Rating: 
Summary: Another GREAT book by these two!
Review: No it's not Relic. Would you really want to read Relic again? Would you pay money to read the same book again? Relic was AWESOME!! Ranked as one of my alltime favorite, classic, got to read it again someday, books. That being said, Still Life With Crows stands alone, just like this creepy little town somewhere in Kansas surrounded by tall corn. Agent Pendergast is such an entertaining character and I have to admit I'd like to know more about him too, but that's part of the intrigue of Pendergast; his air of mystery. It keeps you coming back for more when Pendergast is involved and he doesn't disappoint us in this one either. The murders in this book were downright creepy and had me on the edge of my seat. This book could almost be a horror novel just like Relic but it's really more of a mystery, thriller. Preston and Child really tell a great story and their character development is unquestioned. The people in this story come right off the page and get in your face. You've seen em before, heck you probably know some, they probably live just down the street from you, maybe. If you've read these two authors before, this is not a book you want to miss. No it's not Relic, thank goodness; it's an orginal story with an orginal idea, and orginally scary. Read it with the lights on.
Rating: 
Summary: Creepy and Sickening
Review: Unlike many fans here, "Relic" bored me and I found "Still Life" to be a much better book. Suspense, mystery, gore, and a plot twist you just don't see coming.Forensics and profiling are interests of mine so naturally I was trying to get a grasp on what the killer was like from the first murder onward. Little did I know.... I found the ultimate answer to that to be a welcome, very surprising, plot twist and I appreciated not having some clichéd ending with obvious answers. I enjoyed the characters in the book, especially Corrie who I could identify with. I even liked the Sheriff who, for being a real jerk at times, was basically a decent small-town man. Pendergast, of course, was a very odd person, but I found myself interested in him despite all the oddness. He was so completely out of place in such a rural setting, which made him stand out all the more. And it was interesting that for all his methods and intelligence, he didn't figure out the answer until almost too late. I enjoyed the heck out of this book, stayed up all night reading it, actually. That said though, there are a couple things that prevent me from giving it a five star review. Pendergast borders on being a Mary Sue, which, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is very basically, a wish fulfillment, self-insertion of the authors. A character too perfect to be real, super intelligent, rich, overly educated, superior in every way the author is or wishes s/he could be. And that really does describe Pendergast. I did find the character interesting, but he also annoyed me more than once with his "abilities." Now, given that I've only read "Relic" and this book, I'll read the others and give him another chance. But it does look like the authors are taking him into wish fulfillment land, and that's never any good for the reader. The gore factor in this was a bit over the top for me. The descriptions and even the final resolution made me feel a bit nauseous, and I have a strong stomach. Obviously it was necessary to the plot, but I will include a strong warning with my recommendation of this book: it's not for everyone. If you can't deal with graphic descriptions of death and mutilation, *do not* read this book. Overall though, I found this to be a gripping story. It kept my attention from beginning to end and I do recommend it. Just don't eat before or during reading it, especially turkey or ham; you'll regret it if you do.
Rating:
Summary: This one scared the crap out of me!!
Review: I guess I want to know what others are reading that gave this a ho-hum review. This one literally scared me to pieces. It's been a long time, Stephen King I think, that made me afraid to read in the dark. One of my favorite characters, Special Agent Pendergast, is back, searching through a Kansas corn field to find a serial killer. He enlists a Goth purple-haired girl to be his assistant. The killings are so outrageously gross! They made me cringe and then turn all my lights on! What is it about
Corn Fields that can scare you to death? And then there is the
history of a Native American slaughter. WOW...read it and be very afraid!!!
Rating:
Summary: Creepy, just like the good ones ought to be
Review: FBI Special Agent Pendergast returns with his bizarre tonsorial tastes and inexhaustible arcane facts, this time in a small Kansas town with hints of a gruesome (is there any other kind?) serial killer. Of course, the local sheriff is miffed when the FBI dudes appear, but when more and more bodies begin to show up, he thinks maybe he could use a little help after all. Then things get really weird, and none of the usual methods or MOs appear to apply. Dum-de-dum-dum.
It's a good one.
Rating: 
Summary: "The Relic"... in a cornfield, only badly done.
Review: .
This story is unoriginal, insultingly ridiculous in parts, overall poorly done, and most of it has been taken from their other works. Plot-busters may follow this point, so read on at your own discretion. Instead of the museum in Relic, they use a cornfield in Kansas.
Instead of the sewer system under the museum in Relic, they use a cave system under the cornfield.
