"Relic" is the first step on a fantastical and intellectually-stimulating literary journey that is the Agent Pendergrast series. Where else can you find bloodthirsty monsters and fiendish murderers on the same pages that discuss the finer points of Alkan's Grande Sonatine and Beethoven's String Quartets? You also get treated to an incomparable guided historical tour of Manhattan's Museum of Natural History, which is grounded in Mr. Preston's well-researched non-fiction book on the museum, "Dinosaurs in the Attic."

For lovers of horror stories with a well-developed story line and plenty of mystery, this is an excellent read. I especially like the author's vivid descriptions of gruesome details (the evacuated cranium of a victim) but also the elaborate intertwining of ancient history, modern science, and mysticism. I will never forget the images the author painted of police wading in the monster's lair, the sewers beneath the museum, and describing the strong odor of goat's breath as a harbinger of the monster's arrival on scene. I have bought this book as a gift for others because of its excellent story quality.

After the death of two museum visitors, the museum of Natural History calls in the Police, headed by truculent hard-nosed Lt. D'Agosta, also FBI Agent Pendergast, a quirky and unorthodox investigator from the south. What they discover? They believe a serial killer is on the loose- perhaps intending to derail the museum's new "Superstition" exhibit. What they don't know is something far more sinister lives in the basement of the museum. As the date of the exhibit nears, can the agents and a team of museum scientists get to the bottom of the museum murders before its too late?

I listened to the unabridged audio edition of Relic. The characters were well thought out, the monster interesting and the story exciting. I particularly liked D'Agosta and Dr. Frock. The monster itself was fascinating, and the museum was very cool as the background for this taunt story.

5 stars. Excellent.

My buddy of mine turned me on to this book "Relic". Although at the time i wasnt a avid reader. Relic really pulled me in & by then i was hooked! It is a very entertaining read & would recommend this book to anyone. Just to let you guys know. Because of reading this book i am now an avid reader. I read all the Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child books without being disappointed!
Keep up the good work guys. Im waiting for the next!!

This was my third Agent Pendergast novel. After reading Wheel of Darkness (an uneven effort) I was encouraged to try another of the Preston / Childs collaborations. I read Still Life with Crows and found it to be a highly entertaining page turner so I thought I would start at the beginning.

The Relic opens strongly but soon begins to feel a little too familiar. It's basically just a re-tread of Jaws, Alien, Jurassic Park et al. A group of people are trapped in a large enclosed area, in this case a museum and its sub basement (rather than a space ship, an island, or the Atlantic Ocean) with a creature that is killing and eating them (or parts of them) one at a time. The pressure to hold the Museum opening, despite the killings, reminded me of the political pressure Brody experiences to keep the beaches open, against his better judgement, on Memorial Day weekend in Jaws.

I know the ending was supposed to be exciting (and it is reasonably entertaining) but it all felt too familiar and my interest began to wane just when the novel should have had me riveted. Pendergast plays a much smaller role in this novel than he did in the other novels. It doesn't seem like Pendergast had fully come into his own yet in The Relic. He is a much more captivating character in Still Life with Crows. The other characters in this novel are lifeless and two-dimensional. Again, this is very much in contrast with Still Life with Crows, where the supporting cast of characters were very engaging.

All in all, a disappointing effort. This isn't a bad novel, it just lacks originality. I'm not dissuaded though and plan to carry on with the series (although I may take a break before reading the next entry).

3 ½ stars

This was my third Agent Pendergast novel. After reading Wheel of Darkness (an uneven effort) I was encouraged to try another of the Preston / Childs collaborations. I read Still Life with Crows and found it to be a highly entertaining page turner so I thought I would start at the beginning.

The Relic opens strongly but soon begins to feel a little too familiar. It's basically just a re-tread of Jaws, Alien, Jurassic Park et al. A group of people are trapped in a large enclosed area (in this case a museum and its sub basement, rather than a space ship, an island, or the Atlantic Ocean). The pressure to proceed with the Museum opening, despite the killings, reminded me of the political pressure Brody experiences to keep the beaches open, against his better judgement, for Memorial Day weekend in Jaws.

