Cemetery Dance

Pendergast, D'Agosta versus Zombies

Cemetery Dance is a thriller novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child released in 2009. This is the ninth installment in the Special Agent Pendergast series.The plot: After celebrating their first anniversary, William Smithback, a NY Times reporter, and his wife Nora Kelly, a Museum of Natural History archeologist, return home from a romantic dinner. Kelly slips out to pick up a pastry from the local shop, but upon her return to their apartment in the Upper West side of Manhattan, she finds the door ajar, Smithback dead, and is attacked as she approaches.Eyewitnesses claim, and the security camera confirms, the attacker seen leaving the building was an individual who lived in the apartment building along with Smithback and Kelly. The twist: the man that witnesses believe is Smithback's murderer was pulled from the river dead, after committing suicide, two weeks before the attack. D'Agosta, a homicide detective, leads the official investigation, while FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast's and Kelly's involvement leads to a less traditional quest for the truth. Their serpentine journey takes them into a part of Manhattan they never imagined could exist: a secretive and deadly hotbed of Obeah, the West Indian Zombi cult of sorcery and magic. Unfortunately many others learn of the cult, thus endangering themselves and countless innocent lives.

Though “Cemetery Dance” is written as a standalone story. As such it can be enjoyed with this in mind. But it would be more sensible for the reader to have some previous knowledge of the characters. After all it does have its place in the series (after the Diogenes trilogy) and enough references to their previous adventures (especially Thunderhead). While the authors go all out to combine horror with suspense, action and thrills, they do get lazy. For example, whenever the plot starts to sag, they throw in a zombie attack. And the battle with the cult seems to go on for far too long. Then it's all a huge rush towards the end of the book. However, saying this it has a decent climax that should satisfy most readers. If you do plan to read it put all sense of logic and reason to one side. It's completely implausible; simply treat it as escapist fun and an exciting journey.