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Summary: Very smooth, very well written
Review: In these days when you can find books by the hundreds, this was a refreshing escape from the norm. This book was so easy to read, the dialogue flows and the descriptions are so easy to imagine, you find yourself engrossed quickly. Perdergast is my favorite; he is so elegant and charming I look forward to following his character in others of their novels. This book does not go into the gory details of the murders at all, there are a few tastefully described scenes of what some would call objectionable material, I was worried that it might contain graphic descriptions of things I did not want to hear, it did not. For that I commend the writers, they let the book stand on the masterfully crafted storyline and the well written banter between the characters. The dialogue was engrossing and believable, the situations are completely in line with reality and the plot is refreshingly unique. The entire book just flowed, it almost read itself. Definitely a 5 star read and one I would highly recommend to my friends and anyone reading this review.
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Summary: Back to the Museum and the New York underground
Review: I think their best book was the Relic, but the Cabinet of Curiosities runs a good second. This book has a little of everything, a familiar and foreboding setting in the guise of the New York Museum of Natural History; the return of several characters such as Agent Pendergast, archeologist Nora Kelly and journalist William Smithback. There is the elusive Enoch Leng, who seems to have figured out how to extend life, albeit, by butchering other people in order to obtain the necessary ingredients for his life extending concoction. There is the cement-between-the-ears museum administration and some really dumb cops and politicians that stumble through the tale. There is also the 36 bodies found at a building site and possibly the largest mass murder in American history. I have to admit I followed the false trail of clues, and missed the prime suspect, but that is part of the book. There are a good number of twists and turns, and there is Pendergast's hidden agenda. Overall, an entertaining romp.
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Summary: In the spirit of Mr. Holmes
Review: I have been waiting to read The Cabinet of Curiosities for some time now, since I only buy paperback. The wait was well worth it. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are my favorite actors and their previous six books were very stimulating. While The Cabinet of Curiosities (CoC) may not be their best work, it does give you everything you hoped for. I have read several Sherlock Holmes books in the past, The Hounds of the Baskervilles, being my favorite. In the prevoius six books we have been introduced to some very intriguing characters. After CoC, I believe the authors have been building to this effort... a mystery, rival to any of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Special Agent Pendergast, is back to investagate a building site containing the corpses of NY's first serial murders. The intrigue builds as the story unfolds, as Nora Kelly (Thunderhead) is asked by Special Agent Pendergast to help him take a look into this old mystery. In a nice twist, William Smithback (in his fourth appearance) is back and is now dating Ms. Kelly after their entanglement in Thunderhead. As the story unfolds, we discover the murders are happening again in the exact same manner they were completed in, 100 plus years ago. There are intriguing twists and turns in this story. We learn much more about the mysterious Special Agent Pendergast who's a dead ringer for a modern Sherlock Holmes. The story kept me rivitated throughout. Preston/Child do an excellent job of building to the climatic ending. Each page was gripped within my fingers my eyes reading as fast as possible, eager to turn to the next page. The ending turned out to be nice and sweet and may not be their best, but it does fit this book well and the style it was written in. As I am discovering, through reading works by these two wonderful authors, is that you must pay attention to the little things. Words, comments and statements may all handle little clues. The part I love most about Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's books is how they so easily bring the rest of their stories into each new one. Characters and events do not appear in each and every story, but they are all linked in the vast world created by the authors. It is quite creative and a beautiful way to write. It gives them an edge when so much of today's writting rehash the same old stories. I highly recommend this book to anyone, willing to take a thrill ride through a wild mystery tour. I would also recommend any of the other books written by these two others. But, be warned, once you start you wont be able to stop. Have fun and good reading.
