New Reads: Preston & Child Dark Mysteries

 I posted this on my other blog, but am reposting it on this blog as I figured the readers here would also enjoy these thriller-mysteries.

 If you like your mysteries dark with a touch of horror, then the Agent Pendergast series written by Preston & Child is for you. What took me so long to discover this series?

Wow! Amazing thrillers written a touch above other mysteries with bits of horror and the supernatural that find me even making a list of words to look up and I have a good vocabulary. Intrigue, weird situations, and some monsters, both human and other-worldly.

 I'm reading out of order (of course!), but it doesn't seem to matter too much. Some of the books are in sets so I'll be reading those together.

**  I'm just finishing book 20, Bloodless, so we'll see which one I read next.

The series starts with Relic where murders at a natural history museum exhibit of South American objects and weird religious fetishes can't be done by a human. And aren't. (Interesting settings though I wasn't as crazy about this one.) Book 2 Reliquary continues the hunt for the monster so read these two together. 

The first book I read in the series was The Cabinet of Dr. Leng (#21), a creepy serial killer, time-travel novel. Fascinating! I love finding a long series to read and this is a good one!

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The 22 book series list in order (plus a new prequel): (I'll link these as I read them and mark with * for myself.) I'm going to add a short description to remind myself of what they're about. I'm listing these, too, as the books don't really have a good list in order.

   

* 1 Relic  - a creepy museum exhibit and a mysterious (not of this world) murderer (Books 1 and 2 are a set.)

* 2 Reliquary - The hunt for the murdering Museum Beast deepens and continues as Pendergast and team search Manhattan's labyrinth of sewer tunnels.

3 The Cabinet of Curiosities

4 Still Life With Crows

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5 Brimstone (Books 5-7 make up the Diogenes Trilogy about a twisted criminal - Pendergast's brother, Diogenes.)

6 Dance of Death

7 The Book of the Dead

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8 Wheel of Darkness

9 Cemetery Dance

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10 Fever Dream (Books 10-12 make up the Helen Triology concerning Pendergast's late wife Helen)

11 Cold Vengeance

12 Two Graves

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13 White Fire

14 Blue Labyrinth

15 Crimson Shore

16 The Obsidian Chamber

17 City of Endless Night

 * 18 

19 Crooked River

 

* 20 Bloodless (2021) - Is a vampire stalking Savannah? (Good one! Might be my favorite so far.) Strange goings-on with links to alternate universes, AI, computers, and monsters, plus a link to DB Cooper's 1970s unsolved bank robbery and skyjacking.

* 21 The Cabinet of Dr. Leng - I read this one first and wow!  Pendergast's protege Constance Greene goes back to the 1800s to prevent the deaths of her siblings and find a creepy serial killer. Great time travel! (Beware it ends on a cliffhanger and continues in book 22.)

 

* 22 Angel of Vengeance - Constance Greene returns to the past to face the serial killer while Pendergast's brother appears with his own agenda. Some interesting twists in this one.

23 New Prequel: Pendergast: The Beginning (Jan. 2026) Pendergast's first case reveals his unorthodox style as he and his partner investigate ritual murders by a serial killer. (Waiting for the library to get it in.)

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Meant to Be SPOOKED - When Love is #Supernatural #halloween

Today we have a teaser of a "spooky love" story from the new anthology, Meant to Be... SPOOKED.

An anthology of otherworldly love stories from Meant to Be Press authors.
Meant to Be…SPOOKED
Available now on Amazon.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find not only a magical spring, but a handsome man to go with it?

   If not for the magic embroidered into her tattoos, Cherry would already be dead. Isaac’s life revolves around duty and protection, so he hardly has time for the rockabilly woman bringing chaos to his mountain. Sometimes, a little chaos is a wake-up call. Too bad what Cherry wants is at odds with what Isaac has to give. His secrets might be worse than hers.

    H.E. Roulo’s “Cordial Foe” excerpt begins when Cherry is brought back to Isaac’s remote cabin after falling into an icy stream on Mount Rainier. Not at all shy, the rockabilly Cherry sets out to learn more about her hermit rescuer, and have some fun along the way.

    Check out this excerpt for a taste of what “Cordial Foe” has to offer.

Cordial Foe

By H.E. Roulo

“You need me to get in there?” asked Cherry

 “I can cook,” Isaac said.

“I like you better already.”

He eyed her figure.

She lifted her arms to re-pin her hair, which not incidentally did nice things for her bosom, only to find all but one pin had all come out. The rest were likely swimming in currents down the length of Mt. Rainier right now.

“You should shower. That water wasn’t good for you. My robe might fit you.”

He’d been guessing her measurements against his ratty old robe?

Deflated, she set her hands on her hips. “Water looked clear when we left, though, didn’t it? Got to be glacier-fed, right?”

“You stirred up the bottom when you fell in.”

Doubtful, she accepted two towels. “You the only one here, hermit?”

“Isaac. And yes, abandoned and forgotten by everyone but you.”

“All right, all right.” A shiver raced over her skin. He’d been so deadpan, it rang like truth. She crushed the towels to her chest. “A hot shower sounds good.”

She backed into the bathroom and slammed the door. Leaning against it, she pressed the towels to her face. Isaac was a new and disturbingly intriguing problem. She was safe from the fire she’d kindled in Seattle, but this might be an out-of-the-frying-pan and into-the-fire type situation.

“Jesus, I’m starving.”

The towels smelled good, but fortunately not like food. She inhaled, enjoying the scent of fresh laundry.

He tapped on the door behind her back. Cautiously, she opened it.

“My go-bag!” She accepted the red backpack from his hand and shoved the door shut again. Or tried to.

“Go bag?” he asked through the opening.

“For when you’ve got to go. Emergency supplies.”

“I’ve heard of them. Like for natural disaster or nuclear war. Anything I should worry about?”

“I’m a hipster. All my calamities are homemade.” She shoved, despite the obvious futility.

Laughing, he allowed the door to close.

**********

The anthology includes: 

“Parsers and Prejudice” by Emmy Z. Madrigal
Sometimes digital love is all you got.
In a future world, where men are all but extinct, Laney falls in love with her only companion, a male android built to meet her every need. But when a deadly virus sweeps the bot population, she must do everything she can to save the bot she loves.

"Cursed by Cupid" by Naching T. Kassa
Nothing is scarier than love.
Jane Sanders is a professional matchmaker and her new client is to die for. Henry Roberts is a handsome and charming Englishman, someone every woman would want. There’s just one problem. Henry is also ghost, cursed to appear as each woman’s nightmare. Can Jane aid him in his hunt for true love? Or will she experience her first failure and condemn his soul to hell forever?

“The Phone Booth” by M.M. Genet
What would you give for one last chance?
What would you give to talk one last time to someone you lost? Would you give up your savings, your house or car? How about your best friend or a member of your family? After a tornado hits their small town, the names of the missing gradually become the names of the dead. A haunted phone booth might give Ahi one last chance to call his missing girlfriend.

“Cordial Foe” by H.E. Roulo
Magic isn’t found, it’s made
If not for the magic embroidered into her tattoos, Cherry would already be dead. Isaac’s life revolves around duty and protection, so he hardly has time for the rockabilly woman bringing chaos to his mountain. Sometimes, a little chaos is a wake-up call. Too bad what Cherry wants is at odds with what Isaac has to give. His secrets might be worse than hers.