The Book of the Dead

Bestsellers Preston and Child have come up with another gripping, action-packed page-turner in this concluding volume to a trilogy pitting their Holmesian hero, FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast, against his Mycroft-turned-Moriarty—his younger brother, Diogenes. Picking up shortly after the events of 2005's Dance of Death, the book opens with the arrival of a package of fine dust at the Museum of Natural History; Diogenes has returned the diamonds he stole earlier. Meanwhile, Aloysius is in prison, having been framed for a number of murders. As his friends plot to spring him, his adversary lays the groundwork for a crowning criminal achievement. A mysterious benefactor funds the restoration of an ancient Egyptian tomb at the museum, but the work is beset by the mayhem Preston and Child's readers have come to expect—gory murders and suggestions of the supernatural. This entry, tying up many loose ends from its predecessors, is less likely to work as well for first-time readers, but followers of Aloysius Pendergast's previous exploits will find it a satisfying read with a tantalizing, ominous twist at the end. 10-city author tour. (June)
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James Gale's gravelly voice is ideal for the cinder-lunged Rebus, and he manages somehow to lubricate out some of the harshness for cleaner living characters. Meanwhile, Gale's accents are superb , as he handles a spectrum ranging from overweening English toffee-nose to malicious Edinburgh corner boy. All in all, this narration adds another degree of atmosphere to a novel that is already redolent of the city it sprang from.