Cops, farmers, cabbies – they all have jobs less dangerous than the various employees of the New York Museum of National History. At least according to half a dozen novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, from the latest of which – THE BOOK OF THE DEAD – finally wraps up a three-book trilogy begun with BRIMSTONE and DANCE OF DEATH, dealing with FBI Agent Pendergast’s perilous battle with his wildly estranged brother Diogenes, who has pledged to commit “the perfect crime” against millions of innocent lives.

This BOOK begins with a mysterious package of an unknown powdery substance being delivered to the Museum. To their horror, Museum officials discover it’s the remains of their extensive diamond collection, stolen and pulverized by Diogenes. When word leaks to the media, they rush to create a new exhibit like no other to deflect negative press. As luck would have it, the legendary Egyptian Tomb of Senef falls into their laps, and curator Nora Kelly is given an impossible deadline to put together a sock-knocking show.

Meanwhile, Pendergast remains behind bars, and his cop buddy Lt. D’Agosta plots to spring him from incarceration, in a detailed, heist-like subplot that recalls equal parts Jacques Futrelle and TV’s PRISON BREAK. Pendergast will be needed, because rumors of Senef’s tomb being cursed are proving true, as unfortunate Museum staffers fall prey to an unseen killer whose slow, foot-dragging gait sounds suspiciously like that of a reanimated mummy.

When Preston and Child issue a new novel, it’s a drop-everything-else affair, and DEAD is alive with pleasure. Because Pendergast makes a delayed entrance in the narrative, there’s a bit of an uphill push before the ball gets rolling, but once it does, there’s no stopping it, especially since the master plan Diogenes puts into action is fiendishly ingenious and original. These two know how to craft a populist thriller, and the addition of Egyptology this time ’round only adds to the fun. Their characters – also stars of earlier books like THE RELIC and THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES (still my favorite) – have become like family. Not the kind you that drive you crazy, but the kind you see for only a few days every year or two, so you actually look forward to their visit.

But I must take issue with Preston and Child’s claim that the previous novels do not have to be read first; anyone who hasn’t will be at least halfway lost. There is too much history between these characters that goes unspoken, too many threads carried over that are unexplained. Even I cannot recall everything that went on in BRIMSTONE or DANCE WITH DEATH, possibly because in the year-long gaps between each installment, I read 100 other books. An additional few sentences to re-establish the situation at hand would have been helpful, or even a “the story so far” introductory page.

They’ve said themselves that this Pendergast trilogy is really just one big book cut into three pieces. As a whole, it works as a grand epic of thrills and chills, with a colorful cast thrown into a whirlwind of cliffhangers. Separately, they work, too, but only if you start from the beginning. You’ll want to. –Rod Lott

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• DANCE OF DEATH by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• TYRANNOSAUR CANYON by Douglas Preston