That's literally about all this story is, minus the interesting science, characters, ambience and originality of The Relic. A huge storm rolls in at a bad time, just like in Thunderhead, and there are eerie native american stalkings, like in Thunderhead. And they've used the semi-inept police who go off on wrong threads before too. The ending is so bad as to be the worst part of all. Lets just call the ending..."childish" and disappointing. Moreover, I'm not aware that hunting dogs can run full-speed through complex caves in total darkness, nor can a human see in total darkness no matter how long he's been accustomed to it. It occurs to me also that the hero of this book and most of their novels, Pendergast, wasn't needed to solve the case and did little to help, the locals did it all on their own. All he did was to possibly rescue a girl, whom he endangered in the first place. Infact, he comes off looking like an arrogant buffoon more than once, including having his Rolls Royce delivered, just so he can drive around a block-long dusty town in Kansas, in a hail storm no less? And he flops down in the mud in his $6,000 suit to do the overblown "mind crossing" trick again? One minute Pendergast has his own food flown in because the local food is so bad, the next minute he's eating dead-squirrel stew in the woods for no good reason. Please. Also, I would like to make a point to all the authors of this genre. Disgusting graphic descriptions and crass vulgarity do NOT make up for the lack of a good solid plot, which is another frequent mistake that comes up in this book. Fellow readers, do not send the message to authors who resort to pandering that they can get 5 stars for this kind of work. Make them earn their living, like these two are fully capable of doing. If I've included any plot-busters in this review forgive me, but the plot busts all on its own. If this is a 5 star book as friends of the authors and publishers have been giving it here apparently, I think my reading days are about over.
Rating:
Summary: IT,S GOING DOWNHILL FOR THESE WRITERS
Review: I realy wanted to like this book and for some reason it kept my interest...until pendergast retreated in this so called meditation....I began flipping through the pages because I wanted to know who the killer was....well...now I know and I have to say "quelle surprise "
What do you mean " the killer has the face of a child " What is wrong with the person who eddited this book. Didn't he read the whole book before the identity of the killer was revealed. If he did he would know that there is no way in hell this killer could be precieved as being a beautiful child like face.
I'm sorry but in my opinion these guys had a one-struck-hit with the 'RELIC'and aren't able to pull something like that of again.
Rating: 
Summary: An All Too Perfect Hero
Review: Preston and Child have written a series of thrillers featuring a most unusual FBI agent. Named Pendergast, this man has nearly superhuman physical and mental powers and is apparently independent of the Bureau's authority. So blond that he looks albino, he dresses in black suits that are never soiled or rumpled, even when he has been lying on his back in a cornfield in stifling summer heat. In this case, Pendergast travels to western Kansas to track down a bizarre murderer who lives in a vast system of underground caverns. Kansas is stereotyped as a bleak landscape of decaying towns separated by vast fields of corn. State and local police officers are stereotyped as well; all but one come across as dim-witted, incompetent, or cowardly. Not so Agent Pendergast, who never loses his icy self-control and who apparently never sweats even after the most strenuous exertions. Like other novels in this series, this one includes some gruesome scenes. One of the sub-themes, the growing of genetically modified corn, gets lost along the way.
Rating:
Summary: Frankly, I'd loathe to meet Pendergast in a dark place...
Review: I probably shouldn't be giving this book five stars. It isn't like it is great literature...however, Pendergast (the FBI 'Special Agent') does have his literary moments. AFter reading The Ice Limit, I was a little cautious in picking up this new book by these two. I don't know how they write their books, and even though the books are often listed under mysteries, they tend to have more horror/sci fi involved then many of my other regular mystery reads. This one was so well-done (especially in comparison with some of their others) that I speed-read through the whole thing. Yeah, there is a bit of a reminder of relic, but the idea that some evangelistic, fire-and-brimstone father would put his daughter and grandson in a cave for a lifetime...made me cringe for fear that it probably has been done. I know from my own research into linguistics and the deaf, we talk a lot about the Wild Boy of Aveyron (France) and Genie (California) who were respectively abandoned and abused, and how those two were never able to be assimilated into regular society in spite of intense instruction. The 'monster' is the man doing the killing, but in the end the true 'monster' is the evangelistic, abusive grandfather who made the man (along with his own mother) what he was. I am sure the philosophists would have a field day with something like this occurring in reality, because can you hold a person responsible for actions when he has no idea of moral concepts or societal restraints? The writing was fast-paced. I, for one, really enjoy AGent Pendergast. He is a story within the story, and I wonder if we will ever get the whole truth about his background. He may be strange, but he has some redeeming qualities that alleviate that strangeness. I hope Preston and Child's work continues to grow... This particular book took place outside of the museums in which they've placed their other books, and does not involved anthropology as much as myth and legend, and where history's reality lies. Fun read. Karen SAdler
Rating:
Summary: Special Agent Pendergast is a HOOT!
Review: I was totally engrossed and entertained by the first 3/4 of this story. The main characters are all well portrayed, and Special Agent Pendergast is such a delightful quirky guy. I was absolutely loving this book until the near the end where the plot deteriorates into a long drawn out gory chase scene. The murderer is also a highly implausible character. Nevertheless, Pendergast, his teenage sidekick, and the other characters in the story are so quirky and delightful that I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: I found this to be a fantastic book. The suspense is breath taking. With each chapter - wondering what the heck will happen next - you become more and more taken with the story. You try to figure it out on your own and second guess the story - but once you get to the end and it all makes sense and becomes clear - you marvel at this writing team. Bravo.. I am a Pendergast fan for life!
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