Crooked River

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Preston & Child, Agent Pendergast is faced with the most inexplicable challenge of his career when severed feet are found floating in the Gulf of Mexico.

A startling crime with dozens of victims.

To the horror of the quiet resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida, dozens of shoes wash up on the tropical beach—each one with a crudely severed human foot inside.

A ghastly enigma with no apparent solution.

Called away from vacation, Agent Pendergast reluctantly agrees to visit the crime scene and is quickly drawn in by the incomprehensible puzzle. An early pathology report only adds to the mystery. He desperately needs to know: are the victims still alive?

A worthy challenge for a brilliant mind.

Through shocking twists and turns, all trails lead back to a powerful adversary with a sadistic agenda and who—in a cruel irony—ultimately sees in Pendergast the ideal subject for their malevolent research.

Critic reviews

Praise for CROOKED RIVER
"Exciting. Nail-biting. Quality storytelling."—Publishers Weekly

"[An] action-filled adventure [...] There is plenty of suspense, and the action gets bloody. Great storytelling, a quirky hero, and a quirkier plot make this a winner for adventure fans."—Kirkus

"Preston and Child know how to craft compelling stories that are both baffling and surprising. The cast of characters feels authentic and moves the story forward in unexpected ways.... the authors are masters of the procedural with a gothic flair."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Associated Press

"[Pendergast] still remains the most charming, intelligent, cool, and creepy agent ever written...Read this. As fast as possible. Preston & Child have once again created the unimaginable and you just can't miss it!"—Suspense Magazine

"Agent Pendergast is back and better than ever."—The Real Book Spy

"Red herrings and dead ends abound in this especially intricately plotted entry in the Pendergast series, which is also noteworthy (as usual) for its finely drawn characters and its writing style, which overlays contemporary storytelling with a light ornate flavoring."—Booklist

"The best mystery series going today. Preston and Child display a true masters' touch. This is riveting reading entertainment of the highest order."—Providence Journal

"Fast moving and [...] tense. . . Crooked River is another great entry in this series. Preston and Child keep them coming, don't they?"—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}New York Journal of Books

"Crooked River by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child combines a sinister global threat, a mystery suing modern medical science, and a powerful, sadistic antagonist. Who better than to combat these but unorthodox FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast...This compelling story moves forward in unexpected ways. Readers will enjoy going on a journey with Pendergast and company."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}Crimespree

"CROOKED RIVER is worth the price of admission, and Preston & Child find themselves with another surefire hit on their hands."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}Bookreporter

"An incredible adventure."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}NJ.com

BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!

I love Pendergast, Constance and Moon - strong characters that have become real. The three prong plot made it extremely interesting. Mays is an excellent reader. I can’t wait for the next book to come out.

Pendergast returns

A mysterious occurrence washes ashore over 100 identical green shoes...complete with amputated feet still in them.

The FBI calls on Agent Pendergast to "have a look ".
What follows is one of Pendergasts farthest reaching and most violent cases.
He is assisted by his junior partner, Agent Coldmoon, Constance Greene, Roger Smithback, and assorted others.

This is, as I said, a violent story. The nature of the crime and the backgrounds of the people involved, requires this. As a result, we have Agent Pendergast: Action Hero ".

Along the way we learn more about Agent Coldmoon, who I believe will be headlining his own title soon. We also see Constance Greene in full on bad ass mode. (Absolutely no one should EVER get on her bad side).

We don't see much of Pendergasts usual unorthodox methods (mind palaces and the like) but we still get to watch him run his investigation in his own unique style.

A fun read that was difficult to put down. Recommended!

Note: Jefferson May's does a fine job performing the book. He is an excellent choice as the new voice of the Pendergast books.

Love the new suits

First off I would like to give credit to Jefferson Mays for stepping in to Rene Auberjonois shoes with great respect for his predecessor's work. You can tell he worked very hard to keep the voices similar to what we listeners have grown accustomed to, and he did a very outstanding job.
As for the book, it was classic Pendergast, sporting a new look for most of the novel, although I did keep thinking of Anthony Hopkins in that final scene of "Silence of the Lambs."
Aloysius and Constance are trying for a retreat, when they are interrupted by a new case involving feet in identical, generic shoes floating ashore Sanibel Island. It ultimately involves old colleagues and interesting new ones (that just don't know what to think of the Agent), finding themselves in mortal danger the closer they get to solving the mystery. As the usual scenario goes, there are two mysteries going on, this time with Constance seeking out the ghost of a haunted mansion.
My only complaint could be the Agent showing more flaws than the Pendergast we've grown accustomed to. I like the somewhat super human of past books, that seemed to have been gradually replaced by Constance. All and all, the book was well worth my time.

Engaging story, as always

The story kept me engaged. I was a little disappointed with the change of narrators, but Jefferson Mays did a fine job.

Very interesting mystery!

Loved it! The plot and ending were a complete surprise. A quick read for sure.