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Summary: A fascinating read spoiled by too many coincidences
Review: The Cabinet of Curiosities is a fascinating, engrossing read, yet several flaws weaken its impact, especially in the final hundred pages. The style and skill of Preston and Child seems to mesh together quite well, and this book reads as if one individual alone had written it. The novel itself is at heart a horror novel, but a lot of research also went into making it a medical thriller with what sounds like a firm scientific background; unfortunately, later events move out of the realm of science in a way that cheapens some of the impressive groundwork that has been laid out early on. In the nineteenth century, many amateur scientists scoured the world for rare and spectacular examples of animals, plants, and the like, lovingly adding each new treasure into their own private showcase; such collections came to be dubbed cabinets of curiosities. In time, some began charging the public to tour their special collections, at which time a lot of con men also entered into the game, creating numerable atrocious fakes by such means as sewing the parts of two different dead animals together, passing off mummified monkeys as mysterious pygmies, etc. Eventually, museums put the cabinets of curiosities out of business, often buying up their genuine articles. In one cabinet in the late 1800s, an individual began experimenting on human beings, murdering innocent men, women, and children in pursuit of a dream of increasing his own lifespan. A charnel house containing thirty-six of his victims has just been dug up by a construction crew, and archaeologist Nora Kelly has been called to the scene by a mysterious FBI agent named Pendergast. So begins an unofficial investigation into the case of an unknown mass serial killer predating Jack the Ripper. The New York Museum of Natural History, Dr. Kelly's employer, soon occupies a central position in the hunt for not only a killer from the past but a new, copycat killer who is terrorizing New York. Nora's boyfriend, an annoyingly quintessential reporter for the New York Times, insinuates himself into the case, alienating Nora by his absence of integrity, and a downtrodden beat cop finds himself taking pride in his own work for the first time in years as he assists Special Agent Pendergast. The FBI man is a unique fellow, an extremely pale specter of a man who seems to be two steps in front of everyone besides the killer, and Nora finds herself drawn further and further into the mystery of all these old and new deaths despite its harmful effect on her position in the museum. Pendergast seems at first to be a successor to Sherlock Holmes, a master sleuth unmatched by any intellect, yet time reveals several of his investigative methods to be rather unusual and slightly unbelievable. Still, the story moves along at a fast pace as all of the main characters close in on the secrets of the mystery. Plenty of danger, action, and even death ensue, yet in the most climactic moments, the plot breaks down. Actions become far too convenient to be believable, and a substratum of the story is constructed out of thin air. There is a surprise or two toward the end, but the story loses the grounding in reality it had enjoyed for the first five hundred pages. There is a sideshow of comedy to placate the reader to some degree, as a certain police sergeant struts around envisioning himself to be a master sleuth who has single handedly caught the serial killer dubbed The Surgeon. I cannot say I did not enjoy this book; it was a fascinating read for the most part. There are just too many shortcuts and unexplained secrets at the end, turning a criminal/medical thriller into an unsatisfying caricature of itself. This reader can only accept so many coincidences, I am afraid. Horror fans will find a definite creep factor in several of the scenes, although I would not go so far as to call the book scary by any means. If the ending had just been fleshed out a little more, I would have sung this book's praises as a horror novel screaming to be read.
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Summary: An Action-Packed, Knuckle-Twisting Tale!
Review: Book Title: The Cabinet of Curiosities
Reviewed by: LottaHoney Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs' The Cabinet of Curiosities is about an archaeologist, Nora Kelly, who is drawn into assisting a manipulative FBI agent, Agent Pendergast, into discovering who is responsible for a New York City serial killer who is modeling his gruesome murders from a 19th century Maniac!
The story begins at a construction site where a wealthy land-developer is breaking ground for a new high-rise tower. At the site, hidden tunnels are unearthed and bones of previous 19th century low-class, poor and homeless people are discovered. But the plot begins to thicken and begin a slow boil after this find as it is realized that the 130 year-old bones have unusual evidence of skilled, surgical cuts that are identical to the present New York City killer.
This novel is terrific as it allows you to enter the archaeological world of the New York City Museum of Natural History with its various Cabinets of Curiosities - formerly a layperson's unusual finds of medical monstrosities, dinosaur eggs, and other odd finds during travels around the world that are eventually donated to New York Museums at the decline of these Admission Price-Only Cabinets of Curiosities with the advent of Free Admission museum exhibits.
It is discovered that a crazed scientist is removing the spinal cords and neurons found at the base of the spine to create a fluid to prolong life. The descriptions of the surgical procedure on live patients are not for the weak-at-heart.
I am finding this to be an interesting read, as I love medicine and 19th Century settings. Needless to say, this novel is a great find for me. And, it is highly suggested! Reviewed by LottaHoney
Lotta's Bookshelves
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Summary: Great read!! Could hardly put it down!
Review: If you read "the Relic" from these same authors and liked it you will enjoy this book. I absolutly love the humor the author's use in this story to lighten things up a bit. This book really opens up your imagination and takes you back in history to another time and place. The characters fit in each situation, even Detective Pendergast who is quiet a character! He cracks me up with his comments and dry humor.
You will not be disappointed in this book!! I highly recommend it! Lincoln and Child have done it again!!!
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Summary: Great and Suspensful
Review: This is my first murder mystery book. I thought that this book was fantastic! When you think you have the polt down there's another twist that changes the whole thing. I found this to be one of my favorite books!
