Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast is a fictional character appearing in novels by
Douglas Preston
Douglas Jerome Preston (born May 31, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Although he is best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Child (including the ''Agent Pendergast'' series and ''Gideon Crew'' series), he has also ...
and
Lincoln Child
Lincoln Child (13 October 1957) is an American author of techno-thriller and horror novels. Though he is most well known for his collaborations with Douglas Preston (including the Agent Pendergast series and the Gideon Crew series, among other ...
. He first appeared as a supporting character in their first novel, ''
Relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
'' (1995), and in its 1997 sequel ''
Reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...
'', before assuming the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
role in the 2002 novel ''
The Cabinet of Curiosities
''The Cabinet of Curiosities'' is a thriller novel by American writers Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, released on June 3, 2002 by Grand Central Publishing. This is the third installment in the Special Agent Pendergast series.
Plot summary
W ...
''.
Pendergast is a
special agent with the United States
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI). He once worked out of the New Orleans Field Office of the FBI, but resides in New York City and works out of the New York Field Office; he frequently travels out of state to investigate cases which interest him, often those appearing to be the work of
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
s.
Background
Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast was born in early December 1960 and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Pendergast retains his Southern manners and mellifluous
Deep Southern accent. He studied
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
(graduating
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
) and received two D. Phil. degrees, one in
Classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
and the other in philosophy, from
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
.
Pendergast once served with the
U.S. Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, are a special operations special operations force, force of the United States Ar ...
in the elite "Ghost Company", a spiritual successor to the "Blue Light" detachment (now Delta Force) with Michael Decker and Howard Longstreet, his superiors at the FBI, and Proctor, who later became his bodyguard and chauffeur. The symbol for this company was "a ghost on a blue field, decorated with a star throwing a thunderbolt at a cat's eye with the number nine as its pupil, symbolizing the nine lives
tsmembers
..were alleged to have..." The motto was "''Fidelitas usque ad mortem''" (Loyalty unto death). Most of his military records are classified and unknown.
A number of years before the series began, Pendergast was married to Helen Esterhazy Pendergast. She was presumed killed in a hunting accident while in Africa (mauled by a lion), but reappears in the "Helen Trilogy".
Pendergast is generally described as being stoically aloof and eccentric, though his ineffable politeness and unerring intellect imbue him with an irresistible charm or enigmatic sense of danger if the occasion should call for it.
Well-learned in many subjects, he converses easily with doctors, scientists, intellectuals, vagabonds, highly specialized masters of specific disciplines, and people of a wide variety of language and culture alike. He is a master of
psychological manipulation
Manipulation in psychology is a behavior designed to exploit, control, or otherwise influence others to one’s advantage. Definitions for the term vary in which behavior is specifically included, influenced by both culture and whether referring t ...
, disguise, and improvisation.
Pendergast appreciates the finer things in life, including expensive cuisine and wines. Food and drink he enjoys include
Château Pétrus
Pétrus is a Bordeaux, France, wine estate located in the Pomerol appellation near its eastern border to Saint-Émilion. A small estate of just , it produces a red wine entirely from Merlot grapes (since the end of 2010), and produces no seco ...
wine, antipasto,
green tea
Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...
of only the purest and most spiritual kind, gelato, and
steak tartare
Steak tartare or tartar steak is a dish of raw food, raw ground meat, ground (minced) beef. It is usually served with onions, capers, edible mushroom, mushrooms, black pepper, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings, often presented ...
. He has a great distaste for
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
. His interests encompass a wide variety of vastly differing walks of life, yet all focus on the enlightenment of the human mind, body, and soul. He spent a year in Tibet studying the deep meditative art of Chongg Ran, taught to him by the monks of the Gsalrig Chongg monastery.
Pendergast is
polyglot
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingualism, monolingual speakers in the World population, world's pop ...
, demonstrating mastery of
French,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, and
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
, and appears semi-fluent in
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
. He also has some knowledge of Japanese and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
. He communicates with one of his housekeepers, who is deaf and mute, using
American Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...
.
Appearance
Pendergast is always described as being tall and slender. He is fit, graceful in movement and physically powerful despite his slight frame. His skin is very pale and many people refer to him as "corpse-like" or as an "albino". He has platinum blond hair, and eyes that are most often described as silver or gray. Pendergast religiously dresses in black, bespoke suits (of Italian design) made of a special blend of wool made only in the 1950s, thus he is often described as looking like an
undertaker
A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...
.
