Relic

After reading Lincoln Child's Deep Storm, I was hooked and wanted to read more from the author. Then I discovered that he is one half of a super-powered writing team - Preston & Child! And then I discovered that their first book, Relic, was made into one of my favourite movies.

Discovering new favourite authors this way is the most sublime thing ever.

I won't rehash the plot, but basically it's this: People start dying in a horrid way in a museum. Southern gentleman FBI agent Pendagrast and Detective D'Agosta to the rescue! Now, Pendagrast didn't end up in the movie, and I think the movie is poorer for it. I love the details the authors have put into it, how they gently and most assuredly littered clues about our beastie's origins and nature and how they expertly built the tension in the plot.

The movie is definitely more ‘direct', but can you believe it's not as gory as the book? The authors really do not pull ANY punches with this book: There's eye-watering violence being done to people and creatures you never want see hurt.

A great book, even if a little too long. Can't wait to plunder the duo's many books - great for those who love the “creature of the week” episodes on X-Files!

So, as you all may have figured out, I've been on a Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child kick lately. After interviewing Preston a few months ago (and having never really read any of their books prior to that interview), I thought it was high time I delve deep into their rich, crisp world of crime and the macabre...specifically, concentrating on the fantastic FBI Agent Aloysius X.L. Pendergast series. And I'll admit, I'm thoroughly hooked! I'll also freely admit that I haven't really read the series in order (not that you necessarily have to). There are definitely certain sub-series that helps to read consecutively (i.e. the Diogenes series), but it really isn't that big a deal if you don't. Well, now, I'm down to only three Pendergast novels that I haven't read. Oddly, the very last book I read was the very first in the series...a novel simply entitled “RELIC” (1995). I have one word to describe it...WOW!

Okay, first of all, let me start by saying...if you saw the movie based on this book from a few years back, don't even give it a second thought. I've never seen the movie (and gladly so), but I've heard enough about it to tell you it was a complete travesty of justice as far as the book is concerned. Once again, Hollywood completely ripped a fantastic story to shreds in their attempt to make it more palatable for a two hour romp inside a dark theater...and apparently, they weren't even smart enough to keep the best character in the book! That's right, they totally deleted Pendergast from the movie! How could they possibly do that? Granted, in RELIC, Pendergast is a supporting character (though an intrinsically necessary one).

But enough about the movie. Needless to say, if you've seen it, forget about it. If you haven't seen it, you're not missing anything. Just read the book. You'll be glad you did.

Essentially, the book takes place with the fictionalized equivalent to New York City's American Museum of Natural History, where curators are getting ready for a huge extravaganza...the Superstition exhibition. As the exhibit title implies, it is designed to feature the world's superstition. Among the artifacts on display in the exhibit is a relic discovered in the wilds of an Amazonian rainforest...a relic depicting a strange creature that resembles something between a human, a monkey, and a lizard (my interpretation anyway). The relic is clouded in mystery and disaster...bringing with it rumors of a horrible curse that resulted in the death of everyone in he expedition that discovered it. Now, just a week before the big exhibit opening, people are being brutally attacked and murdered in the nether-regions of the museum. Museum officials just wants it all to go away (murder can be such a bother some times), but FBI Special Agent Pendergast, NYPD Police Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta, Ph.D. candidate Margo Green, and intrepid journalist William Smithback, Jr. are determined to get to the bottom of the grizzly killings.

Originally thinking the murders were being committed by a deranged mad man (Pendergast has followed the killer all the way from New Orleans after a series of similar killings), their investigation leads them to discover that the culprit might not be exactly human after all. DNA sequencing from a claw discovered on one of the bodies reveals that their quarry is something altogether different with a taste for the hypothalamus in the human brain.

Okay...enough of the plot. I don't want to spoil it all for you. Let's just say that of the Pendergast novels, I have a few absolutely favorites: Cabinet of Curiosities, Still Life with Crows, and the recent Fever Dream (I will probably review these soon as well). But RELIC, while very different from what has become known as the Pendergast series is an absolutely fantastic read! It doesn't have the same “feel” as the others and Pendergast is definitely under-developed from what I've become used to (one of the hazards of reading a series out of order, I guess), but it's an absolutely MUST-READ for anyone who loves a good monster story. In several of the book reviews written by readers of my own ENIGMA Directive series, my books have often been compared to the early works of Preston and Child. In the past, I wasn't exactly sure what they meant by that. After all, the Pendergast novels I had read up until recently very rarely had any cryptozoological monsters lurking in the shadows as does Primal Thirst and Sirens' Song. But now, having read RELIC, I completely understand the similarities (even before I knew, I wasn't complaining...to be compared to these guys is a HUGE honor!).

But even if you don't like reading about monsters...if you just love a great edge-of-your seat thrill ride...if you just love holding your breath as certain death looms in the shadows surrounding your hero, you will want to read this book. If you just enjoy a great techno-thriller filled with detailed research and authentic scientific details, you will want to read this book. If you enjoy stories that make you ask the question “what if?”, you will want to read this book. Essentially, it is my assessment that if you enjoy reading anything, this is one that every avid reader should jump into. It should be in every personal library and should be ranked up there as one of the great contemporary classics of our times.

