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    Cold Vengeance
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    Cold Vengeance
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    Cold Vengeance
    Audiobook12 hours

    Cold Vengeance

    Written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

    Narrated by Rene Auberjonois

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple. As he stalks his wife's betrayers--a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York City and the darkest bayous of Louisiana--he is also forced to dig further into Helen's past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder.

    Peeling back the layers of deception, Pendergast realizes that the conspiracy is deeper, goes back generations, and is more monstrous than he could have ever imagined--and everything he's believed, everything he's trusted, everything he's understood . . . may be a horrific lie.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateAug 2, 2011
    ISBN9781609413910
    Unavailable
    Cold Vengeance
    Author

    Douglas Preston

    DOUGLAS PRESTON has published forty books of both nonfiction and fiction, of which over thirty have been New York Times bestsellers, a half-dozen reaching the #1 position. He is the co-author, with Lincoln Child, of the Pendergast series of thrillers. He also writes nonfiction pieces for the New Yorker Magazine. He worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. He is president emeritus of the Authors Guild and serves on the Advisory Board of the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe.

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    Reviews for Cold Vengeance

    4/5

    477 ratings50 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Aloysius Pendergast doesn't disappoint!
    • 4/5
      It's hard to give a Pendergast book anything other than a 4 star note, but I am, admittedly, getting a bit tired of the cliffhanger endings...still, Pendergast is as interesting a character as there is in modern crime fiction and he stays fascinating. Fatigued or no I'll probably keep reading them.
    • 4/5
      Another great read in the Pendergast series. While some of these books aren't always a 5-star read, they're still incredibly enjoyable and I always find myself looking to grab the next one of the series at Barnes & Noble when it gets released each year. Hats off to Pendergast and all of his investigations.
    • 3/5
      While a major improvement over the last book I am still less than thrilled with the Helen trilogy. It seems to have forgotten everything about the series I loved. It has turned Pendergast into a bumbling fool. I know the next book is the last of the set. I really hope they figure this out or I am going to have to stop reading one of my favorite series.

    • 3/5
      Gripping, exciting as usual!
    • 3/5
      I'm in complete agreement with other reviewers about the sad direction the Pendergast series is moving into. Pendergast was so different for the very fact that he was cerebral, bookish and wonderful at research. That he had "mad skills" in self defense was only a foil for his ultra-cerebral side. However, now the action figure side is being developed too much, to the extent to be unbelievable. Pendergast's heroic were always slightly fantastical but still just enough real to be believed. Sadly, this is no longer the case and it's such a shame to see a great character get lost.

      All that said, it was still an enjoyable book but with loose endings (for the obvious series) and going in a misguided direction.
    • 4/5
      Wow, another great novel in the Pendergast series. So many surprises in this one, and an amazing ending. I can tell Two Graves will be yet another unforgettable Preston/Child novel to close up this trilogy inside the series.
    • 4/5
      "Cold Vengeance" is book two in the Helen Pendergast Trilogy, in which the special agent is hunting the reason for and the identity of his wife's murderers. It begins just a few weeks after the events of "Fever Dream". The novel is a deliciously drawn out cat and mouse game between Pendergast and the only opponent left standing in the last novel. As this pursuit unfolds, Pendergast comes to realize, "that he truly had not known his beloved wife. Like so many other fallible human beings, he had been blinded by love. He had not even begun to crack the ultimate mystery of her identity. Who was Helen Pendergast, and what was her family connected to? At one point, Pendergast's opponent challenges, "You think your fight's just with me, but you're wrong... The fact is you have no idea, no idea, of what you're dealing with."

