  brimstone is a novel written by douglas preston and lincoln child, published on august 3, 2004 by warner books. this is the fifth book in the special agent pendergast series and the first novel in the diogenes trilogy that also includes dance of death (2005) and the book of the dead (2006).brimstone (pendergast #5) ==plot summary== fbi special agent aloysius x.l. pendergast and sergeant vincent d'agosta, now working for the southampton police department, investigate a series of unusual deathsâdeaths that appear to be the work of lucifer in return for pacts entered in with him by his victims.brimstone mass market paperback their investigation takes them from the new york city area, site of the first two deaths, to florence, italy where they uncover the motive and method of the killers behind the strange and gruesome deaths. during the course of unraveling the mystery, the truth behind a priceless, missing stradivarius violin is revealed and a potentially apocalyptic riot with messianic christians is averted. pendergast also reveals details of his insane brother diogenes, whom he believes is planning something horrible. ==references to other literary works== *the entombing of pendergast in the catacombs under fosco's home bears a deliberate literary allusion to "the cask of amontillado" by edgar allan poe.playing hell with readers: two excellent writers talk about their terrific new thriller, brimstone *an alias d'agosta uses on the telephone, jack torrance, is the name of the main character in the shining, a novel by stephen king. *the character of count fosco is a tribute to the classic character of the same name, a villain in wilkie collins's novel the woman in white. ==references==  ==external links== *[http://www.prestonchild.com/brimstone/brim
2004_novels 21st-century_American_novels Literary_collaborations Novels_by_Douglas_Preston Novels_by_Lincoln_Child Techno-thriller_novels