Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

August 31, 2025

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

On the night of June 14, 1838, the boiler on the steamship Pulaski exploded, sinking the ship and killing 128 passengers and crew. Only 59 people survived. In 2018, the wreckage of the Pulaski was found off the coast of North Carolina. History professor Everly Winthrop is enlisted to curate the museum exhibit of artifacts found on the wreck.

DNF at 60%. I just didn't care about any of the characters, but especially not Everly and her mountains of baggage that the author keeps shoving at the reader. Also, Everly had an attitude of "I'm so much better than you are because I live here." I picked up this novel after seeing a program about the Pulaski on the Discovery Channel, where the author was interviewed about the disaster. The ship is called the Titanic of the South and had many of the same characteristics as the Titanic (loads of wealthy passengers, not enough lifeboats, valuing speed more than safety, etc.). I was far more interested in the lives of the people on the ship than I was in the present day characters. Disappointing since I have read and enjoyed other books by this author.

A model of the SS Pulaski

Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs

September 18, 2022

Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs

On their way back to New York following the successful completion of a case, FBI Special Agents Aloysius Pendergast and Armstrong Coldmoon are diverted to Savannah to investigate an unusual death. The body of a hotel manager has been found completely drained of blood with no rational explanation how it was done. When a second body, a college student, is found a short time later in the same condition, the media quickly dub the killer The Savannah Vampire. Yet there seems to be a connection to the FBI's oldest unsolved case. The investigation takes the two agents and Constance Green, Pendergast's mysterious ward, on a desperate hunt through Savannah's landmark buildings and cemeteries.

This is the 20th book in the Agent Pendergast series (I missed #19 somehow and have it on order at the library). I always enjoy the Pendergast novels, especially the audiobooks. The narrator gets Pendergast's intonations just right. Although the books are classified as mysteries, there are frequently supernatural overtones, and this one leans pretty far into the paranormal. It sounds like the next book may involve time trave back to the 19th century.

Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, where some of the action takes place

The statue of the girl with the birds that two of the characters are trying to find at Bonaventure. The statue graced the cover of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," one of my all-time favorite nonfiction books. The statue was moved out of Bonaventure over 20 years ago.