      I do suggest reading "FEVER DREAM" first, even though it's not one of Preston/Child's best books. If you're totally new to Preston/Child, I'd suggest starting with their earlier, truly brilliant novels, such as "RELIC", "RIPTIDE", "THUNDERHEAD", "CABINET OF CURIOSITIES", and "STILL LIFE WITH CROWS". "STILL LIFE WITH CROWS" was where I first met Agent Pendergast. "COLD VENGENCE" is definitely and fun and exciting novel.
    • 4/5
      If you haven't read a Pendergast novel before...stop now, go back and begin with The Relic and read your way here. They're a bit gothic, scary, and too many characters tend to die--but they are also immense fun. This book won't disappoint Pendergast fans, and the whole series is one guilty pleasure you won't regret.
    • 4/5
      Special Agent Pendergast, having learned that his wife's death in a hunting accident 12 years ago was murder, learns that his brother-in-law, Judson Esterhazy, was involved in the conspiracy that ripped her from his life. As he digs into his wife's past, he discovers that there were huge swaths of her life that were hidden from him, and that the hidden group behind the conspiracy is much larger, older and more powerful than he had imagined. The Pendergast novels take on a new weight and complexity, with welcome aid from some old allies: Vincent D'Agosta, Constance Greene and Corrie Swanson.
    • 3/5
      The abrupt ending left me fearful that the next book would be bad.
    • 4/5
      Special Agent Pendergast's life never lets up...and that's a great thing for all of us! These books are amazingly addictive. And Preston and Child can just keep them comin' as far as I'm concerned. This 11th novel in the series is the second in a trilogy about Pendergast and his wife Helen. Finished it a half hour ago and I've already started TWO GRAVES, the 12th in the series.
    • 4/5
      Okay, I ran straight for this book after reading Fever Dream. We just had a big reveal at the end of that story and there was no waiting. Cold Vengeance lived up to expectations. It's gripping, non-stop suspense that constantly raises more questions than it answers, and for Pendergast fans, it gives more insight into the character than perhaps all previous Pendergast novels. The FBI Agent came dangerously close to the "edge" in Fever Dream, but in Cold Vengeance he leaps over that line. We see Pendergast as we've never seen him in his desperate pursuit of what may or may not be the truth. I'll say no more, as I hate to give spoilers. Although I enjoyed this book immensely, I expected more answers than I got. And near the end, when the brother-in-law is pressing Pendergast to go along with his plan, and insists that there's no time to explain -- it felt a bit forced. They did have time for a brief explanation about what was going on. One more thing -- the title doesn't seem to fit. This story wasn't about vengeance at all, but about finding the truth. Pendergast had more vengeance on the brain in the previous story, but with the new information he has, he's moved on. Finally, I have one question for the authors, Preston and Child: REALLY??? You really left us there? I've read that there won't be another Pendergast novel for a while, and that makes the ending to this novel so much WORSE! Normally, I would have already started the next one - but there is no next one, with no date on when you'll pick up the tale. You are not finished with Agent Pendergast. There are too many unanswered questions, too many dangling threads. You have two characters that have been kidnapped, a secondary character possibly mortally injured, Pendergast bleeding, and implications all over the place that there's a whole bunch more going on -- with multiple characters. Just in case you get it in your head that you're tired of writing this character -- sorry, but with an ending like that, you are not allowed to stop. Just saying.
    • 4/5
      Nice to see a better quality production than has been recently coming from Preston & Child. Almost as good as their earlier work. Introduction of the mysterious Covenant to the story seems too artificial and formulaic though.
    • 4/5
      Latest installment of the Agent Pendergast series; pretty good but they do seem to be getting pretty formulaic. Pendergast gets into an impossible life or death situation and gets out of it, is surrounded by mysterious and loyal helpers. Bad guys usually get theirs, courtesy of the FBI agent extraordinaire. Some pretty wince-worthy description of just how the bad guys meet their maker. To mix it up, I listened to this on audiobook, which was pretty enjoyable--reader Rene Auberjonois does a very good job. The cliffhanger at the end was so overt "tune in for the next installment!", it was slightly annoying.
    • 4/5
      As are all the Pendergast novels - an excellent yarn, action packed historical intrigue - a fun and easy read
    • 5/5
      Excellent story, mission impossible.
    • 5/5
      Yep, I do love me that Agent Pendergast! Wouldn't Jude law make a great movie version SA Pendergast? Dennis Franz is D'Agosta.
    • 5/5
