There have always been rumors of a mysterious beast lurking in the winding, unused corridors of New York’s Museum of Natural History, but they’ve always been chalked up to the staff’s overactive imaginations — until people start dying.
Autopsies suggest that the killer cannot be human. And an upcoming gala celebrating the opening of an historic exhibition is the perfect place to find more victims.
Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who — or what — is stalking and murdering the museum’s attendees. But can she do it in time to prevent a massacre?
A great hack-and-slash
The Relic was recommended to me by one of the freelance writers with whom I work, and is in general a fun, tense, slightly scary read. There’s a great mix of characters, investigative work, science-y stuff, and running around in tunnels with guns — plus lots of swell references to 1980s computer technology!
The book definitely merits its thriller status, with multiple scenes that got my heart rate up and had me flipping pages so fast to see what happened next that I had to go back and reread what I’d missed in my haste.
There’s also something extremely satisfying about seeing those characters who were total jerks get their comeuppance (but then of course I immediately felt bad about feeling so good upon reading about their grisly demise).
I love Margo and the rest of the “We’re convinced it’s a monster and we’re going to prove it” gang, particularly Special Agent Pendergast, whose Louisiana roots and lilting accent belie his Sherlockian sleuthing skills.
Side note: The Relic is actually the first in authors’ Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s Pendergast series, which follows the special agent through at least 12 books. Seems strange that he’s not the center of this novel, considering it’s his series.
But then: Mind. Blown.
Although I enjoyed The Relic, as I neared the end of the novel I kept thinking of it as one would a sopaipilla: fun and delicious, but comprised mostly of sugary air. I knew there was a second in the series, but I wasn’t plan on finding a copy.
And then I read the epilogue. And now I’m going to get my hands on Reliquary as soon as I possibly can.
Seriously, go read them right now!
