Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

City of Endless Night is Preston and Child's 16th Agent Pendergast book and I have read them all at least twice. In most of them, the authors answer, in a Q & A section, the inquiry of whether their books have to read in order, or can they stand alone? I seem to recall that they recommend some books to be read in order, but they generally aim for the stories to stand on their own, independent merits. Well, I have to say, for the first time, that this has not happened. City of Endless Night is the first Pendergast novel that seems to be sketchily, hastily written, with flat characters, more than a little predictability—and it's just plain...dull. There are no hints of the bizarre and sometimes supernatural touches this time around—it's a straight murder mystery. Pendergast appears bored and listless and comes up with little that's new, prompting NY detective Vincent D'Agosta to exclaim over and over “Typical Pendergast! Classic Pendergast!” because it's the same old bag of tricks. D'Agosta himself is frustrated and angry from the first page to the last, quickly becoming tiresome and falling too easily into the killer's trap. None of the victims are likable—in fact, pompous New York Post reporter Bryce Harriman writes in several articles that they deserved to die! A silly subplot about a penniless preacher who's determined to save the sinners in a Central Park demonstration (already done in Pendergast #5, Brimstone) goes nowhere. At least we are spared the cold, insufferably snobbish presence of Constance Greene this time around, but if you haven't read the previous Pendergast books, parts of City of Endless Night will not make sense, and if this is your first Pendergast novel, there's likely nothing in it that will inspire readers to backtrack and explore the previous 15.