Brimstone

The fifth installment of the Special Agent Pendergrast series and the first in the Diogenes Trilogy, Brimstone (2004), a detective novel by American authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, tells the story of an FBI Agent who investigates a series of mysterious deaths that may be connected to the Devil himself. The narrative of Brimstone is continued in 2005's Dance of Death and concluded in 2006's The Book of the Dead.

Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergrast, a special agent with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, works out of the agency's branch in New Orleans, which is also his hometown. A Southern dandy who enjoys fine wine and cuisine, Pendergrast is a brilliant investigator who can speak at least six languages fluently and is a master of psychological manipulation. With his black hand-tailored wool suits and extremely pale complexion, Pendergrast is often likened to an undertaker in his appearance.

Pendergrast is invited to Southampton, New York to investigate the bizarre death of Jeremy Grove, a notoriously ruthless art critic. Grove's body is found in a locked attic roasted from the inside out, and beside his corpse, there is an impression of a cloven hoof, like one that belongs to a goat but much bigger. There is also a large burn mark on Grove's chest in the shape of a cross. Furthermore, the sulfuric smell of brimstone hangs in the air at the scene of the murder. Local investigators do their best to keep the lurid details of the death concealed, but a reporter named Bryce Harriman uncovers the strange facts of the case. He runs a sensationalist story attributing Grove's death to the devil incarnate, triggering panic throughout the New York area. The details surrounding the death, Harriman writes, are consistent with the horrors said to befall those who make pacts with Satan. The panic intensifies after record producer Nigel Cutforth is found dead in his Manhattan apartment from similar circumstances, only this time the impression of a Satanic face is found on the wall next to the corpse.



Joining Pendergrast in his investigation are Sergeant Vincent D'Agosta—a New Yorker of Italian descent who recently rejoined the force following a stint as a crime writer—and D'Agosta's partner and sometime lover, Laura Hayward. As the three of them investigate the scenes of the crimes, a group of Messianic Christians led by ex-con preacher Wayne P. Buck gathers and sets up a tent encampment in Central Park across from Cutforth's apartment. Buck and his followers believe that the Satanic murders are a sign that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is imminent.

Pendergrast, D'Agosta, and Hayward follow a lead to the Italian countryside near Florence, Italy. Visiting a crumbling castle owned by the strange and suspicious Count Fosco, they discover that Fosco and three of his associates are murdering individuals as part of a presumed pact with Satan so they can uncover the location of an extremely rare Stradivarius violin. At this point in the narrative, Pendergrast reveals to his partners that he has a criminally insane brother named Diogenes, whom he believes is somehow connected to the crimes. Pendergrast does not know the whereabouts of Diogenes, but he has an ominously bad feeling about a certain date: January 28. This, Pendergrast assumes, will be the date of Diogenes' biggest and most heinous crime. Meanwhile, back in New York, the Messianic Christians are on the verge of an apocalyptic riot as they await the arrival of their lord and savior.

After learning of Count Fosco's association with an ancient sect and its murder pact which he believes will grant him the rare violin, Pendergrast is knocked unconscious by Fosco. When he wakes up, he finds himself buried alive behind a wall of recently laid bricks, in a reference to the Edgar Allan Poe short story, "The Cask of Amontillado." Just as Pendergrast is about to run out of oxygen, however, his wicked brother bursts through the bricks to save him—though Pendergrast is certain that Diogenes has an evil ulterior motive for doing so. The book ends on this cliffhanger, and the narrative is continued in the sequel, Dance of Death.



In its review of Brimstone, Publishers Weekly writes, "Erudite, swiftly paced, brimming (occasionally overbrimming) with memorable personae and tense set pieces, this is the perfect thriller to stuff in a beach bag."