Still Life With Crows (Pendergast, #4) in Pendergast Task Force

Feb 27, 2008 Jennifer A.M. rated it it was amazing

STILL LIFE WITH CROWS transports readers to the cornfields of Medicine Creek, Kansas as it bakes in the fiery heat of the dusty month of August. In a mysteriously cleared section of a field "…the broken stalks carefully stacked to one side, leave an area of dirt clods and stubble perhaps forty feet in diameter the sheriff finds himself marveling at the geometric precision" of the murder site. Surrounded by what looks like a ritualistic array of bizarre artifacts lies a mutilated body that the sh STILL LIFE WITH CROWS transports readers to the cornfields of Medicine Creek, Kansas as it bakes in the fiery heat of the dusty month of August. In a mysteriously cleared section of a field "…the broken stalks carefully stacked to one side, leave an area of dirt clods and stubble perhaps forty feet in diameter the sheriff finds himself marveling at the geometric precision" of the murder site. Surrounded by what looks like a ritualistic array of bizarre artifacts lies a mutilated body that the sheriff can merely guess is the corpse of a woman.
  This savage act is the first homicide in this backwater, dying little town since 1931. Not only is it a horrendous killing, it is stylized to resemble rituals ascribed to local myths and old legends attributed to the Native Americans who inhabited that land long ago. And the self-important, bombastic, thoroughly narrow-minded sheriff is too ornery to admit he is in over his head. In wanders a special agent in his trademark black worsted suit. He is a stranger, and from the South, and immediately falls under suspicion. 

 An opening like this is a real hook. How can a reader resist? Shades of the gothic novel, shadows of horror fiction, and double doses of suspense are the elements that hold this story together. The crimes committed in this book are far from ordinary. The town and its people are depicted in raw detail with all of their flaws and endearing qualities, if they have any.

Kansas, like many states, has its share of Native American legends, stories of bootleg whiskey and battles lost or won, but how could any of these have a link to "the inexplicable movements of a serial killer" in the twenty-first century? Of course, many books that take place in small rural towns take on a seedy quality, but STILL LIFE WITH CROWS escapes this flaw because it rises above the ordinary even, as it closes in on the killer. 

As it happens, the man in the black worsted suit is an FBI agent named Pendergast, who has appeared in other Preston-Child collaborations. He is a modern day Holmesian-like sleuth with an astounding memory and the amazing ability to rattle off arcane facts just as easily as he takes care of ordinary common sense business.

Authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child let readers wander the landscape of the plot and examine a clue here or a bit of "inside" information there … and this makes reading their books fun.  STILL LIFE WITH CROWS is a terrific whodunit and a page-turner that takes readers on a strange trip through a part of America that is slowly dying out. Fans of the suspense/horror/thriller genre(s) will find themselves thoroughly captivated. One thing is certain: this isn't Dorothy's Kansas anymore. ...more

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Jul 30, 2013 Donna rated it it was amazing

Can I say anything more about these books? I have read four of them in four days. Taken out of New York, Pendergast still manages to be his unique self, while recognizing special qualities in others that they don't realize they have. The ending would be powerful enough, but to set it during a devastating storm, complete with tornados, sets it above even the chase at the end of "The Cabinet of Curiosities". READ THESE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 ...more

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Feb 19, 2010 Shane rated it liked it

Shelves: action-thriller-mystery-suspense

Pendergast meets Corrie Swanson for the first time.

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Oct 23, 2008 Douglas rated it it was amazing

First read Nov 3, 2007
Listened to on audio. This book fully develops the Pendergast character. I have enjoyed the whole series .

Listened to this for the fourth time during the Christmas break in December 2023. This is where the Corrie Swanson character is introduced. This character will be developed further over the years of this series and become a major character in some later stories. As always the Pendergast stories are always so entertaining.

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Sep 24, 2008 Mitchell rated it really liked it

Shelves: pendergast-novels

This is another in the Agent Pendergast series. This had a much less fantastic and supernatural premise than the others that he has been in. I really enjoyed this book and the ending brought an exceptional conclusion to the mystery while the subplot traveling through the series created a high level of suspense for the future books. I finished this one and went immediately into the next.

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Aug 07, 2008 Joanna rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, favorites

Pretty good. Cannibalism, boiled bodies, genetically engineered corn...everything you need for a good night. Pendergast is great as usual and his side kick in this book is particularly fun-they make an interesting team.

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