In many cases, Pendergast's normal appearance is irrelevant. A master of disguises, he has fooled even close acquaintances on several occasions.
Accoutrements
Pendergast owns a 1959
Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith
The Silver Wraith was the first post-war Rolls-Royce. It was made from 1946 to 1958 as only a chassis at Rolls-Royce's former Merlin engine plant, their Crewe factory, alongside the shorter Bentley Mark VI. The Bentley too was available as ...
(he used to have two but sold one). His chauffeur and personal assistant is a mysterious man named Proctor. All of Pendergast's suits are custom-made in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and his shoes hand-made by
John Lobb John Lobb (27 December 1829 – 17 January 1895) was an English shoemaker and the founder of the company John Lobb Bootmaker. He founded his first successful company making boots for gold diggers in Australia.
Early life
John Lobb was born in Tywar ...
of London.
Pendergast's personal sidearm is usually a customized .45 ACP
Les Baer
Les Baer Custom Inc. is an American manufacturer of semi-custom firearms including M1911-pattern pistols and AR-15 type rifles. Les Baer Custom was founded by the gunsmith Les Baer, Sr. in 1991 in Hillsdale, Illinois.
History
Les Baer Custom Inc. ...
Government Model
M1911
The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for th ...
pistol. In ''
Relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
'' he carried a .45
Colt Anaconda
The Colt Anaconda is a large frame double-action revolver featuring a full length under-barrel ejection-rod lug and six round cylinder, designed and produced by the Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1990. Chambered for the powerful .44 Magnum ...
double-action
Double action (or double-action) refers to one of two systems in firearms where the trigger both cocks and releases the hammer.
* Double-action only (DAO) firearms trigger: The trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. There is no single-action ...
revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
. He owns a Signature Grade Colt 1911 in .45 ACP tuned by pistol smith Hilton Yam (now owner of 10-8 Consulting).
Pendergast maintains an apartment at
The Dakota
The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a Housing cooperative, cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street (Manhattan), 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was construc ...
in New York City, and later inherits and renovates a
Beaux Arts mansion near
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
from his great-granduncle in ''The Cabinet of Curiosities''. In his Dakota apartment, which is actually three apartments combined, there is a full zen garden where Pendergast performs the tea ceremony and sometimes meditates.
Though he is a scrupulously scientific man, he wears a talisman or amulet on a chain, that consists of his own modified version of the Pendergast family crest: a lidless eye over two moons, one
new
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
and one
full, with a phoenix (the original version featured a lion).
Pendergast carries a variety of hidden tools, such as
lock picks, flashlights of various sizes, test tubes, syringes, and forensic chemicals.
Friends and relations
*
Lt. Vincent D'Agosta
Detective Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta is a fictional character appearing in the novels of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. He is an Italian New Yorker and a main character in several different storylines.
Fictional character biography
D'Agosta' ...
–
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
(formerly
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
PD). Possibly Pendergast's most trusted friend and associate.
*Constance Greene – Pendergast's
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
, research assistant, social secretary,
amanuensis
An amanuensis () is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another, and also refers to a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In one example Eric Fenby ...
, seer. An
anachronism
An anachronism (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronology, chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time per ...
who appears 19, quietly beautiful with violet eyes and auburn hair, and possessing a depth of almost limitless knowledge. Born around 1876, her guardian and sister was experimented on and killed by Pendergast's ancestor, Enoch Leng, during his life-extending elixir process. Enoch informally adopts her at the age of six, while testing elixirs on her and raising her in his reclusive home as a student of erudite knowledge. When Enoch is brutally murdered, she hides in fear into the mansion and its catacombs, traveling only at night through the secret entrance to the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
area of
Riverside Drive. Although she has
Svengali
Svengali () is a character in the novel ''Trilby'' which was first published in 1894 by George du Maurier. Svengali is a man who seduces, dominates and exploits Trilby, a young half-Irish girl, and makes her into a famous singer.
Definition
...
type feelings for Pendergast, she falls prey to his brother's psychotic seduction resulting in a child. The child is secreted away at the Gsalrig Chongg monastery, where, after her confession of love to Pendergast goes unrequited, Constance retires for a period. Constance returned to New York and was tried for the murder of her child and placed in the Mount Mercy Hospital for the
Criminally Insane
The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the cr ...
but later exonerated and released and began acting as a tutor and surrogate "big sister" to Pendergast's son, Tristram, in the 2012 novel ''
Two Graves''.
*Proctor – Pendergast's
butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
and
chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.
Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...
with abilities far beyond most people's assumptions. Before becoming Pendergast's butler, he served in the Special Forces Ghost Company with him.
*Wren – a book restorer at the
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
.
*Mime – an invalid of unknown affiliation,
Thalidomide
Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications of ...
baby; skilled in obtaining obscure information via the computer and Internet. Also featured in ''
Mount Dragon
''Mount Dragon'' is a 1996 techno-thriller novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The action primarily follows Guy Carson and Susana Cabeza de Vaca, two researchers employed by the corporation GeneDyne and stationed at the Mount Dragon faci ...
'' as the friend of Charles Levine.
*Dr. Nora Kelly –
New York Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
curator; also featured as protagonist in ''
Thunderhead'',''
Old Bones
"Old Bones" is the seventh episode of the first season of the FX television series '' Sons of Anarchy''. It was written by Dave Erickson, directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton and originally aired on October 15, 2008 in the United States.
Plot
U ...
'', ''
Scorpion's Tail'' and ''
Diablo Mesa''.
*William "Bill" Smithback Jr. – ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' (formerly ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'') journalist. (deceased as of ''Cemetery Dance'').
*Captain Laura Hayward –
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
, married to Vincent D'agosta, not an avid fan of Pendergast's but will often assist in cases.
*Dr. Margo Green –
New York Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
curator.
*Dr. Viola Maskelene – an
Egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
, love interest, later "just friends" forever and always as concluded in ''
Two Graves''.
*The Monks of the Gsalrig Chongg Monastery.
*Eli Glinn – president of Effective Engineering Solutions, Inc. Expert profiler who gets Pendergast to talk about his childhood and his brother. Also breaks Pendergast out of prison; also featured in ''
The Ice Limit
''The Ice Limit'' is a techno-thriller novel by American authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The book was published on July 18, 2000 by Grand Central Publishing.
Plot summary
Meteorite hunter Nestor Masangkay arrives on Isla Desolación, ...
'' and the Gideon Crew series, beginning with ''
Gideon's Sword
Gideon's Sword is a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It was released on February 22, 2011 by Grand Central Publishing. The book is the first installment in the Gideon Crew series.
Plot summary
The story introduces Gideon Crew, a scien ...
''.
*Corrie Swanson – from Medicine Creek,
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
, assisted Pendergast on a case in ''
Still Life with Crows
''Still Life with Crows'' is a thriller novel by American authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, released on July 1, 2003 by Grand Central Publishing. It is the fourth novel (behind ''Relic'' (1995), ''Reliquary'' (1997) and ''The Cabinet of C ...
''. Previously enrolled at
Phillips Exeter Academy
(not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God)
, location = 20 Main Street
, city = Exeter, New Hampshire
, zipcode ...
; enrolled at
John Jay College
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts co ...
of Criminal Justice (as of ''Cold Vengeance''). Main character in ''
White Fire''. After graduating John Jay, Corrie enrolled with the FBI and is one of the main characters in ''
Old Bones
"Old Bones" is the seventh episode of the first season of the FX television series '' Sons of Anarchy''. It was written by Dave Erickson, directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton and originally aired on October 15, 2008 in the United States.
Plot
U ...
'', ''
Scorpion's Tail,'' and ''
Diablo Mesa''.
*Maurice – Former Caretaker of the Pendergast family mansion, Penumbra, in Louisiana, which has been sold.
*Kyoko Ishimura – Pendergast's maid in the Dakota apartment.
*Mrs. Trask - The housekeeper of Pendergast's mansion at 891 Riverside Drive.
The Pendergast family
Officially, much of the Pendergast's family wealth came from
pharmaceuticals
A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...
, and the family was sufficiently old and established in New Orleans to conduct themselves as
aristocracy
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At t ...
. However, there are hints that much of the fortune actually came from
patent medicine
A patent medicine, sometimes called a proprietary medicine, is an over-the-counter (nonprescription) medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name (and sometimes a patent) and claimed ...
("
snake oil
Snake oil is a term used to describe deceptive marketing, health care fraud, or a scam. Similarly, "snake oil salesman" is a common expression used to describe someone who sells, promotes, or is a general proponent of some valueless or fraudu ...
"), and that some of the family's customers suffered permanent injury or even death from its effects.
Pendergast also confides, to his shame, that a streak of
insanity
Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
has afflicted his family for generations, such that many of them have been convicted of horrible crimes, and ended their lives in asylums.