      As usual, I don't get bored reading a book by the Preston/Child duo. Agent Pendergast is probably one of my favorite character. And in this second installment of the serie (his personnal story) we delve deeper into the "death" of his wife Helen Esterhazy Pendergast. When troubles comes out in the form of a mysterious organization known as the Convenant, no one is safe.
    • 4/5
      Another Agent Pendergast book. Thrilling, but leaves you hanging at the end for the next installment.
    • 4/5
      An excellent read that pulls you in and then ends without resolving most of the major mysteries. This doesn't have a cliff hanger ending; it doesn't have an ending. I would recommend waiting until the next book is out so you can read them together without having to wait.
    • 4/5
      Entertaining mystery featuring an injured Pendergast. Big cliff hanger ending, which is a bit annoying.
    • 3/5
      Another in the Pendergast series. Good but lacking the interesting plot lines from the beginning of the series.
    • 4/5
      As usual, a well put together Child/Preston novel. Perfect for Agent Pendergast fans, but not a stand alone novel.
    • 3/5
      I have been a loyal Pendergast fan for years and feel like this book fell flat and I couldn't wait for it to end. Just seemed like the story line about his wife keeps going on and on and on and needs to be wrapped up sooner than later. I miss the likes of "Still Life With Crows".
    • 5/5
      Thank goodness for a return to Pendergast! Did not like the new "Gideon" series at all. Loved this!
    • 4/5
      What an ending!! Who lives? Who dies? Now what will Aloysius do? And what exactly do Preston & Child have against newspaper reporters???
    • 3/5
      Found myself disappointed. It felt like the authors were just going through the motions with this story. They could have added a few pages and just finished the tale. Their first book in the new series, Gideon, left me uninspired and I fear they will soon be off my- watch for list.
    • 5/5
      4 1/2 would have given it a five but was a little upset at the ending, even though I know they need a cliffhanger to continue the series. Which in the back of the book they have promised to do. All I can say is Wow!
    • 3/5
      NOTE: In fairness, there may be a couple of "spoilers" in the review, although I felt them to be egregious enough to warrant criticism.I have been a fan of Preston & Child's "Pendergast" series for a long time. I've read all books in the series, and some of the stand-alones that are not strictly speaking part of the series (like "Thunderhead"). P&C have always seemed to take their books seriously, gave great character development, and provided tons of informative narrative. Everything they've done (as far as "Pendergast" is concerned) has been totally satisfying. Until "Cold Vengeance."This is the second in what will apparently be the "Helen Trilogy," where Pendergast investigates the death of his wife, who had supposedly been killed in a hunting accident (eaten by a lion). The trilogy started off in a fine way with "Fever Dream," which added some depth and color to the mysterious FBI agent, A.X.L. Pendergast. "Fever Dream" was, in every way, completely in keeping with the previous books in the series, and in it, Pendergast discovers that his wife may have been murdered. "Cold Vengeance" takes up where "Fever Dream" leaves off, virtually starting off with the revelation that Helen (his wife) may still be alive. What follows is a book filled with action, very exciting, very suspenseful. But instead of a finely crafted and thoroughly detailed narrative, we get a stripped-down, bare-bones, story that seems to flip from one action scene to the next, with little of the depth that previous books provided. While entertaining, it is far from satisfying for the devoted Pendergast fan. Particularly distressing is the extent to which P&C are willing to sacrifice the coherence and consistency of the series for the sake of (apparently) staying on "schedule," and working on their new "Gideon" series, as well. There are parts of this book that are simply unacceptably contrived, and added obviously to make it easy for P&C to get through the story. Pendergast stories have always required some measure of willingness to surrender credibility for the sake of the story arc, and this is true of any novel, particularly a series of novels, but P&C go overboard here. By any stretch of the imagination, Pendergast has to be in his sixties (he was Special Forces in Viet Nam, supposedly), and while those of us who are also in our sixties know that we're not exactly pushing up daisies, or fodder for the crematorium, there are some limits to our durability. Not Pendergast, who is determined to outlast the Energizer Bunny. Pulling characters out of thin air to push the plot along is a cheap way to write, and "revealing" that Helen had a twin sister who was severely mentally disabled (thus a viable candidate to be switched for the real Helen when the lion chows down) is simply stupid, and insulting to the intelligence of the reader. P&C seem to be guilty of taking their audience for granted. I sort of get the feeling that their affection for Pendergast has been replaced by Preston's & Child's "Gideon" series. If so, I hope the next Pendergast story is the last.