or listened to virtually everything Preston and/or Child have/has written. Additionally, I have the utmost ability to "suspend my disbelief" and go along for the ride. Try as I might, though, I couldn't accept the silly premise, the structure, the surprisingly bad writing, or the new narrator.

From the beginning, Preston/Child left their tried and true formula of bringing us a shocking event and then leading us to a face-to-face encounter with what we fear. Instead, we glide into the story at an unhurried pace and never find the emotional energy to care about what unfolds.

Without giving anything away, the preposterous scenes aboard ship -- everything from physics to emotional verisimilitude are toyed with -- left me groaning. Oddly, the supposed scientific basis for the central horror is actually introduced in the epilogue. By that point it was far too late.

Plot structure isn't the only weak element. Even the writing-editing is faulty. Occasional misuse of the language is a tiny complaint compared to the consistent derogatory portrayal of all of the elderly characters. Preston/Child never miss an opportunity to describe the distasteful appearance of "sagging" older characters. This juvenile perspective made me wonder if P/C let their kids write some of the chapters.

And it didn't help that a "new" narrator has been brought on board. He's a fine reader -- even a decent voice actor -- but when there is no new ground broken in Agent Pendergast's character, one can at least hope for a familiar New Orleans drawl to make it OK.

Skip this one.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Double Whammy

This book is a "two-fer"; a murder mystery wrapped in a disaster on the high seas. Both are developed with precision and detail. The plot moves like an Olympic sprinter! I couldn't wait to resume listening each time I had to stop. It took less than five days to finish, that's how good it is.

Highly recommended.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, fantastic storytelling

I agree with Jerry from Philly. I think fans of Lincoln and Child have come to expect, and appreciate, the bizarre story lines and eccentric characters in the Pendergast stories. This is a first-rate novel with all the twists, turns, surprises and cliffhangers expected from this type of novel. This is the first time I have experienced one of these books on audio, and Rene Auberjonois did an outstanding job of narration. His grasp of the Pendergast personality is amazing, his acting skills superb, and his mastery of the language of these novels without sounding pretentious makes for enjoyable listening. As much as I like reading these novels, I doubt I will ever again buy the hardback if Mr. Auberjonois is narrating. I am sorry I missed his previous readings. An outstanding audiobook! (Somebody who has actually listened to, or read, the book may want to edit the Publisher Summary.)

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

This one exciting...

I've been a fan of DP & LC since they came out with Relic and Mount Dragon, but have gotten a little bored with them. The Wheel of Darkness totally makes up for this and, even though the title doesn't make enough sense to me, I found the novel terrifying. Who doesn't want to see an evil Pendergast? Who didn't want to see more of our friend Constance? The plot gets a little hairy in regard to closure, but you've got to grant some credit for style-the evil force in this one is some serious charming bad mojo. As a side, I thought Rene A did a great job, but his female voices were a) a little manly for me and b) sounded mostly the same, although with a large expendible cast, who wouldn't say that? He's a good reader, you just have to give him some time and dedication.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Agent Pendergast Friend For Life

Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child are the writing team of the century. If you have yet to read any of their collaborative works, your in for a real treat. They take the reader to the ends of the earth in vivid Technicolor style writing.

If your new to the Agent Pendergast series start with “The Dance Of Death” then “The Book of The Dead” and finish with“ “The Wheel of Darkness” to complete this unbelievable 35 hours of bone chilling, edges of your seat entertainment that you will not soon forget. Pendergast along with other colorful characters will become your friends for life and even if you take a break between novels each book picks up where the other leaves off.

Thank you Douglas and Lincoln for helping me get thru the day, and allowing me to lose myself and travel with you, wherever you decide to go.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Best Pendergast So Far

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was a little bit mysticism, a little bit police procedural, a little bit disaster movie. I started listening last night and finished this afternoon. I put off buying this book because the publisher's review made is sound sort of frivolous and societyish but that was misleading. There weren't any boring parts and I didn't want to stop listening. If I had been reading the book I'm sure I would have read until it was finished last night. Sometimes I get frustrated because Audible books are so much slower than when I read and my mind can drift. In this case I was sorry to have it end so soon.

Rene Auberjonois (now I know how to pronounce his name) did an excellent job of narration. I could distinguish voices, and I wasn't put off when he did female voices. He has a nice smooth voice that was pleasing to listen to and easy to understand.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A good (not great) story - bad narrator

This wasn't the best in the series so far, but it was a good story. The biggest problem with the audiobook is the narrator who has a voice that just puts you to sleep. Scott Brick does a much better job than Rene Auberjonois as a narrator for the "Pendergast" novels.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not my favorite Pendergast story

Pendergast meets Poseidon Adventure !!! ..... I'm a big Pendergast fan but this one ranks down the list IMO. I just could not get into this one. Maybe I miss D'gosta and Nora and the rest of TeamPendegast ??

I was glad when it was over and I can move on to the next one.

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8 people found this helpful