STILL LIFE WITH CROWS

And finally, today, I finished reading Preston-Child's tale of small-town Kansas serial murder STILL LIFE WITH CROWS. Again, the authors treat us to recurring character Special Agent Pendergast as he investigates a series of twisted murders in the bowels of the cornfields of Medicine Creek, Kansas. The murders are MOST gruesome in this book, and after coming off THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES I am wondering if my favorite authors will ever return to their rollicking adventures as put forth by THUNDERHEAD and RIPTIDE. The Midwest characters in SLWC are a little too cliched for me, especially since I am from the midwest myself. But even with the book's flaws, Preston-Child once again know how to tell one hell of a story. And I'm sure that if I ever lived in Illinois again, I don't know if I would ever want to be stuck out in the cornfields again. If not for anything else, Preston-Child know how to paint the environment that their characters find themselves in. All of the senses get detailed with explicitness. SLWC doesn't achieve the same chills as their previous effort, THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, but that's probably a GOOD thing for my heart, because I don't think I could have taken anything more intense than what COC presented. Both books are excellent reads.....Tomorrow I will start reading Preston-Childs' BRIMSTONE- which already promises to be yet ANOTHER trip down Goosebump Lane.