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Summary: Very enjoyable, but disappointing ending
Review: I read many thrillers, suspense novels, and some horror novels. "The Cabinet of Curiosities" was a great read with sympathetic characters and a fascinating, Sherlock Holmesian, mysterious hero. The villain was well fleshed out. Especially imaginative was the combination of the arcane and the diabolical. For the most part this was a great summer read, except for the disappointing climax, which was totally over-the-top and gave new meaning to the words "ludicrous" and "deux ex machina", if that is possible. What was previously a great example of the "Grand Guignol" atmosphere quickly devolved, e.g. there was over-reliance on the "Memory Palace" device as others have noted here. An intriguing read, if flawed at the end. Nevertheless, I'll give the benefit of the doubt and I'll possibly try some of their earlier works, I've read here that they're getting better all the time. I'm looking forward to their next production. - This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Summary: A Wonderful NYC based mystery which you can't put down!!
Review: This was my first Child & Preston novel and certainly not my last. Their writing style is very unique with a very well edited final product. The book itself had a very enjoyable plot which kept the suspense going until the last page. I enjoyed the fact that the chapters alternated characters, which forced me in the end to almost die of anticipation! The story itself reminded me of "The Bone Collector", also about a madman cutting people up all over the city. The end of the book is very suspenseful and these authors do an incredible job at extending the ending as much as possible (which is good because I did not want it to end). The characters are indeed interesting, but the good guy vs. bad guy analogies made me roll my eyes in the beginning of the story. Most characters were indeed cookie cut right out of the mold, aka the cop and the donut cliché. And of course the main character, Pendergast, was a modern day Sherlock Holmes, this is unfortunately a trait almost all new mystery novels are accustomed with. Reaserch for this book was done very well as the medical and science references in this book added to the realistic way this story unfolded. However one negative aspect of this story line was the science fiction elements that the authors sometimes used. Although the story is believable, it is very imaginative at the same time. Without giving anything away, the story is based on a mostly non realistic idea. Overall, I enjoyed this book more than several I have read so far this summer and can say this makes a perfect "any time" read, not exclusively a beach or plane read. Im excited to see what their next book "Still Life With Crows" has in store.
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Summary: A Facinating Read And Interesting Look Back At Science
Review: In "The Cabinet of Curiosities", Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child present us with a murder mystery that spans 130 years, and presents us with a killer that may be almost 2 centuries old. The basic plot-A gruesome discovery of corpses, obviously murdered in the late 1800's, is discovered underground at the site of a Mnahattan construction project. FBI Special Agent Pendergast, the protaganist of Preston and Child's "Relic" and "Reliquary" takes an interest in the case and hires Nora Kelly, the archelogist from their book "Thunderhead", to help him discover who killed these innocents and why. Then, the killings begin happening again, and the search takes on a frantic case. Plus, Pendergast has an interest in the case that is more than he lets on. And the mystery begins. The story involves the NY Museum of Natural History, the setting for "Relic", and delves into the history of such museums. "Cabinets of Curiosity" were the 19th-centuy equivalent of these museums, where men who had collected rare specimins from around the globe would display them for the public at a price. These disappeared with the advent of the modern museum, but in their heyday were quite active. Even PT Barnum had one. I will discuss the story no further, except to say that it is tightly written, expertly researched, and a whole lot of fun, while being very scary at times. As a science-based potboiler, it does fine. This is just the second Preston/Child book I've read, the first beign "Riptide", which had a similar exellent premise that sort of fell apart in the end. This time, the book holds together throughout, with only a couple of logical gaps that are easily ignored if you treat the book like a summer movie, which it really is. It ain't Shakespere, but it does have an intelligence that many novels lack, and an attentive reader will even pick up clues to a sequel to this story, but only if you look hard enough. My biggest problem is that the "regular" villans, AKA not the criminal, but the objects in the way of the hero's solving the case, are pure characatures. Pendergast is, while seemingly more brillianty that Sherlock Holmes, at least portayed as having faults despite his "good guy" status, and Dr. Kelly takes much prodding before she commits herself wholesale to the endeavour. No, it's the beaurucrats that are poorly drawn. A Police Captain, named Custer in a very obvious reference to the reckless General, is just a cardboard cutout, a straw man who possesses no positive traits and seems like a total incompetent. In fact, the entire NY Police Dept. comes off as morons, which is rather unfair, and in fact the entire sub-plot that involves them is thin and rather pointless. Also, Kelly's nemesis, VP at the Museum she works at and a total jackass, is just one big lawyer joke. Perhaps the authors are trying to say something about cuts in science funding in favor of profits, but it comes off as clumsy and poorly written. The villan however, is much more interesting, and not so broadly drawn. I much better villan. Perhaps 100 pages could have been shaved off the book without the intrusiveness of the NYPD Captain and the lawyer. In the end, however, the book reads exceedingly well, even the unnecessary parts are good, and it's probably one of the better "sorta true" science thrillers I've read outside of Michael Chricton's last two novels. I'm going to read "Relic", and see how that reads.
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