LOOKING FORWARD TO 2026: PENDERGAST by DOUGLAS PRESTON & LINCOLN CHILD and PARADOX by DOUGLAS PRESTON & ALETHEIA PRESTON
Fans of the thrillers by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are in for a real treat in 2026! Coming in January is an origin story for their popular series about the extraordinary FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast, while in April we have the sequel to Preston’s Extinction.
Pendergast: The Beginning, (Grand Central Publishing, 27 January 2026), is an origin story for the enigmatic FBI agent. Set before the events of Relic, where we first met Pendergast, it goes back to his first shocking case.
New Orleans in the early 1990s, and Special Agent Dwight Chambers’ life is in free fall. First, he lost his partner, and then, tragically, his wife. Returning to work at the New Orleans Field Office, Chambers is drinking too much and is dismayed to find himself saddled with mentoring a brand new FBI agent, the quirky A. X. L. Pendergast. As Chambers tries to pull himself together, his unfathomable and exasperating junior partner pulls an outrageous stunt that gets both of them suspended.
Pendergast welcomes the banishment, because it gives him the opportunity to investigate a peculiar murder in Mississippi that has captured his fancy. Chambers grudgingly goes along. What starts off as a whimsical quest swiftly turns into a terrifying pursuit, as Chambers and Pendergast uncover a string of grisly, ritualistic killings that defy any known serial killer profile.
Pendergast: The Beginning is a very atmospheric and chilling thriller. It starts out as a hunt for a serial killer, but then around the halfway point it unexpectedly turns into something very different. The pacing is good throughout, with the additional viewpoint of a captive of the serial killer adding to the early suspense. The descriptions of New Orleans and the Louisiana swamps are rich, and give the book a strong sense of place, and the secondary characters and villains are well described and interesting.
There are misdirections, surprises and gruesome events along the way to the final showdown, which is spectacularly good and bloody, with the usual Preston and Child touches of the extraordinary.
Fans of the series will greatly enjoy seeing Pendergast as a rookie agent, with a mysterious past, on his first case. Although a new agent, he already has that sly arrogance that becomes so evident later in the series, but he is willing to learn from the more steadfast and wily Chambers. Being set in Louisiana, the book does allow the authors to dive into Pendergast’s fascinating family legacy, brimming with secrets, unique eccentricities, and wild rumours. There is also a significant appearance by a tough ex-military contractor, known as Proctor, who goes on to become Pendergast’s chauffeur in later books.
I thoroughly enjoyed Pendergast: The Beginning, and think that it is the best entry in the series for some time. It is certainly one to add to your reading list for 2026.
Pendergast: The Beginning is released in the United States on 27 January 2026 and in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2026. Release date for Australia is not clear.
Douglas Preston’s Extinction (2024) was a good fun read that showcased his ability to mix Crichton-like speculative ideas with a fast moving and exciting storyline.
The story revolved around a ill-advised attempt to bring creatures back from extinction and ended in an unexpected way that set the groundwork for a sequel. Coming in April 2026, we get that sequel, which Preston has written in conjunction with his daughter Aletheia Preston.
The publishers have provided the following plot details:
“One of the holiest relics in Christendom, inexplicably defaced…
A paranoid old prospector, ritualistically murdered…
A controversial exobiologist, tortured and dismembered…
When a reclusive man is found dead under grisly circumstances in the Colorado wilderness, CBI Agent Frankie Cash and Eagle County Sheriff Jim Colcord team up again on their most enigmatic and dangerous case yet. Their investigation uncovers a trail of bizarre killings, baffling money transfers, and a fanatical secret society.
And all the while, the resurrected Neanderthals, who vanished into the Colorado mountains, seem to be biding their time for something…spectacular.”
I enjoyed Extinction (see review below) and I am greatly looking forward to reading Paradox in the New Year. It should be a highly entertaining thriller.
Paradox is scheduled for release on 21 April 2026.
Here is the link to my review of Extinction: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/april-action-2024-three-good-thrillers-by-christopher-reich-c-j-tudor-and-douglas-preston/