I know the ending was supposed to be exciting (and it is reasonably entertaining) but it all felt too familiar and my interest began to wane just when it should have held me riveted. Pendergast plays a much smaller role in this novel than he did in the other novels. It doesn't seem like Pendergast had fully come into his own yet in The Relic. He is a much more captivating character in Still Life with Crows. The other characters in this novel are lifeless and two-dimensional. Again, this is very much in contrast with Still Life with Crows, where the supporting cast of characters were extremely engaging.

All in all, a disappointing effort. This isn't a bad novel, it just lacks originality. I'm not dissuaded though and plan to carry on with the series (although I may take a break before reading the next entry).

3 ½ stars

i read this based on the great reviews it received on this website- well, i was disappointed- first of all, it was quite far fetched- but if it had been better written then i wouldn't have doubted it (like the harry potter series- those books are so well written, that you completely believe everything stated is true)-
as well, it may sound strange but knowing what the creature was and what it looked like (the picture on the cover) totally ruined it for me- there was nothing to find out- we all know who was committing these grisly murders/what was hiding in that museum-
1/3 into the book, the detective and female lead started to bore me and i just couldn't get into it- ended up skimming the rest of the way through-

This book was awesome. I loved every moment of it. Great suspense, action, and gore. I have read more from Preston/Child and this is the best.

1/1 Story:
Quite far-fetched, but still a captivating premise.

0/1 Characters:
The only characters I felt were properly fleshed-out were Margo Green and Dr. Frock. D'Agosta and Agent Pendergast could have used some more work, although I'm sure more will be revealed as the series goes on.

1/1 Readability:
Nothing special, but good enough to keep me interested.

1/1 Representation:
The title is fitting and the jacket synopsis is interesting and accurate in relation to the story.

1/1 Opinion
I really enjoyed this book and would definitly reccommend it.

My brother said this was one of his favorite books, so I had to read it to see if we had the same tastes. It was very exciting and it did remind me of "Jurassic Park". I guess I enjoyed it enough to buy four more of their books(buy 4 for the price of 3). I liked the characters and the way it was written,, switching from one location to another. The ending was well done. How do two authors write a book? However they do it,, I like their style.

These guys write a book you just can't put down! No literature here, just a facinating read. Introduces FBI Agent "Pindergast". BUY IT!

This was my first Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child book and I really enjoyed it. The story was extremely suspenseful and highly entertaining and not hard to read. I am looking forward to reading the sequel Reliquary and also I heard great things about Riptide also by the same authors.
The only thing I don't understand about Relic (and I may have just missed this while reading the book) is how exactly did the monster get into the museum in the first place? That was somehow never clear to me since the museum beast had apparently gone on a killing spree while on the ship near New Orleans. Did it go back into one of the crates and keep quiet until it got into the museum?

Aside from that, this was a fantastic book and I recommend it highly. I especially liked Agent Pendergast who I thought was an intriguing character.

BlueLotus

I never could get into this book. This was my first attempt at Preston/Child, and I have to say I didn't much enjoy it.

I really am glad I discovered these two writers. I read Riptide and went on to buy, beg for and read the rest of the books. Relic is the beginning of the Pendergast era for me. Very well written science, horror adventure story.. Well worth the read..

I know that there are a lot of people out there that love this book and all the books in the "series". I am not really one of them. My complaints would be that the book seems to jump around from character to character and through time. There are so many characters introduced early on, that I have a hard time keeping track of them. Because of this over abundance of people, I don't connect with any of them. I could care less if the vicious monster eats them.

The story is about a relic that is found, brought back to the states, and is either cursed or connected to an evil monster. It takes a young grad student and a cop (plus the help of a writer and FBI agent) to crack the case. Of course the body count just increases as you read the book.

The story is enjoyable to read, if you can get your head around the jumpiness. I did also find that the book seemed to ramble on about points that were never tied in and were of no interest. This also made me feel like there were too many wasted pages to make this an excellent read.

I will not be reading any more of the books in this series - regardless of the better looking covers.

