Reliquary

Rating:
Summary: a masterful sequal to THE RELIC
Review: Manhattan has numerous miles of underground. There is the subways, the sewers, the aqueducts, and numerous electrical systems. There are walkways beneath the street. No one living or working on the island really takes much notice at this netherworld except when something goes wrong. A police diver has found the skeletons of two people who apparently were killed by cannibals living beneath the city's streets. ....... When more murders occur, the same crack team that stopped the Mbdwun (read THE RELIC) are reassembled. Homicide police officer Vincent D'Agosta, crime reporter Bill Smithback, anthropologist Margo Green, and FBI agent Pendergast all want to forget the Mbdwun murders. However, they now are confronted with underground homeless people and potentially a race of mini-Mbdwun. No solution, including flooding the underworld, seems right. However, the tetrad of survivors better come up with something soon because the city is under attack from below. ........ Though not quite the page burner of THE RELIC, RELIQUARY is a fast-paced, quite interesting thriller. The return of the magnificent four (especially Mr. Cool Pendergast) adds a feeling of homecoming to the reader. However, it is the underground tour of New York City, an expedition that would excite Ed Norton and Jean Valjean, that turns this suspense-laden book into a fun to read novel. ........Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Relic, but still a chilling thriller
Review: Reliquary grabs you at the start and holds on for dear life until the last 50 or so pages. Please understand the whole book is great, but the ending appeared to be a bit contrived, almost as if the authors were tired and said "Let's just end this thing." I would recommend this book to anyone who is an adrenalin junkie ( and who isnt really). Not a book to be read at night or while alone. You will hear strange scrambling noises andsmell goatish odors. Douglas and Childs have not received the recognition they so richly deserve. I know everyone says it, but they did create something to compete with Jurassic Park and then when they wrote this sequal, unlike Crighton and his The Lost World, they did bother to put in time and effort to keep their fans enthralled and scared witless.( Except for the end.) But hey, even with the ending being a bit disappointing the rest of the book is worth the cost of buying this book in hard cover and then after reading it, paying the extra charge on your light bill, because you wont dare turn off the lights for days.Buy it!!!!! Read it!!!!!! Scream for the movie!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Good, not great
Review: I love the books of these 2 authors and I really liked this one, however it was not there best effort. I thought it dragged a bit, and the facing of the monsters wasn't really well played out. I will say I did enjoy them bringing back all the charters from the 1st novel and they had some great dialogue, and also thought the conspiracy plot and the method of release was pretty good too, but it just lacked the fun of the first novel I think.

Rating:
Summary: Reliquary: Worth every penny!!!!
Review: When I purchased "Reliquary," I was a little anxious that I might have been wasting my money on a hard cover and not waiting for its paperback. Well, being impatient certainly paid off. Buying "Reliquary" was one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. It's a perfect blend of science, suspense, and intrigue. Preston and Child have written the perfect sequel: they have created a new "creature", they have successfully mixed believable science fiction with never before seen action, and most importantly, it's not necessary that you read "Relic" in order to understand its second. I just couldn't put it down! I even set aside my homework so I could read it non-stop. Preston and Child's first two books were an amazing feat in themselves, but the authors have really surpassed the hype surrounding "Relic's" sequel. With unbelievable settings underneath Central Park and characters teeming with life, "Reliquary" will have your stomach in knots and your knuckles turning white. As with many suspense books, you have a slight hypothesis as to where the plot is going, but "Reliquary" is an unguessable thrill ride. This sequel has you turning the pages at break neck speed, and with a surprising twist near the end, you too will see that buying "Reliquary" is definitely a beneficial expenditure to add to your weekly splurging

Rating:
Summary: One thing prevented this one from being 5-star.
Review: I won't give anything away, because it is a damn good read and a worthy sequel. It's just one thing that does it. You'll know it when you get there.

Sorry I can't say more, but... that'd give it away.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is the sequel to Relic. Reliquary is an exciting book. It is realistic science fiction. You won't be able to put it down. I sure wasn't! Reliquary is staged in New York City, above and below-ground. The book is mature in its themes. There are many scientific terms and ideas. There are many characters ranging from the underground community leader Mephisto to FBI Special Agent Pendergast. A drug from a lost village transforms people into a legendary creature that craves a chemical in the human brain.This causes a killing streak in New York City. The drug called "glaze" by its users is a plant is grown by a former scientist in a reservoir. If the plant hits the saltwater, it will activate and potentially ruin the world's ecosystem! Find out for yourself! You do not need to read Relic first, the first book of the series.