*Diogenes Dagrepont Bernoulli Pendergast – Pendergast's younger brother (born circa 1962). As intelligent as Aloysius, if not more so, but allegedly criminally insane. Although he was always a unique child, Diogenes was pushed over the edge during a traumatic event during their childhoods, resulting in brain damage,
heterochromia iridis
Heterochromia is a variation in coloration. The term is most often used to describe color differences of the iris, but can also be applied to color variation of hair or skin. Heterochromia is determined by the production, delivery, and concentra ...
, the inability to see colors, and the inability to sleep normally. Diogenes is first mentioned in ''
Brimstone'', after which he commits a series of grisly murders, for which he frames Aloysius, then a daring theft from the
New York Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
, to be completed with a horrific mass murder under circumstances similar to the "Event" during his childhood. Aloysius breaks out of prison with the help of his allies, only clearing his name later, and thwarts Diogenes' last crime. The three novels ''
Brimstone'', ''
Dance of Death'', and ''
The Book of the Dead
The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...
'' make up an internal series about the unique fraternal relationship between Aloysius and Diogenes, culminating in the latter's fall into the Sciara del Fuoco in the
Stromboli
Stromboli ( , ; scn, Struògnuli ) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing Mount Stromboli, one of the four active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the eight Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Sici ...
volcano. These are known as the "Diogenes Trilogy".
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
fans will undoubtedly recognize Preston's and Child's homage to Doyle's famous works, in both their choice of first name for Aloysius Pendergast's brother, and in the circumstances of Diogenes's presumed demise. Diogenes reappears, seemingly a changed man in ''
The Obsidian Chamber'', claiming that he wants to live out a long, quiet life with Constance at Halcyon Key. After leading him on and joining him at Halcyon, Constance gives Diogenes a humiliating refusal, part of her cruel plan to get revenge; his whereabouts are currently unknown.
*Cornelia Delamere Pendergast – Pendergast's great-aunt, who poisoned her husband, brother and children. Cornelia held residence at the Mount Mercy Hospital for the
Criminally Insane
The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the cr ...
until her death. Despite her complete insanity, Pendergast still considered her wise, and sought her counsel when he had a dilemma. Sometime during the events of ''
Fever Dream
Fever Dream(s) may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Fever Dream'', a 1979 film by Chick Strand
* ''Fever Dream'' (film), an adaptation of Samanta Schweblin's novel (see below)
* Fever Dreams (company), a film-development division of the Americ ...
'', Cornelia dies, leaving Pendergast a letter of unknown content.
*Antoine Leng Pendergast (a.k.a. Enoch Leng) – Pendergast's great-grand uncle. Traveled north to New York after being expelled from the Pendergast family because of his pursuit of "unacceptable" and heinous acts involving obeah and voudou (according to Aunt Cornelia).
Taxonomist
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...
and chemist as well as a member of the New York
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...
in the late 19th century. Exposed as a
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
in ''
The Cabinet of Curiosities
''The Cabinet of Curiosities'' is a thriller novel by American writers Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, released on June 3, 2002 by Grand Central Publishing. This is the third installment in the Special Agent Pendergast series.
Plot summary
W ...
'' who killed in the pursuit of a substance that would prolong his life. He succeeded, and survived well into the late 20th century until he was murdered in his home on Riverside Drive. Pendergast now lives in Leng's old mansion with Proctor as butler/chauffeur and Mrs. Trask, the housekeeper. He has refurnished the mansion and made it liveable and elegant, though dim, as the shutters are always closed.
*Hezekiah Pendergast – (Pendergast's great-great grandfather) Antoine's father. Was a traveling salesman who contributed greatly to the family fortune by selling a quack medicine known as "Hezekiah's Compound Elixir and Glandular Restorative". The tonic was eventually exposed as a lethal blend of
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
,
acetanilid, and
alkaloid
Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...
botanicals. It was the cause of uncounted addictions and deaths, including that of Hezekiah's wife and Antoine's mother, Constance Leng Pendergast.
*Henri Pendregast de Mousqueton – a "seventeenth-century mountebank who pulled teeth, performed magic and comedy, and practiced quack medicine."
*Eduard Pendregast – a "well-known
Harley Street
Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...
doctor in eighteenth-century London."
*Comstock Pendergast – Pendergast's great-grand uncle. Famed
mesmerist
Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a Protoscience#Prescientific protoscience, protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Le ...
, magician, and mentor to
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...
. Eventually murdered his business partner and his family. He then committed suicide by cutting his throat twice.
*Linnaeus Pendergast – Pendergast's father, who was killed in the fire.