This book is the first in the cases of FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast, and is the really terrifying one. A very disturbing book in many ways, mostly because it reflects a human as an involuntary monster, whose sad human eyes perceive other humans as victims and as necessity to keep the monster alive. And it all takes place in a museum, one place one would never expect such events to happen.
Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston are very talented authors and it is always terrific to read their books. (Separately or togther)
Linda Sheean

This book is the first in the cases of FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast, and is the really terrifying one. A very disturbing book in many ways, mostly because it reflects a human as an involuntary monster, whose sad human eyes perceive other humans as victims and as necessity to keep the monster alive. And it all takes place in a museum, one place one would never expect such events to happen.
Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston are very talented authors and it is always terrific to read their books. (Separately or togther)
Linda Sheean

You gotta love a book who's premise is that every million years or so a quirk of evolution emerges to weed out the weaker (once dominant)species. You also have to love FBI Agent Pendergast, a genuinely different character, full of secrets as dark as those he endeavors to reveal during his gruesome assignments. He's a quirky James Bond, only cooler. Lots of tension in this book--among characters, among twists in the plot line, and in homo sapiens' place in the world.

Heart pounding action....blood and gore...a great cast of characters, an original "monster", and dark scary places....what else could you want?

OK, this here's the beginning of the Pendergast series, and was the basis of a movie by the same name in the 90s. I wanted to check out this series but had seen the movie a couple of times, and was tempted to start with the sequel. I'm glad I started here. The books is much different than the film. Pendergast doesn't appear in the movie. A very enjoyable read, and the sequel, Reliquary is even louder, more exciting and more threatening than the first.

Until March 2007 it was impossible to find Relic in audiobook format. This unabridged recording makes available once again the first novel written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It's the first book to feature Special Agent Pendergast (there are seven total), and it's a terrific novel. And the audio recording, while not the highest sound quality, is a great performance by David Colacci. The only downside to this book is that the sequel, Reliquary, is only available in printed format (not audiobook). I hope that changes soon!

Doug Preston & Lincoln Child are fantastic writers.
I own and have read all of their books.
Exceptional mystery and suspense with high tech information thrown in.
I recomend all of their books.

Forgot when I bought this one, I had already read it years ago. I remembered nothing about it as I read it, however, until the surprise ending, which was indeed memorable.

A few years ago I rented the movie THE RELIC. I found the film to be entertaining and enjoyable, but thought it would have been better if it had been written better. At the time I didn't realize the movie had been based upon a novel by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Not long ago I discovered this and decided to pick up the original novel and read it. Had the filmmakers stuck with some of the finer points of the novel, the movie would have been much better.

The book moves at a very fast pace and is highly engrossing. There is quite a bit of scientific jargon that sometimes slows one down (after reading THE RELIC, I did some research and learned some things I didn't know or had forgotten about biology), but I was able to read the entire novel (468 pages, 474 if you include the preview for THE RELIQUARY) in two days.

The story takes place in the New York Museum of Natural History. The Museum has seen declining numbers in recent years and is in need of new funds. The people in charge decide to open a major exhibit entitled "Superstition" to build public interest and support. Days before the exhibit opens a brutal murder is committed. The body has been mutilated in a very peculiar way that suggests the killer isn't human. Leading the police investigation is Lt. Vincent D'Agosta. D'Agosta wants to shut the museum down, but his superiors and museum officials oppose the idea. Instead things proceed as though nothing is wrong until another murder occurs. Some wish the exhibit to be closed until the killer is captured, but museum officials continue to push to allow the exhibit to open as planned. A special FBI agent from out of state, Pendergast, arrives on the scene and begins working with museum researcher Margo Green and Lt. D'Agosta in an attempt to uncover the real killer and decipher what their motive is.

As interesting as I found THE RELIC to be there are points in the novel that are quite predictable. For instance, when learning about the museum's security doors, it is obvious how they will come into play later on in the story. Nevertheless, unlike some novels that I have read, THE RELIC is written in such a way that these predictable outcomes did not detour my enjoyment in reading the story.