Rating:
Summary: Just Shy of Brilliant
Review: Relic, the book that started it all, is without questions my favorite book of the modern era, so it was a no brainer that I'd read it's sequel, Reliquary. And after reading the opening chapter, I knew that I held in my hands another wonderful piece of writing. This book is still demonstrably better than 4 out of 5 books out there, but I must admit that it falls a bit short of Relic. While I would still heartily recommend this title to anyone who read Relic (and those who hadn't, I definitely recommend Relic first; DON'T SEE THE MOVIE), I was a bit disapointed, though it'd be hard to put my finger on just why. All the original main characters were there (which, during Reliquary's climax, gave me a feeling that none of these people really were going to die). And believe it or not, I found a disconcerting amount of the book unbelievable, with quite the disappointing ending. Yes, I know that considering that Relic was essentially about a monster/evolutionary abberation/transformed paleontologist running amok in the NYMH, leaving cadavers hyothalumus-free wouldn't assure it a place on the non-fiction booklist, the original's narrative and attention to detail made it a bit more plausible. Still, I'd have to say that this book is still an excellent read, and for fans of the genre, well-worth the price of admission.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as STILL LIFE WITH CROWS
Review: I became a Preston/Childs fan after reading STILL LIFE WITH CROWS. I'm still impressed with how simpatico these two guys are.
Anyway, I wasn't aware that this was a series and now that I've read another one, working my way backwards, I'm not as impressed.
First off, there are too many featured characters in RELIQUARY. FBI agent Pendergast doesn't even show up until well into the story; yet we have Dr. Margo Green; police lieutenant D'Agosta; Dr. Frock; Smithback, the reporter; Simon Brambell, the medical investigator; Snow, the diver; Hayward, the female police officer; plus a host of minor characters who have their own perspectives just before they're dusted by the wrinklers. It's hard to know for whom to cheer and there's too much distance between each account. It's often necessary to page back to see where they were when last encountered.
Also, maybe I'm too much of a left-brainer but I didn't believe those wrinklers for a second. These two guys seem to be obsessed by monsters and the underworld. In STILL LIFE WITH CROWS it was a cave bigger than the Carlsbad Caverns and a Kong character with the mind of a baby. In this one it's the underworld beneath New York City and a collection of genetic monstrosities.
The most interesting aspect for me was the author's note at the end of the book. I knew there were a lot of uncharted abandoned tunnels beneath NYC but not thirty stories. As many as five thousand "houseless" have lived there; they form their own communities and communicate by tapping on pipes. Even more remarkable is the authors' claim that the Astor Tunnels actually did exist. THE MOLE PEOPLE by Jennifer Toth is a factual account of the homeless beneath the city.

Rating:
Summary: Crichton for Dummies
Review: This is the second book my these authors I have read. Interesting plotline, and characters. Moves fast and keeps you interested. Along the same lines as Jurassic Park, except you don't have to think as hard. The ending to this one was a bit of a stretch. But when you just need a thrill, it hits the spot. Looking forward to Ice Limit, Thunderhead, and Cabinet of Curiosities.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly good; incredibly suspenseful...
Review: I don't know how writers write in the first place; coming up with the ideas, and then creating an entire world and characters and keeping track of it all and binding it together into a novel; this is one of the best I have ever read, and certainly the most original...emphasizing an underground world, a subterranean society, reminding one of the Morlocks in "The Time Machine." This underground group has a basis in fact, and it is chilling and morbidly fascinating to realize that people live, eat, sleep and create their own societies far below the sidewalks of New York. I found the description of an old underground railroad, (created especially for the Vanderbilt crowd so they wouldn't have to mingle wth the "unwashed masses") absolutely astounding; first that it existed at all, and second, that there are still remnants of the railroad and it's former luxurious appointments. Another irony is, it is now in the domain of said unwashed masses...all that beauty, all that expense and luxury now covered with the filth of the underground and it's denizens. The story is fascinating, as always, and keeps you on the edge of your seat, as always...I think Agent Pendergast is one of the best and believable, original characters to emerge from the literary world since Sherlock Holmes, and I have no doubt the two would get along famously. I was enthralled with the vivid descritpion of Pendergast's sumptuous apartment, and especially enthralled with a Bonsai forest on one of his tables; a miniature stand of sugar maples, planted at different times, and just coming into their fall colors. A change of season on a coffee table; fantastic! The most mundane events turn, quickly, into a tragedy of horror beyond belief; and the good guys, some of them, also meet their match at the book's gut-wrenching climax. I automatically buy any books written by Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston because here we are fortunate enough to have authors of sublime excellence in every way. If ONLY the movie, (if there is one, and really, it cries out to be made into a movie), would be adhered to and the screenplay done by the original authors, it would be a true blockbuster. Nevr has there been such a unique and thrilling story...