*Isabella Pendergast – Pendergast's mother, also killed in the fire. Her maiden name is Fawcett (in "Two Graves", Pendergast assumes a fake identity, and calls himself "Fawcett").
*Boethius Pendergast – Pendergast's great-grandfather. Lived at the Penumbra plantation about an hour outside New Orleans, was good friends with famed naturalist painter
John James Audubon
John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...
(However, in ''Fever Dream'' it is also mentioned that it was Pendergast's great-great-grandfather who was friends with Audubon. Furthermore, in ''Blue Labyrinth'' it is mentioned that Pendergast's great-great-great-grandfather was friends with Audubon.).
*Helen Pendergast – Pendergast's deceased wife (maiden name Helen Esterhazy). Helen was a doctor with Doctors With Wings, a group similar to
Doctors Without Borders
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
that travels to third-world countries and disaster areas to help people who would have otherwise had little chance of survival. She is a skilled big
game
A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...
hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
, and it was one of the activities that she and Pendergast did together. For many years, she was thought to have been killed on an African safari, but she reappears in the book ''Cold Vengeance''. Helen is killed in the next installment of the series "Two Graves." She is a descendant of the Hungarian
Esterházy
The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it ...
aristocratic family.
*Judson Esterhazy – Pendergast's brother-in-law. A neurosurgeon and avid game hunter, lived in Savannah, Georgia. Like his sister Helen, he was a doctor with Doctors With Wings and was a skilled hunter. He plays an important role in the "Helen Trilogy" but was killed in "Two Graves.".
*
Percy Harrison Fawcett
Percy Harrison Fawcett (18 August 1867 during or after 1925) was a British geographer, artillery officer, cartographer, archaeologist, and explorer of South America. Fawcett disappeared in 1925 (along with his eldest son, Jack, and one of ...
– Pendergast's great-great uncle on his mother's side. He was an explorer and disappeared in the jungles along the Upper
Xingu River
The Xingu River ( ; pt, Rio Xingu, ; Mẽbêngôkre: ''Byti'', ) is a river in north Brazil. It is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River and one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon basin, accounting for about 5% of its water.
...
(hence Pendergast's middle name) in 1925 while looking for the mysterious
Lost City of Z
The Lost City of Z is the name given by Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett, a British surveyor, to an indigenous city that he believed had existed in the jungle of the Mato Grosso state of Brazil. Based on early histories of South America and his own e ...
.
*Tristram – Pendergast's son with Helen. Pendergast learns of him, and Alban, when they are 15 years old, in "Two Graves." Tristram, the name chosen by Pendergast, attends boarding school at École Mère-Égliseq in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
*Alban – Identical twin of Tristram, a genetically engineered person, more intelligent and stronger than his father. Deceased as of the events in ''
Blue Labyrinth
''Blue Labyrinth'' is a thriller novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The book was released on November 11, 2014, by Grand Central Publishing. This is the fourteenth book in the Special Agent Pendergast series.
Plot
—Review by ''Kirku ...
'' (2014).
*Unnamed nephew - a child of Diogenes Pendergast and Constance Greene, born at and raised by the monks of the Gsalrig Chongg monastery, he is the 19th rinpoche. He was spirited away to India, by monks with the help of Pendergast and Constance, to protect him from enemies of Tibet.
Chronicles
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast appears in several stand-alone novels and stars in two trilogies. All of these books have been jointly written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
Stand-alone novels
*''
Relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
'' (1995) (''Pendergast's first appearance'') – Pendergast investigates a series of strange murders and rumors of a murderous beast in the
New York Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
. Includes Margo Green, reporter Bill Smithback, and Vincent D'Agosta.
*''
Reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...
'' (1997) – Pendergast returns to New York when a new string of murders surfaces resembling those of the Museum Beast case. He is again teamed with Margo Green, Dr. Frock, William Smithback Jr., and Vincent D'Agosta (all of whom were in the previous book), and introduces the character of Laura Hayward.
*''
The Cabinet of Curiosities
''The Cabinet of Curiosities'' is a thriller novel by American writers Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, released on June 3, 2002 by Grand Central Publishing. This is the third installment in the Special Agent Pendergast series.
Plot summary
W ...
'' (2002) – Pendergast is drawn to the remains of a 19th-century
charnel house
A charnel house is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging graves. The term can also be used more generally as a description of a pla ...
, unearthed at a construction site in New York and finds himself investigating a new series of 20th century
copycat killings. He is joined by William Smithback Jr. and Dr. Nora Kelly.