Some of the events of the novel might seem far fetched, but this is a work of fiction. Preston & Child are popular fiction authors, but they are known to do a great deal of research before writing their books. As unbelievable as some of the ideas and events might seem, they are nevertheless grounded in science.

THE RELIC was the first novel by Preston and Child and they use it to introduce one of the more fascinating characters of current pop fiction, Aloysius X. L. Pendergast, a modern-day American version of Sherlock Holmes. I found the character of Pendergast to be fascinating and look forward to reading more Pendergast adventures in other Preston & Child novels.

I felt as if I was actually in the jungle. I found myself looking into the subtleties of conversations in the book, trying to catch a glimpse of what might be happening later in the story, and I saw the movie first! I really recommend this read.

We open in the Amazon with Whittlesey admiring a carved figurine of a beast and his use of an indigenous fibrous plant to pack it into a crate for shipment to New York. He accepts this artifact as proof that the Kothoga exist and that the Mbwun legend is true. Flash forward to present day New York when two errant little boys wander into a deserted stairwell and meet their bloody death. We're introduced to Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta the first to take charge of the crime scene and soon joined by Special Agent Pendergast. Meanwhile, with only a week to go Cuthbert prepares for the Superstition Exhibit and the display of the Mbwun figurine while Margo continues to work on her dissertation. As the investigation ensues more deaths occur and museum security is tightened. We arrive at Opening Night of the Superstition Exhibit, beastie still at large. In short order a guest discovers a mutilated corpse setting off a high-heeled and lace-up-oxford stampede. When people become trapped in the exhibition it comes down to egos defining survival. D'Agosta followed by the Mayor and a group of elegantly dressed patrons descend the stairwell to the basement and hopeful escape while Wright, Rickman, and Cuthbert ascend to the 4th floor to await SWAT team extraction.
Personal Comment: First and foremost I immensely enjoyed the Museum display descriptions. It really invoked a desire to visit these institutions. Second, even though I didn't understand a tenth of it, I thoroughly enjoyed the scientific genetic extrapolation data and resultant analysis. The story depicts very well human nature as being so subjective as to be truly obtuse, imperceptive, thick-headed; dare I say stupid?
Negative/Disappointment: Coffee, the NY FBI Agent was so far out there that, for me, he really wasn't a believable character.
Noteworthy/Surprise: I liked the Pendergast character, very suave and gentlemanly. I also liked Lt. D'Agosta. Having a cop for a dad I have some reality on what makes up a policeman's character and I thought the Lieutenant was believable.
Tilly Award: Best Monster Story

This book reminds me a lot of Jurrasic Park. It's a great thriller, although a little dated for 2006.

This book was fantastic! I was hooked from page 1. These guys are great.

A fast and thrilling read! It kept me hooked well past my bedtime. I can't wait to read the sequel!

Im not really writing this review to sway anyone's opinion of it. Tastes are different from person to person. Some may love this book, others may hate it, and a few will think its okay, that is just the way things are. I only wanted to share my opinion about it, because oddly enough it stirs up strong emotions within me whenever I think about it.
The first time i read this book I hated it. I have read it again since then and upon finshing it twice I still don't like this book at all. Yet, during both times that I read it I could not put the book down. This is the bizarre duplicitous nature of The Relic. I do not like the story or the characters, but still I have been drawn in. As much as I hate to admit it I consider this book to be a real page-turner.

I don't think i need to go into the plot so I will list the offenses this book commits (once again this is just my opinion).

Predictability - I dont think I was surprised even once while reading this book. It gives you the kind of cut and pasted characters that are far to overused these days. From the first time a character is introduced you can pretty much tell whether they are in it for the long haul, or merely here to serve as entree's for the monster. The outcome of most of the situations presented are easily deciphered if given any thought at all. Not to spoil any surprises but I'll give you one guess what happens when we are informed that the museum the beast haunts has a security system with solid metal doors that fall into place to cut off a supposed thief's escape route. Throw in the fact that we are informed of this right before a gala premier of the museums' new attraction in which hundreds of guests will be attending and...well I think you allready know where this is going.

