Authors Doug Preston and Lincoln Child claim you can read their books out of order. But I read the last two books in this series first and am now reading the front half (I discovered the mystery authors by reading the last books first and am now catching up). Because I know what is going to happen, and know how the killer is revealed this book is less thrilling to me. So, I'd suggest reading the series in this order:
Brimstone
Dance of Death
Cabinet of Curiosities
Book of the Dead

Viola/Pendergast connection was extremely weak. Otherwise a good story.

Another great and exciting adventure with Pendergast and crew! The action was just nonstop in this book.

Of course, this one ends with a cliffhanger. Looking forward to getting to the next book in the Diogenes series!

content warnings: disturbed serial killer, murder, violence

We have seen glimpses of the insane and diabolically evil Diogenes Pendergast in at least two earlier books by Preston & Child, dogging the steps of his brilliant and hated older brother Aloysius. Aloysius Pendergast is a special agent for the FBI with a multitude of talents, including being an escape artist and a master of disguises. I've seen him compared with the Sherlock Holmes character and I don't think I'd dispute that. Pendergast's "Dr. Watson" would have to be Lt. Vincent D'Agosta of the NYPD.

In Dance of Death Diogenes "returns from the dead" to torment and taunt his brother by killing off Aloysius' closest friends and acquaintances one by one in not only a brutal way but also a way that mimics the deaths of ancestors of the Pendergast family. Apparently, this family has a big insanity gene running through it and Aloysius seems determined not to pass it on. Diogenes is also unattached and seems not to have any children.

Why does he hate his brother so much? That's a question I asked myself throughout the book. I found Diogenes to be thoroughly despicable with not one shred of redeeming quality about him. On the other hand, Aloysius Pendergast may be emotionally distant and an oddball but he genuinely cares about his friends and partners in crime and investigation. How could two brothers be so different? There was one scene that really intrigued me but left me feeling unsatisfied. Pendergast and D'Agosta go to visit a profiler, a character that appeared in an earlier non-Pendergast book. Eli Glinn has Pendergast hypnotized to try and find out the source of Diogenes' hatred...but the episode goes no where. It just seems that Diogenes is a "bad seed". Somehow, I get a feeling it's not the whole story. Maybe it's one of those "Mother always liked you best" reasons--that's my guess anyway.

I felt frustrated by the Constance Greene character. I may have to go back and read Cabinet of Curiosities again (I believe she was introduced in that book) but I have a feeling I would still be mystified and I don't like that feeling being dragged on book after book.

This book was more interesting for me to read than the first one in the series, Brimstone. I think it was because I was anticipating this battle between the brothers in the first book and it just didn't happen. Sometimes I had the feeling I was reading a movie, not a book especially with the wild chase scene on Eastern Long Island. Look forward to the next one and I sure hope the Constance Greene mystery is eventually explained. I also noted that there is a character named Margo Green and wonder what is up with using that color as a last name?

The worst thing that ever happened to me was pendergast and constance

Once again, I can figure part of it out but not all of it. I'll be curious to see how Diogenes is finally taken down.

Dang it, it left me hanging! LOL, this was seriously good. I could not put it down and I just wanted to race to the end to find out how it was going to end. Except it left me hanging! Well, nothing to do but to move on to the next, ha! The last book (Brimstone) did leave you hanging, but at least it wrapped up a lot of the story line. And I suppose there were some things in this book that were resolved, but I think this was a true cliffhanger! In this one, you see a lot more of Diogenes as he and Pendergast pit their wits against each other. I have been reading Sherlock Holmes lately, so it's not surprising that I thought of Holmes and Moriarity as I read this book. While neither brother is exactly like Holmes and Moriarity, there are similarities in terms of the relationship they have with each other, as well as the massive intelligence of each. Holmes has mentioned that his brother is much more intelligent (but much more lazy) than he is, and Pendergast mentions several times that Diogenes is much more intelligent than he is. In any case, those of you who are fans of thriller/suspense/mystery novels who have not yet checked this series out should not start her, but go back and start at the beginning! It's definitely worth the ride!

Preston-Child once again write an amazing novel. There is no end to their magic. I can't say enough, aside from being speachless.

4.5 stars - Another Wild ride with Pendergast.

This second volume in the Diogenes trilogy takes off immediately after the first and puts us right back in New York and the Natural history museum, there’s even reappearances from Smithback and Margo from Relics.

We finally get some more insight into Diogenes and what drives him.

I’m already well into the next novel.