*''
Still Life with Crows
''Still Life with Crows'' is a thriller novel by American authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, released on July 1, 2003 by Grand Central Publishing. It is the fourth novel (behind ''Relic'' (1995), ''Reliquary'' (1997) and ''The Cabinet of C ...
'' (2003) – Pendergast, while on vacation, travels to midwestern Kansas to the dying farm town of Medicine Creek to investigate a series of brutal and ritualistic killings. He teams up with a teenage malcontent, Corrie Swanson, to solve the case. The book also hints at a sequel to ''
The Ice Limit
''The Ice Limit'' is a techno-thriller novel by American authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The book was published on July 18, 2000 by Grand Central Publishing.
Plot summary
Meteorite hunter Nestor Masangkay arrives on Isla Desolación, ...
''.
*''
The Wheel of Darkness'' (2007) – Pendergast has taken Constance on a whirlwind Grand Tour, after the conclusion of her vengeful pursuit of Diogenes, hoping to give her closure and a sense of the world that she's missed. They head to Tibet, where Pendergast intensively trained in martial arts and spiritual studies. At a remote monastery, they learn that a rare and dangerous artifact the monks have been guarding for generations has been mysteriously stolen. Pendergast agrees to take up the search. The trail leads him and Constance to the maiden voyage of the ''Brittania'', the world's largest and most luxurious passenger liner—and to an Atlantic crossing fraught with terror.
*''
Cemetery Dance'' (2009) – Pendergast returns to New York City. Two of his close friends have been attacked by a man who is supposedly dead. Pendergast and D'Agosta undertake a private 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
Obeah, or Obayi, is an ancestrally inherited tradition of Akan witches of Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Togo and their descendants in the African diaspora of the Caribbean. Inheritors of the tradition are referred to as "obayifo" (Akan/Ghana-region ...
, the
West Indian
A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...
Zombi cult of sorcery and magic.
*''
White Fire'' (2013) – Corrie Swanson sets out to solve a long-forgotten mystery. In 1876, in a remote mining camp called Roaring Fork in the
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
, several miners were killed in devastating grizzly bear attacks. Now the town has become an exclusive ski resort and its historic cemetery has been dug up to make way for development. Corrie has arranged to examine the remains of the dead miners. But in doing so she makes a discovery that threatens the resort's very existence. The town's leaders, trying to stop her from exposing their community's dark and bloody past, arrest and jail her. Corrie writes to Pendergast, who has taken a year's leave of absence (after the events of the Helen Trilogy) about her project. Pendergast arrives in Colorado a week or two before Christmas to help—just as a series of brutal arson attacks on multimillion-dollar homes terrify the town and drive away tourists. Drawn into the investigation, Pendergast discovers an unlikely secret in Roaring Fork's past, connecting the resort to a meeting between
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
and
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
.
*''
Blue Labyrinth
''Blue Labyrinth'' is a thriller novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The book was released on November 11, 2014, by Grand Central Publishing. This is the fourteenth book in the Special Agent Pendergast series.
Plot
—Review by ''Kirku ...
'' (2014) – Pendergast must accept a ruthless killer's challenge when somebody leaves his son Alban's body at the door of his mansion. Contained in Alban's stomach is a rare turquoise that came from a long-deserted mine in California. Pendergast knows he must go there, although he's probably walking into a trap. Sure enough, despite all his precautions, he is exposed to a slow-acting poison—Hezekiah's formula, which killed many people—that quickly begins killing him.
*''
Crimson Shore'' (2015) – Pendergast, with his ward Constance Greene, travels to the quaint seaside village of Exmouth, Massachusetts, to investigate the theft of a priceless wine collection. But inside the wine cellar, they find something considerably more disturbing: a bricked-up niche that once held a crumbling skeleton. Pendergast and Constance soon learn that Exmouth is a town with a troubled history, and this skeleton may be only the first hint of an ancient transgression, which is now kept secret. Local legend holds that during the 1692 witch trials in Salem, the real witches escaped, fleeing north to Exmouth and settling deep in the surrounding salt marshes, where they continued to practice their arts. Then, a murdered corpse turns up in the marshes. The only clue is a series of mysterious carvings. Could these symbols bear some relation to the ancient witches' colony, long believed to be abandoned?
*''
The Obsidian Chamber'' (2016)
*''
City of Endless Night'' (2018)
*''
Verses for the Dead'' (2018)
*''
Crooked River'' (2020)
*''