Poor Characters - All your cliche's are here. From the overworked, underappreciated heroine, who puts all the pieces together, to the museums management staff who refuse to shut down the museums' premier even after numerous, grisly murders. Why? do you ask. Because of revenues of course. I wonder if the museums' head director wears the same suits as the mayor from the movie Jaws. If the characters arent fulfilling the role as a needed cliche' then they are doing the exact opposite that any sane person would do. If I heard strange noises in a closed section of the museum I was gaurding, especially after the fact that at least two horrific murders were commited in the vicinity, I would call for backup before I investigated. Of course I am sane, so reverse what I would have done and you get the basic course of action most of the people in this book take.

UNBELIEVABILITY - There were many times while reading this book when I had to stop and say, "Give me a break." I also used the expressions, "Oh, please", and "That is so STUPID!". Many times we are expected to deny common sense, and reason so that the story can progress. Of course if you had a monster that could be killed like any other animal on this planet, then this book would probably only be 100 pages long. So in an effort to stretch it out to 400 or so pages you need a creature that can be described as nothing short of the animal equivalent of a sherman tank. Im not kidding, this monkey-lizard is shot no less than 5 times and probably a great deal more with no ill effects. I don't want to give anything more away, but there will be many times when you will find something hard to believe in this book.

Many "What a rip-off" moments - To often while reading this book I found myself comparing it to some other book or movie that had come before it. There is a reason so many people compare this book to Jurrasic Park, many plot points and supposed surprises seem to be taken right out of Chricton's book. So instead of putting the quote "Far above Chricton's Jurassic Park" on the cover of The Relic, I would have put "Not above taking ideas from better books". Put Jurrasic Park, Congo, and Jaws in a blender and you have The Relic. This "borrowing" of ideas seems so bad at times that I wouldnt be surprised if for every copy of The Relic sold Micheal Chricton received royalties.

Once again I feel compelled to mention that for all its stupidity, and predictability, I could not put this book down. For that reason alone this book is probably worth reading, and sharing with your friends. Then you can all sit down and compare notes on how many times you each found an instance where you found yourself thinking of another, probably better, book.

The Relic is a classic novel for thrill seekers that want a "can't put down" experience. The story is fantastic in every way and includes a great twist ending. This story also marks the debut of a host of characters which appear in other Preston/Child novels.

If you've never read Preston/Child before this is as good a place to start as any. Curl up on the couch and get ready because you won't be doing much else until you finish the last page!

When I was looking for new thriller/suspense authors to get into, I came across Preston/Child and this first novel of theirs because of the way it was hyped on this site. First of all, this book is not nearly as good as people on this site say it is. I feel like they must not have read many other thriller/suspense writing before they read this book because if they think this book is a masterpiece, they'd be blown away by some other stuff that is much better on so many levels.

The flaw of this book is that it's slow to do anything. While there ae a couple of interesting scenes of gore and violence to maintain some level of interest, it simply takes so long for anything to start coming together in the plot. The characters don't even start voicing their opinions about who/what the antaganist is until 3/4 of the way through the book. At that point, I thought to myself "ok, that would've been good to know about 50 pages ago when I still had interest."

Having said all that, the storyline was a intruiging (especially because since this is the first book, it's the first time you're exposed to the museum setting, but it won't be the last because they definitely over use it in late books) and it would've been a 4.5 rating had it developed quicker. If your looking for something to kill some time, buy this used. If you're looking for anything more, look elsewhere.

Sometimes, reviewers on Amazon give the reading public a great disservice ... and this is one of those times. I don't know what Preston & Child's game is, but their writing seems aimed at the junior-high crowd. Nothing wrong with that, but it would have been nice if there had been a disclaimer on the cover: "Warning - lame plot, bad writing, juvinile characters ... scratch that - no character development whatsoever"

