Reliquary (Pendergast, Book 2)

I love this book - the second book of the Pendergast series is just as fun and enthralling as the first (Relic). I actually think this one had my blood pumping more than the first one, but it's a close call. Very highly recommend!

This story is a sequel to Relic. If you haven't read Relic but plan to, hold off and read Relic first. Relic in my opinion is one of the most suspenseful exciting mystery stories I have ever read. Reliquary picks up where Relic left off. It also does it one better. It will spoil Relic however of you have not read it, but it is not necessary to read Relic first to get full impact from this book. This is a certified "can't out down" book and you can just go ahead and dedicate the weekend to it. Once you start reading it will impossible to put down for any length of time. The gangs all here with Margo Green, Vinnie DAgosta, Frock, Smithback and of course the indefatiguable Pendergast. This is an essential in the Pendergast series and serves as a great introduciton to one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters in contemporary fiction. The Reliquary is gripping from the first page. NYPD divers discover 2 skeletons while diving for a disgarded heroine package. The remains are fairly fresh but missing the heads and exhibit teeth marks in assorted spots; was it wild dogs, rats or something else? The plot goes into overdrive from there and climaxes in the deep mysterious underground world of New York City's abandoned subway tunnels. It is part, "Night Stalker" part "X-Files" and all scary. This is best of genre type novel and raises the bar for semi-supernatural suspense murder mysteries. A movie would an amazing event indeed provided they could find someone to play Pendergast properly. I discovered Preston and Child with "Cabinet of Curiosities" and have been on a crusade to read everything they have ever written. This book is wonderful and I can't imagine any one being disappointed with it. Highly recommended!

I don't know how writers write in the first place; coming up with the ideas, and then creating an entire world and characters and keeping track of it all and binding it together into a novel; this is one of the best I have ever read, and certainly the most original...emphasizing an underground world, a subterranean society, reminding one of the Morlocks in "The Time Machine." This underground group has a basis in fact, and it is chilling and morbidly fascinating to realize that people live, eat, sleep and create their own societies far below the sidewalks of New York. I found the description of an old underground railroad, (created especially for the Vanderbilt crowd so they wouldn't have to mingle wth the "unwashed masses") absolutely astounding; first that it existed at all, and second, that there are still remnants of the railroad and it's former luxurious appointments. Another irony is, it is now in the domain of said unwashed masses...all that beauty, all that expense and luxury now covered with the filth of the underground and it's denizens. The story is fascinating, as always, and keeps you on the edge of your seat, as always...I think Agent Pendergast is one of the best and believable, original characters to emerge from the literary world since Sherlock Holmes, and I have no doubt the two would get along famously. I was enthralled wiht the vivid descritpion of Pendergasy's sumptuous apartment, and espceially enthralled wiht a Bonsai forest on one of his tables; a miniature stand of sugar maples, planted at different times, and just coming into their fall colors. A change of season on a coffee table; fantastic! The most mundane events turn, quickly, into a tragedy of horror beyond belief; and the good guys, some of them, also meet their match at the book's gut-wrenching climax. I automatically buy any books with Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston because here we are fortunate enough to have authors of sublime excellence in every way. If ONLY the movie, if there is one, and really, it cries out to be made into a movie, would be, if adhered to and the screenplay done by the original authors, a true blockbuster. Nevr has there been such a unique and thrilling story...

One imagines there are inherent difficulties in collaborative work, but Preston and Child are so successful that one hopes they've found some mutually satisfying solution, so that they never stop! RELIC was a fine thriller, set in the NY Museum of Natural History, a dark labyrinth of curious objects. This time the pivotal scenes take place below New York City, in the dark labyrinths of subway tunnels, sewer drains and abandoned egresses, while the characters are the same. This is a true sequel, so do yourself a big favor and read RELIC first. You'll find the same main characters: anthropologist Margo Green, FBI Special Agent Pendergast, police lieutenant D'Agosta and reporter Bill Smithback, and it's nice to see them because they're all interesting and intelligent characters. A new character is introduced, Sargeant Hayward, who is also intelligent and cynical about her idiotic and sexist superiors. She gravitates toward our group, in a sort of Ayn Rand meets Stephen King way.This time out someone or something has been killing homeless people, and our protagonists must learn about and enter the frightening depths below The City. The plot intensifies as they realize that one of the victims is someone they knew during the events of the first book.My only complaint is that the book took a while to get going, for me at least, and really only took off after page 100, when Pendergast showed up. From there it is a superb thriller, and I stayed up to finish it until 4 am, turning pages quickly, interested in all the story threads as they played out and converged.Masterful, intelligent and thrilling, this is a great read -- but read RELIC first!!

When I first heard Reliquary was coming out as the sequel toThe Relic, I said no way will be even close to as good as The Relic,but I was wrong. The sequel is good and well written. It improvedthe understanding of the first one a lot. In this one the characters are more developed and some new essential characters are introduced and described very well. For those of you who do not know this book is basically about a monster like thing from somewhere unknown. It was thought to be dead and killed in the original book, but now police are discovering horrible deaths in New York... This book was very good because of the characters. The NY police chief D'Agosta was the perfect grunt policeman. He knew how to do the dirty work to get the job done. He was perfect because he is built up for authority and intimidation. This book also improves on the original because you keep the same characters, like the museum worker Margo, and the Museum head Dr. Frock. Margo matures in this book to a smarter woman who discovers things she couldn't imagine. You also get great descriptions in this book about places. For example, you get an imaginary tour through the sewers with true homeless people. You also get to see all the old abandoned train stations and the true underground of NYC. However, my favorite descriptions are about the bodies they discover in the river and everywhere else. They could only be made a devil-like creature. This is by far one of the best books I have ever read because of the completely original idea and the attention to detail. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Reliquary grabs you at the start and holds on for dear life until the last 50 or so pages. Please understand the whole book is great, but the ending appeared to be a bit contrived, almost as if the authors were tired and said "Let's just end this thing." I would recommend this book to anyone who is an adrenalin junkie ( and who isnt really). Not a book to be read at night or while alone. You will hear strange scrambling noises and smell goatish odors. Douglas and Childs have not received the recognition they so richly deserve. I know everyone says it, but they did create something to compete with Jurassic Park and then when they wrote this sequal, unlike Crighton and his The Lost World, they did bother to put in time and effort to keep their fans enthralled and scared witless.( Except for the end.) But hey, even with the ending being a bit disappointing the rest of the book is worth the cost of buying this book in hard cover and then after reading it, paying the extra charge on your light bill, because you wont dare turn off the lights for days. Buy it!!!!! Read it!!!!!! Scream for the movie!!!!