White Fire

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrated by: Rene Auberjonois

Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Past and present collide in Preston and Child's most thrilling novel ever....

Special Agent Pendergast arrives at an exclusive Colorado ski resort to rescue his protégée, Corrie Swanson, from serious trouble with the law. His sudden appearance coincides with the first attack of a murderous arsonist who - with brutal precision - begins burning down multimillion-dollar mansions with the families locked inside. After springing Corrie from jail, Pendergast learns she made a discovery while examining the bones of several miners who were killed 150 years earlier by a rogue grizzly bear. Her finding is so astonishing that it, even more than the arsonist, threatens the resort's very existence.

Drawn deeper into the investigation, Pendergast uncovers a mysterious connection between the dead miners and a fabled, long-lost Sherlock Holmes story - one that might just offer the key to the modern day killings as well.

Now, with the ski resort snowed in and under savage attack - and Corrie's life suddenly in grave danger - Pendergast must solve the enigma of the past before the town of the present goes up in flames.

©2013 Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

“Narrator René Auberjonois is perfection as he portrays the rip-roaring assortment of Preston and Child's over-the-top characters... Auberjonois's cool persona is ideal for the black-suited mystery-man Pendergast. As Corrie, he's a hard-headed 20-something who won't be bullied. A sadistic serial arsonist, a beleaguered sheriff, wizened miners, and 'old money' interests give Auberjonois plenty of opportunities to dazzle.” (AudioFile Magazine)

"Sherlock Holmes fans will relish Preston and Child's 13th novel featuring eccentric FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast (after 2012's Two Graves), one of their best in this popular series...easily stands on its own with only passing references to Pendergast's complex backstory." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"Another highly entertaining and genuinely thrilling story from Preston & Child starring their romantic, faintly gothic, and always mysterious FBI agent, Aloysius Pendergast. As always the prose is elegant, replete with exquisite descriptions, and this time we're treated to dashes of historic characters Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde, as well as a positively delicious serving of the great Sherlock Holmes. Through myriad shocks, surprises, twists and turns, the suspense never lets up. Great fun to the last page." (Anne Rice)

Totally Engrossing!!!

I lost myself in this one totally! All aspects of my life came to a stop because this became more real and more exciting then almost any of his others and they're all open really wonderful.

Gripping!

Lincoln and Childs, a co-authors perfect match. Another tale of suspense, twists and gripping detail!

The time just flew by. Take a chance.

My first Preston and Child book and definitely not my last. From the first couple of pages, I was drawn into the most well-paced story filled with clever dialogue and supporting characters. In some ways, it reminded me of a Nancy Drew mystery mixed with Sherlock Holmes.

A few other authors should take a page from these two when it comes to incorporating subplots. There were a few but they never distracted from the primary story, in fact, they added depth to it.

The book was almost perfect, except you could tell they needed to wrap things up because the pieces of the mystery just started to synch up out of the blue. Normally, this would have been annoying except for the fact I just enjoyed the characters and the journey. You really feel like you are a part of the community in the story.

The narration was PERFECT!

It's time to listen to the next book. I'm glad there is more Pendergast!

Great book to take a chance on.

The best!!

Agree with prior comments that this is the best of the entire series!

(not covered in the Epilogue - what happened to the the multibillion foundation? Did the assassin ID his handler?)

A great page-turner

This was a fun AXL Pendergast book. Some old characters and some new.
Definitely a page turner.

Corrie makes a great heroine!

P&C could spin Corrie off in her own series. This is much more a Corrie Swanson novel sprinkled with just enough Pendergast. After the roller coaster Helen Trilogy's climax in the last book, this one is more a stand alone "in-between" book to sate fans of the series. it's very reminiscent of Still Life With Crows in that respect. There are short nods to past characters and events, but none play a particularly important role here, as the plot is self-contained.

That plot and the telling of the story are a perfect winter's tale revolving around a strong, smart, young heroine and a series of strange and horrific events that build to create the mystery she must unravel. As with all Pendergast stories, this one is replete with history and charm, action, and downright horror.

I enjoyed the book, because Miss Swanson is delightful and worthy of being Pendergast's protege, and the mystery is nail biting, but I kept looking for more of the overall Pendergast universe to appear.

The talents of the authors are present from the first work

As a long time fan of agent Pendergast I enjoyed the book, I listened to the Audible version and as usual the narration is so good! My only question is "how the heck do these two men think up all the stuff they put in all their books?" Good characters, good writing, keeps ones interest wondering what Amazing feat Pendergast will come up with next. Enjoy for yourself especially if this is your first meeting with Agent P.

One of the best from Preston and Child !

Despite the negative reviews,we see quite a bit of a.x.l Pendergast.it is one the books i enjoyed the most from these authors and the narrator is really excellent,it would be nice to see him narrate more mystery stories.Corrie swanson is still rushing into danger but meets very interesting friends.the paralel between 1876 and present and the lost sherlock holmes story makes for a great book;one of their top 5 ,even better then ``Riptide`` and close to the ``reliquery`` in my opinion.

A run of the mill Pendergast story

Any additional comments?

A bit different story than the typical Pendergast series, it brings a former character Corrie Swanson to the forefront as the main character. Interesting, unexpected turns and predictable at times, it's likely to appeal to a broader audience than the typical Pendergast-focused book. Abandon historical and quasi-supernatural story lines and think crime drama.

compelling

Hard to stop listening. Good story with plenty of plot twists. extremely well read. Just a few moments where you have to suspend belief otherwise would have been a 5 star rating