From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors: Racing to uncover the mystery of several severed feet found floating in the Gulf of Mexico, Agent Pendergast is faced with the most inexplicable challenge of his career.
A startling crime with dozens of victims. Appearing out of nowhere to horrify the quiet resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida, dozens of identical, ordinary-looking shoes float in on the tide and are washed up on the tropical beach—each one with a crudely severed human foot inside.
A ghastly enigma with no apparent solution. Called away from vacation elsewhere in the state, Agent Pendergast reluctantly agrees to visit the crime scene—and, despite himself, is quickly drawn in by the incomprehensible puzzle. An early pathology report only adds to the mystery. With an ocean of possibilities confronting the investigation, no one is sure what happened, why, or from where the feet originated. And they desperately need to know: are the victims still alive?
A worthy challenge for a brilliant mind. In short order, Pendergast finds himself facing the most complex and inexplicable challenge of his career: a tangled thread of evidence that spans seas and traverses continents, connected to one of the most baffling mysteries in modern medical science. Through shocking twists and turns, all trails lead back to a powerful adversary with a sadistic agenda and who—in a cruel irony—ultimately sees in Pendergast the ideal subject for their malevolent research.
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"This one I see has gotten mixed reception but personally I like this book. Pendergast in in his natural element here and that is investigating bizzare crime scenes. You can't really ask for more than that in a book with a character like this. Also I like that Coldmoon is getting more love from the author personally I think they make a great duo. "
— Wukong99 (5 out of 5 stars)
“Pendergast is back and better than ever.”
— Real Book Spy“Jefferson Mays gives a sensationally entertaining performance of this latest entry in Preston and Child’s Pendergast mystery series. Mays’s dry cultured elocution perfectly represents Pendergast’s personality…The real tour de force in Mays’s performance is his utter attention and commitment to the plot. He is your perfect partner in suspending disbelief, the open sesame to the pleasures of this kind of high-voltage blam-pow adventure. Kudos. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile“Exciting. Nail-biting. Quality storytelling.”
— Publishers Weekly“There is plenty of suspense, and the action gets bloody. Great storytelling, a quirky hero, and a quirkier plot make this a winner for adventure fans.”
— Kirkus Reviews“Red herrings and dead ends abound in this especially intricately plotted entry in the Pendergast series, which is also noteworthy (as usual) for its finely drawn characters and its writing style, which overlays contemporary storytelling with a light ornate flavoring.”
— Booklist[An] action-filled adventure [...] There is plenty of suspense, and the action gets bloody. Great storytelling, a quirky hero, and a quirkier plot make this a winner for adventure fans.
— KirkusPreston and Child know how to craft compelling stories that are both baffling and surprising. The cast of characters feels authentic and moves the story forward in unexpected ways.... the authors are masters of the procedural with a gothic flair.
— p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Associated Press[Pendergast] still remains the most charming, intelligent, cool, and creepy agent ever written...Read this. As fast as possible. Preston & Child have once again created the unimaginable and you just can't miss it!
— Suspense MagazineAgent Pendergast is back and better than ever.
— The Real Book SpyRed herrings and dead ends abound in this especially intricately plotted entry in the Pendergast series, which is also noteworthy (as usual) for its finely drawn characters and its writing style, which overlays contemporary storytelling with a light ornate flavoring.
— BooklistThe best mystery series going today. Preston and Child display a true masters' touch. This is riveting reading entertainment of the highest order.
— Providence JournalFast moving and [...] tense. . . Crooked River is another great entry in this series. Preston and Child keep them coming, don't they?
— p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}New York Journal of BooksCrooked River by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child combines a sinister global threat, a mystery suing modern medical science, and a powerful, sadistic antagonist. Who better than to combat these but unorthodox FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast...This compelling story moves forward in unexpected ways. Readers will enjoy going on a journey with Pendergast and company.
— p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}CrimespreeCROOKED RIVER is worth the price of admission, and Preston & Child find themselves with another surefire hit on their hands.
— p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}BookreporterAn incredible adventure.
— p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}NJ.comDoug Preston and Lincoln Child's master detective A.X.L. Pendergast is every bit the modern equivalent of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. And his investigative skills have never been sharper than in the altogether brilliant Verses for the Dead. . . A throwback to classic crime fiction while maintaining a sharp, postmodern edge.
— Providence Journal" Bring back René Auberjonois, this narrator is no good. Sounds like he's reading a cookbook, no soul, no commitment. René Auberjonois is Pendergast. "
— Stagis, 1/3/2023" Loved all the books until now. The voice of this narrator ruins the mood...bring back René A. "
— Per Stagis , 1/2/2023" This was our first Preston and Child audio novel, and we found it to be too gory for our taste. We enjoy other murder mystery novels by the likes of Baldacci, Silva, and Patterson. We will not be getting any more of these. "
— kwil, 3/1/2022Douglas Preston has published forty books of both nonfiction and fiction, of which over thirty have been New York Times bestsellers, several also 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.
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.
Jefferson Mays, an Earphones Awards-winning narrator, is also an award-winning theater and film actor. In 2004 he won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, and a Theatre World Award for his solo Broadway performance in I Am My Own Wife, a Pulitzer Prize–winning play by Doug Wright. He holds a BA from Yale College and an MFA from University of California–San Diego.