I've only read 3 of Preston/Child's novels, but this team IS remarkably similar to the works of Crichton, and fans of micheal crichton will absolutely enjoy Relic, among other of Preston/Childs books. Relic, like the Crichton works, has the similar trait of mixing fact with fiction, though Crichton's will more likely hold more realistic fiction than such creations as the monster in Relic, but that doesnt make the book any less of a pageturner, thriller, or sci-fi thirst quencher. Since other reviews suggest/compare Relic with Jurassic Park here, my two cents is that altho both deal with evolutionary biology, Jurassic Park will be the better read, because it has more stimulating parts and diologues than Relic, though i don't believe it is entirely fair to judge these authors' first book with Jurassic Park as the backdrop...Relic is more in line with Crichton's Timeline than Jurassic Park i think, because the 'science and discovery' sections of the novel appear more isolated and toward the beginning of the book than say, all the way through (as with Malcolm's periodic (or nonperiodic?) discussions on chaos theory, and the dino info, as well as eventually explained genetic processes providing the basis for the story)....the latter half of Relic is mostly action/suspense, but there is so much of it and it is so well-done that it is really nonetheless of a book. p.s. Relic will have slightly more characterization (tho not very much) than JP

Child and Preston know how to write thrillers. This was my first book by the two, and I enjoyed it very much. FBI Special Agent Pendergast is like James Bond, a super hero who knows everything and has no fear of anything. He perfectly complements NYC Police Lt. D'Agosta. The book is full of nasty or idiotic people, and you can pretty well figure who's going to be eaten by the monster, but there are so many surprises along the way that it doesn't matter.

The science (or pseudo-science, whatever) is fascinating, whether any of it is real or not.

The book builds to a superb climax where basically all hell breaks loose. There are some comparisons to Jurassic Park, but the book can stand on its own merits.

If the rating system had more steps, I would give this a 4.25.

It's just a shame that the movie version is so limp compared to the book.

I happened to discover this book on a dusty old bookshelf in a basement. The plot sounded interesting, and I began reading it as an experiment.

I was immediately swept away. Preston and Child have an elegant, descriptive writing style reminiscient of classic leiterature- even whern they're writing about a brain-eating monster attacking a S.W.A.T. team. The action is fluid and gripping, and the story itself is extremely suspenseful. The ending leaps right off the page and slaps you in the face.

This book introduced me to Preston and Child, and I've since bought every single book these two have produced. Pick this one up- it's well worth the cash.

(No Major Spoilers)

Relic being my first Pendergast novel of the 'series', it holds some dear memories for me. This is a stand-alone novel, filled with mystery, some obligatory gruesome killings in the New York Museum, and some potentially fantastic characters that are merely introduced here and kept rather flat, since action is the focus of this book. That doesn't keep certain agents and writers from being quite awesome, though, and my appreciation for them is what the book left me with, rather than the focus of the action, which I found surprising for a thriller. My experience has been that the average thriller only has characters to advance the plot and often doesn't bother to give them a real personality. Yet in this book, there are intruiging and endearing characters who have a life of their own outside the action, and especially in books to come.

There are some great scenes in this book and the writing, as in all Preston/Child novels, has both wit and humor embedded in both description and dialogue. The beginning starts out slow and might deter more impatient readers, but it does build up pretty quick if you give it a chance to.

This is a beautiful book, if not just for its own sake, for the sake of the characters it's spawned for the future. Forget the movie, which incredibly cut out the best character in the book, and give this a try if you like mystery, investigative action, sci-fi realistically presented and the potential to enter an entire world of thrills and excitement, starting from Relic and not yet at an end, seven books later.

Much of this book takes place in a fictionalised version of the American Museum of Natural History and was inspired by a nocturnal visit of that establishment undertaken by the two authors who both felt the venue-in particular its dinosaur hall -would be an ideal setting for a thriller .They were right -and this ,their debut novel -still holds up as a fun ride .
The curators of the museum are getting ready to open a prestigious new exhibition whose theme is Superstition and whose centrepiece is a statue of the God Mbuen ,a creature half human and half reptile .The icon has been transferred from the Amazon River region and right from the word go its disinterrment has been followed by a series of gruesome deaths .The victims have not merely been killled -they have been eviscerated and otherwise severely mutilated including two victims discovered in the labyrinthine tunnels under the museum itself .The killer leaves behind DNA which blends human and the lizard strains
The museum curators ignore advice to delay the opening of the exhibition while the deaths are investigated as to do so would result in monetary crisis --the echoes of "Jaws " are clear .