Video review here

Love it. A very good thriller. Depth characters, nice narrative and an awesome monster detail.

Coming to the Audiobook (I have listened to it on Scribd) the narration was fun. Some characters are given life by the narrator.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyed the book and will definitely read the series!!!!

I just couldn't get in to it

I really liked the premise of this book and had high hopes going in. However, it turned into a bit of a Hollywood monster movie for the final third which resulted in me losing a little interest.

The writing was good and the science and research sections were interesting a great alternative theory to well-known historical events. But other than this, I just couldn't find myself relating to the characters that well and I sometimes found it a little laborious to continue reading.

If the blurb intrigues you, do go ahead as it will likely be your sort of thing (hence the great reviews.)

Relic è un romanzo del 1995 di Lincoln Child e Douglas Preston. È in ordine cronologico la prima avventura che ha per protagonista l'agente dell'FBI Aloysius Pendergast, che ha dato inizio alla lunga serie di romanzi con protagonista questo speciale agente del FBI.

Il libro è ambientato all'interno del museo di Storia Naturale di New York, dove la ricercatrice Margo Green sta aiutando il dottor Frock ad organizzare “Superstizione”, una grande mostra per incrementare le esigue finanze dello stesso. Pochi giorni prima dell'inaugurazione, all'interno del museo vengono trovati i corpi orribilmente mutilati di due bambini e, solo qualche giorno dopo, viene uccisa una guardia. Il tenente D'Agosta e l'agente speciale Pendergast dovranno indagare insieme per trovare il colpevole e salvare il museo da quella che potrebbe essere la sua fine.

La trama è un miscuglio tra indagini e scienza (fantascienza per lo più), leggende e superstizioni, un thriller a sfondo horror che strizza l'occhio anche allo stile avventuroso dove l'assassino è una belva feroce, ultimo superstite di una specie estinta. Diciamo che molte parti appaiono leggendole oggi molto superate (descrizioni pc, reti informatiche, etc...) e altri concetti scientifici sono tirati per le orecchie, ma lo stile è divertente, i personaggi credibili e Pendergast è eccentrico al punto giusto da risultare simpatico e accattivante.

I punti di forza del romanzo sono: l'ambientazione, con l'inserimento delle tante citazioni che spaziano dall'antropologia alla botanica alla paleontologia senza però annoiare il lettore, il nemico da fronteggiare e la figura dell'agente speciale Pendergast, “eroe” non nuovo in sé, ma innovativo nel suo rapporto col contesto in cui si muove, ovvero quello dell'FBI, solitamente popolato da melodrammatici personaggi alle prese con i vari serial killer. Anche il finale, piuttosto inaspettato, sorprende e getta le basi per il successivo romanzo “Reliquary”.

Esistono però dei punti di debolezza come l'impianto narrativo in alcune parti piuttosto grezzo, forse in quanto opera prima, e il fatto che non sempre si riesce a tenere sul chi vive il lettore, che rischia in alcuni punti di annoiarsi un po'.

Un thriller che esce dai soliti canoni e che apre la strada alla lunga serie di romanzi di Preston e Child con protagonista l'agente speciale Pendergast che sebbene pecchi in alcuni punti e non convince fino in fondo, sicuramente invoglia il lettore a cercare e al leggere i successivi.

“Every sixty to seventy million years or so, life starts getting very well adapted to its environment. Too well adapted, perhaps. There is a population explosion of the successful life forms. Then, suddenly, a new species appears out of the blue. It is almost always a predatory creature, a killing machine. It tears through the host population, killing, feeding, multiplying. Slowly at first, then ever faster.”


“Relic” was a fast and easy read: New York City's Natural History Museum has already had its share of dark rumours about a “Museum Beast” when two kids are found brutally murdered in the basement of the museum. And further deaths follow...

Thus, Lieutenant D'Agosta from the local Police department takes the lead in the investigation, closely followed by FBI agent Pendergast from New Orleans who knows the killer's modus operandi from a previous case.

Furthermore, there are Margo Green, a graduate student, preparing her dissertation, supported in both that and her independent investigation by Professor Frock, her wheelchair-bound mentor who is part of the higher echelon of the museum.

Soon, all of them will find out that sometimes the hunters turn into the hunted quickly...



So, why read this? Simple: After a long streak of taxing reads, I wanted something simple, something easy and satisfying and, depending on the kind of “easy” I want, this could be a murder mystery who-dun-it or, as I this instance, a fast-paced thriller.

In a thriller I'm looking for...

- Thrills (obviously!) – check!
- Suspense – check!
- Surprise (as I knew the 1997 film, there was less of it than I would have liked but:) – check!
- Excitement – check!
- Anticipation – check!
- Anxiety – check!

... and I got it all. Especially the flight through the basement and subbasement of the museum was farily great and I certainly didn't expect the ending which differs somewhat from the film.

Thus, if you're looking for an easy read with a lot of thrills, just grab a copy of “Relic”, turn the lights low and get reading!