Its time to rate the Pendergasts

I can't believe its been about 12 years since I first picked up the Relic while in high school.  Relic is the first in the Pendergast series and, in my opinion, still the best to date.  I'm really fortunate to have picked up this book, in a drug store, I believe, because I was drawn in by the spine-chilling cover design.  Too bad, there is a new edition with, in my opinion, a much blander cover.  There have been so far around 10 Pendergast books and, I've actually read all but one and kudos to me for subconsciously turning into an official Preston/Child fan.  I suppose its time to rate them all...in chronological order

The Relic -- ★★★★★
Pendergast's debut, still pretty human in this one (grin).  If any of them deserves a five star, its the Relic.

 The Reliquary -- ★★★☆

Sequal to Relic.  I could not for the world of it get over the transformation of the grumpy but nice professor.  I get the feeling, P/C simply ran out of good villains to render a climactic ending.
Cabinet of Curiosities -- ★★★★
Solid, strong, creepy as hell suspense/thriller. And 891 Riverdrive mansion, what a house!!
 
Stilllife of Crows -- ★★★☆
One of the standalone cases.  I'd like to think of it as Pendergast taking a small detour while on vacation.
 
Brimstone --★★★★
First of the Diogenes series.  Pretty solid addition to the series.
 
Dance of Death  & Book of Dead -- ★★★
Should really be combined into one book.  Both rather mediocre.  Pendergast going through internal struggling and facing up to his worst fears.  I really need to re-read these two. 
 
Wheel of Darkness -- ★★★
Standalone.  This is my least favorite of the series.  Not that the writing is bad.  The writing is consistently decent.  But I find it extremely hard to accept the whole idea behind this "quest"....its morally flawed.
 
Fever Dream  -- ★★★★
This one gets 4 stars because the whole book focuses on Pendergast, and its a Pendergast we've never seen before.  He is extremely pissed off from beginning till end, on the verge of losing his otherwise steel-like self
control more than once in the book, he is ruthless and relentless after the villains.  And he definitely shows emotions.  In short, Pendergast is very human for the first time.  I was flabbergasted when I read one of the latter chapters where Pendergast had a "little fun" with those swamp guys....Is this REALLY the Pendergast we thought we know???  But overall, the story starts out very strong, and kinda falls flat towards the end.  Actually, the story doesn't really end, it beckons a sequal....