The hunters are a disparate group-there is Margo Green ,the doctoral student and her adviser Dr Frock ,an FBI man named Pendergast ,a crime reporter Bill Smithback and a veteran cop Vincent D'Agosta .On the night of the exhibition opening the killer strikes again and the party hunts him down through the catacombs under the museum
The characters are briefly but vividly etched and the book build to an atmospheric and gripping climax .The eerie settings add impact and the authors do a masterly job of interpolating useful chunks of academic erudition among the gore .
Its an enjoyable book and still for my money the best this team have written .Unreservedly recommended -unless you dont like gory books in which case it is best avoided

Labrynth of dark, wet tunnels, evil-galore. Worthwhile read with great ending. Highly recommend this book. Also check out Thunderhead and Riptide.

A very long time had passed since I last read a book like this. This was the type of book that pretty much got me hooked on free-reading nearly 12 years ago. Back then I would entertain my brain with as many Michael Crichton books as I could get my hands on. His earlier works were more on parallel with Relic in terms of similar story. I was taken back to a time when I could not wait to read the next Crichton. I read Congo, I read Sphere and of course Jurassic Park. I love those books; they will always have a place on my bookshelf. I would not even know which way to turn to find a book similar to them, however. That was the case anyway, until a friend suggested I read Relic.

A publicity quote on the cover of the paperback edition touts Relic as better than Jurassic Park. I happen to disagree, but that may be my biased "my dad can beat up your dad"-feeling interfering.

This was the first book I have read by either Douglas Preston or Lincoln Child, and not so surprisingly the first I have read by them both. I would have to do a bit more research before picking up one of their books to see what it is about, hoping it would be along these same lines. Relic was a very quick read, even for someone like me who is not the fastest of readers.

I liked the suspense created by the writing itself, but also the cliffhanger chapter endings. I liked the setting inside the old museum; it was perfect for this type of story.

Never underestimate the recommendation of a friend. This was not by any means the best book I have ever read, but it was quick, fun and exciting. And I would have never read it had a friend not suggested it. So my thanks to him.

(The movie came out so many years ago that I have forgotten the details and cannot comment on their similarity.)

I am happy to have "discovered" these authors after they had been published for a while. I have many books to catch up on. This was a good book, enjoyable and a fun fast read. I am a larger fan of the sequel though. I found it more satisfying and creative.

Relic
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

This book gave me nightmares. I haven't found a book like that on a long time. I literally had to leave my closet light on.
I love the way Preston and Child write it's so detailed its like your really there, but at the same time its not boring at all. The always keep you guessing and when you think you know what the truth is something else comes up to surprise you. I especially liked the way that this book ended but I wish they would have let the museum do the autopsy to find out what the museum beast really was.
My favorite character in this book was Pendergast because at first he was very skeptical about what was killing the people being a beast, but later on he realizes that nothing human could be doing this. And he starts to think outside the box and realizes that Dr. Frock and Margo could very well be right about this beast that is terrorizing that museum.
Another one of my favorite characters was D'Agasta, the police officer who was cooperative with Prendergast, and led the people who were trapped to safety, out of the uncharted tunnels of the NYC Museum. I also liked Smithback, the journalist for the New York Times paper, who is always getting himself caught up in the middle of the commotion and living to tell the story.

If you like thrillers, this is the book for you. The authors create scenes, usually in malignant darkness, that will have you thinking twice before you go into a dark cellar. The setting is New York's Museum of Natural History, a cavernous place with endless halls and chambers filled with exhibits of plants and animals. This quiet place becomes the site of a series of gruesome murders. Even the investigating police are not immune. An officer hears a soft noise around a corner. He goes to investigate and ends up a victim. The source of the murders is traced to an expedition that sent back crates of material, still unexamined, from the upper Amazon before the expedition members disappeared. Their notes tell of Mbwun, a horrible beast - half serpent and half human. Investigators go into the museum's unexplored cellars. Upstairs, the electric power goes out, and you know what that means. This tale will keep you on edge till the end.

