History Literature / TheWheelOfDarkness

''The Wheel of Darkness'' is a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child first published in 2007. It is part of their informal [[Literature/AgentPendergast Agent Pendergast series]].

After her ordeal at the hands of Diogenes in ''Literature/BookOfTheDead'', Pendergast takes Constance on a world tour to introduce her into the modern world and hopefully heal her wounds. They end their journey at a Tibetan monastery, where Constance is schooled in the same meditation techniques Pendergast has mastered. While there, the monks reveal a devastating loss of an AncientArtifact designed to cleanse the world of humanity's evils. They implore Pendergast to retrieve it and return it to their protection. Pendergast tracks the artifact to the maiden voyage of the ocean liner Britannia, where it's evils are released on four thousand people trapped in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Constance visited an abortion clinic between the end of ''Literature/BookOfTheDead'' and the beginning of the novel. [[spoiler:In the end, she reveals she couldn't go through with it]].

* SequelEpisode: In a way, this novel is one to ''Literature/BookOfTheDead'' [[spoiler: resolving the plot of Diogenes's child with Constance.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler: After Pendergast gets a new change in attitude, Constance repeatedly states that what he's doing now goes against everything he's believed in in the past.]]

After her ordeal at the hands of Diogenes in ''Literature/BookOfTheDead'', Pendergast takes Constance on a world tour to introduce her into the modern world and hopefully heal her wounds. They end their journey at a Tibetan monastery, where Constance is schooled in the same meditation techniques Pendergast has mastered. While there, the monks reveal a devastating loss of an ancient artifact designed to cleanse the world of humanity's evils. They implore Pendergast to retrieve it and return it to their protection. Pendergast tracks the artifact to the maiden voyage of the ocean liner Britannia, where it's evils are released on four thousand people trapped in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

* MoralDissonance: Upon finding out the nature of the Agozyen's function [[spoiler: Pendergast returns it to the monks after recovering it instead of destroying it]].

* [[spoiler: TheKillerInMe]]: [[spoiler: Mason has been attempting to stop the murders on the ship. Blackburn, who's already been confirmed to be behind the Agozyen theft, looks to be the suspect. Turns out Mason's the killer and she's been using the murders as a cover to start a mutiny and take over the ship.]]

* HowUnscientific: [[spoiler: Generally, the fantastical elements of the Pendergast novels fall in the realm of mild ScienceFiction. However, the events of this novel includes truly supernatural elements, such as the tulpa. At the end Pendergast explains that it's just something modern science hasn't figured out yet.]]