I have found the ultimate answer to Chuck Norris.

Okay so as many of you know I love to read. And while not a true bibliophile like my father I have an insatiable hunger for a good story. Well about a month ago I stumbled upon a novel called Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. If that title sounds familiar then you may not be surprised to learn that it is the novel upon which the atrocious motion picture The Relic starring Tom Sizemore was based. Now as you can probably tell I did not think much of the movie however the overall story was good enough to make me wonder if there was a book and if so what was left out that could have made it all the better.


Well my friends the answer is simple. FBI Special Agent Aloyisius X.L. Pendergast. You see what the movie did was it removed the true hero of the story and gave that title to a supporting if not equally bad ass character named NYPD Lt. Vincent D'gosta. So what makes Pendergast so wothy of the challenging of Chuck Norris. Well I'll tell you.

While at first glance Pendergast may seem unassuming and even a pushover, appearances can be deceiving. The man is a former special ops warrior, a master of disguise and a supernaturally effective investigator on par with the legendary Sherlock Holmes. While reading subsequent Pendergast novels Reliquary, Brimstone, Dance of Death and The Book of the Dead, it is quite clear that in a world of no originality, Pendergast comes as close as one could hope to a truly original character. He is described as a man who shows all the signs of a sociopath but has a true love for his closest friends, best shown in the Holmes/Watson relationship he has with Lt. D'gosta. He is a well cultured man with an appreciation for wine, books, history, art, music and food. His brilliance is matched only by his deadliness in tight situations. And of course just like Holmes he has his own Moriarty. Diogenes Pendergast his brother. An equally brilliant and infinitely insane man, Diogenes is driven to cause his brother pain and suffering on an almost biblical scale.

All in all Pendergast is one of the best heroes in contemporary fiction and if you like a good detective story I suggest you pick up one of his books. I promise you will not be dissapointed.

Til' we meet again

Paul

P.S. I almost forgot Pendergast is all those things plus a southern gentleman from New Orleans.