Relic is truly one of the best "horror" books I have ever read.
The authors are really expert at staging the creepiest of scenes
(the lowest levels of a museum basement), blending fiction with science, and creating truly memorable characters. It's one scary scenario after another, smoothly made believable, with descriptions that will raise more goose bumps than any other novel I know (except perhaps for the short story "The Wendigo"). Even the "beast", though really dreadful, is described with little flashes of compassion/pity...

If you had the misfortune to see the awful movie that was made of this book, try to forget it; it had nothing but the basic plot line to do with the book. Read this book!

This was my first trip down the road with Preston and Child. And it will not be my last. An awesome page turner, this book combined science, humor, horror, adventure, and mystery into one jam packed thriller.
Actually makes me anxious to start the sequel. In fact, if "The Relic" is any indication of future books, I want to eat up everything they come out with, together or writing individually.
Definitely not your typical horror novel as it met and completely exceeded my expectations.

This isn't the greatest adventure plot in the world but it's pretty good. I don't think the movie does this book justice at all. Almost half of the science is lost and the build up just isn't there. I liked this novel more than the follow-up novel, Reliquary. The suspense and the feeling of being trapped in a huge museum with lots of noises in the shadows made this a creepy fun book.

This is one of the best novels I have ever read. It combines non-stop, believable action with superb writing, meticulous research, and witty dialogue. The twists and turns never stop; I kept thinking I had the mystery solved only to be even more shocked by the next revelation.
The theme/subject compares in style to Michael Crichton novels, but I found this book more satisfying than his because the characters were really well drawn and engaging (and often hilarious). I cared about what happened to the characters, which I have a hard time doing with those of Chrichton.
You don't have to be a fan of fantasy, sci-fi, or gore to love this book. It's so enjoyable it transcends all genres of commercial novel.
One last note: don't read Reliquary (the other book) without reading this first.

This a great beginner tale of Special Agent Pendergast. One can tell that this is one of the first, simply because the authors get better with every book they write. I say this alot for many books and will say it again for this book, the book was better than the movie

Preston Douglas & Child Lincoln.Relic.Tom Doherty Associates: United States, 1995
Aurora High School Library
Mystery

A novel of mystery and suspense set in 20th century New York. The story opens as a sensational exhibition is set to open at the New York Museum of Natural History but the event is jeopardized as two young boys are found savagely murdered in the museum's basement. Many others are kills as well. Antiquities such as a half lizard, half human figurine from an extinct South American tribe are set to go on display. Researcher Margo Green and a few others become embroiled in the mystery as the clues point to a lethal "killing machine" type of predator that is not human. Great twists leave the ending far from what we expect. Preston and Child combine logic and suspense to make this a novel you won't put down. Recommended ages 15 and up due to graphic killing details.

This isn't a hard reading. Preston and Child are great writers and know how to keep you wanting more. For the first half of the book we learn about the beast haunting the museum and learn to despise it. Then the novel suddenly takes a turn and the authors make us feel bad for it. We see the harm it is doing but we are also learning that it doesn't wish to be here and the fear as well as hurt this animal has. Though we despise this creature we also feel a little compassion for it. I don't like it or the harm its causing, but Preston and Child make me understand it motives. This doesn't make up for the things it has done but this creature needs someone to understand it just like we all do. Preston and Child's ability to make us understand the beast shows what truly great writers they are.

Museum galleries always struck me as a bit spooky: dim, musty, and filled with strange creatures frozen in unnatural poses.

Preston and Child bring us behind the galleries, into places spookier still ... and to a creature not content to remain in a safe/static pose. They make an at-first-glance silly premise work. Scary and fun. An early work of the collaboration (their first?) but still their best.

If you like Michael Crichton's books, you will certainly enjoy this one. Unfortunately, these authors have the same flaw as Crichton (and to a greater degree), in that the characters are not developed. Because of this, it hardly mattered to me who was beheaded next, just did not care! Good action story, reading like a screenplay (and Crichton).