
Dance of Death
Douglas Preston
2005 · 560 pages · Thriller
How it reads
Dance of Death is thriller (serial-killer thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.
It's set in several locations, in the present day, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are family, secrets and justice. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.
It's a later book in a series — you'll usually want to start earlier. The ending resolves happily. At 560 pages it's a real commitment. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something tense
- you want a book that pulls you through
- you want to be sure it ends well
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy or heartwarming
- you want dense, lingering prose
- you want something you can finish this weekend
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- thriller
- Author gender
- male
- Author experience
- prolific veteran
- Setting: place
- multiple locations
- Setting: time
- contemporary
- Mood / feeling
- tense
- Pace
- fast paced
- Tone / weight
- balanced
- Length
- long
- Narrative style
- third person, several viewpoints
- Publication era
- modern classic
- Popularity
- well known
- Series vs standalone
- later in a series
- Ending style
- resolved and happy
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
Fever DreamDouglas PrestonShares: thriller, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
The Jigsaw ManNadine MathesonShares: thriller, tense mood, balanced tone, serial-killer thriller- Aún Siguen Aquí (Novela) / the Family Remains (a Novel)Lisa JewellShares: thriller, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
Turning AngelGreg IlesShares: thriller, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
WonderlandJennifer HillierShares: thriller, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
GoneLisa GardnerShares: thriller, tense mood, fast paced, resolved and happy ending
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