Fever Dream

By: Lincoln Child, Douglas Preston

Narrated by: Rene Auberjonois

Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

At the old family manse in Louisiana, Special Agent Pendergast is putting to rest long-ignored possessions reminiscent of his wife Helen's tragic death, only to make a stunning - and dreadful - discovery. Helen had been mauled by an unusually large and vicious lion while they were big game hunting in Africa. But now, Pendergast learns that her rifle - her only protection from the beast - had been deliberately loaded with blanks. Who could have wanted Helen dead...and why?

With Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta's assistance, Pendergast embarks on a quest to uncover the mystery of his wife's murder. It is a journey that sends him deep into her past where he learns much that Helen herself had wished to keep hidden. Helen Pendergast had nursed a secret obsession with the famed naturalist-painter John James Audubon, in particular a long-lost painting of his known as the Black Frame.

As Pendergast probes more deeply into the riddle - the answer to which is revealed in a night of shocking violence, deep in the Louisiana bayou - he finds himself faced with an even greater question: who was the woman he married?

©2010 Lincoln Child (P)2010 Hachette

Critic reviews

"Once again, the bestselling authors show they have few peers at creating taut scenes of suspense. Their restraint in the book's early sections make the payoffs all the more compelling." ( Publishers Weekly)

Good one. Stand out among the series

This may be one of my favorites out of the series this far. Good mystery.

A great book for a long drive

Loved the book and performance. It was great to see different sides of Pendergast's personailty.

Long Live Preston & Child!

What did you love best about Fever Dream?

The fast pace and suspense. I had my headphone on almost all day and well into the night. Agent Pendergast was at his best trying to find the murderer of his beloved wife Helen.

What did you like best about this story?

Familiar characters in a new story. Nobody mixes truth with the supernatural better than these two writers.

Which character – as performed by Rene Auberjonois – was your favorite?

Agent Pendergast himself. A seemingly refined southern gentleman with backwoods vigilante justice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My main reaction is as always with these authors' books, they have an addictive qualitity.

Any additional comments?

Already downloaded the sequel, Cold Vengeance.

Didn't captivate me, but plan to re read

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Sadly this book didn't keep me rivited and consequently I was distracted by other books and have not completed it.

If you’ve listened to books by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston before, how does this one compare?

I have not listened to this genre before so I cannot compare to others

Any additional comments?

I will go back to this book and try again.

loved this story

Oh how I loved this story! amazing story line and narration. love the Pendergrass novels.

terrific team with quirky ideas

but... the reader does only one voice. he may be great on Boston Legal but he lacks the depth needed here

Not my favorite of the series but still good

Where does Fever Dream rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I rank Fever Dream in the top 35 percent of the audio books I've listend to.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most intereting part of the story was learning about the main character's past.

What does Rene Auberjonois bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Rene Auberjonois is one of my favoirtes. He's very good. Hearing the different accents between the two main charaters and the different levels of emotions in each man's voice SHOWS you the contrast between them rather than just being TOLD that they are different, which is what the written book does.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

What will a respected man do when refuses to let the past lie?

Any additional comments?

Half of the story is about wildlife painter John James Audubon and the search for a fabled painting of his that has been lost. Half of the book is about a disease carried by birds. The change from one plot to the other is a bit too abrupt for me. Also, there is a third, minor, plot line about the main chracter's ward who kills her baby. That plot line should have been developed or eliminated. Her character is vey intersting and her story should be it's own book, not just an afterthought tacked onto another story.

Great Listen

This was my first Preston/Child book and I loved it.

Unbelievable book!!!!

I hardly ever give a book a 5 rating across the board but this book in my opinion certainly deserves it. From the beginning to the middle all the way to the end keeps the reader totally mesmerized as to what will happen next. What I thought would happen didn't & what I didn't think would happen did! And just about everything in between. The descriptive writing style was so good at one point I could almost feel the swamps huge selection of slimy animals attacking me. That is about the best way I can compliment the 2 authors of this fascinating book....talk about suspense & volumious story lines. The narrator did an absolutely brilliant job too. And the ending....well I really can't reveal that because that would spoil what I hope comes next. Kudoes to a book that gives 150% to its reader!

out of the rut

I was afraid for the series moving forward because the last book was a sign of a predictable story arc, but this book was a totally different story line, and I loved it.