The focus of my blog is to review book Series and not individual novels. But writers are going to continue writing novels within a series even after I have done my review, so I plan on reviewing the individual novels as they come into circulation.  Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have recently added book #17, City of Endless Night to the Pendergast series.

This latest adventure in the series takes FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast back to New York City where he is being punished by the FBI for his escapades in the previous novel, The Obsidian Chamber. To keep Pendergast from getting into any trouble he is assigned a rather mundane murder case that involves the daughter of a wealthy CEO of a tech company. Of course, anything that Pendergast touches turns out to be anything but mundane as is true with this particular case. It is not too long before other murder cases show up that tie into this first case with one unique feature that they all share–each victim has a missing head.

Pendergast pairs up with long-time favorite Lt. Vincent D’Agosta to try to solve what turns out to be a very complex case. But nothing can get past Pendergast for too long and the serial killer comes to the realization that Pendergast has figured him out and sets his crosshairs on both Pendergast as well as D’Agosta which leads to a really exciting ending.

All the thrills and chills that one expects from a Pendergast book, and a fine addition to the series. This could be read as a standalone, but if you are new to the series, it might be useful to read Cabinet of Curiosities first to get a good understanding about the characters involved.

I would like to think NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my advance reader copy of City of Endless Night.

City of Endless Night will be released on January 16.

To learn more about the series check out the Pendergast series.