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Summary: "WOW!"
Review: What a great story! A solid story line with strong and intelligent characters, especially Margo and Dr. Frock. You think, "What IS killing these people in a museum of all places. What could it possibly be? All I know, it's not human." It has a good beginning and an interesting ending. It keeps you guessing right to the end. I devoured this book, but in daylight. Frankly, it kind of gave me the creeps when I read it at night all alone. Gory and gives graphic descriptions. Well, it is in the genre of horror. It adds fiction with facts that make it even more believable. It's Jurassic Park visiting New York City, a very interesting and exciting read.
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Summary: Never judge a book by the movie
Review: I confess: I saw the movie before reading the book and the movie was only mediocre, so I delayed reading the book. I promise to never do THAT again. This is a great book. Exceptionally well written, intriguing characters, hard science that is easy for the layperson to understand, and a gripping, suspenseful story. It compares very favorably, if not surpasses, Crichton's best works.
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Summary: A smart, original thriller
Review: I rarely reread books, but after reading Relic for the third time, I knew I had to write a review. As indicated in the title of this review, the book takes a truly original idea to drive its plot, and set that idea in a rather unusual location. I don't want to give away the plot, but the location is the American Museum of Natural history and its dozens of sub-basements and unused rooms. Relic is creepy without being cliched; in the tradition of Michael Crichton's better work, this is a popular novel that is also intelligent. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Now THIS is what a thriller SHOULD be like...
Review: I wanted this book the moment I saw it. For SOME reason I could NOT identify, I just KNEW it was going to be good...well I was wrong...it wasn't just good, it was GREAT. One of the reviews calls it Jurassic Park meets Jaws, and I think that might give the wrong impression of what this story is all about. Originally this was going to be just something to read on my bus trips to work while my car was being fixed, but it turned out to be MUCH more. I ended up reading this at every spare moment I could (including a few that I couldn't) and insisted that my wife read it--and although she is notoriously very much against violence and action, she finished the book faster than I did. When the movie came out I was first in line on opening day...unfortunately the movie tanked in such a horrible way that it might actually convince folks who were thinking about reading it to avoid it entirely---DON'T DO IT! Read the book, and let the authors give you a taste of what a thriller SHOULD be like. I've GOT to tell you, the setting for this book is by FAR THE most frightening building I have ever read about in fiction. Preston & Child do an impressive job at describing just how utterly horrific it could be to not just be trapped inside the basement of one of the largest buildings on the planet, but trapped WITH something more terrifying than words can describe (although the authors do a good job of it...). The ending was truly a surprise to me. I can't say that about too many books I read (and certainly no movies I can think of) and no matter HOW impossible the plot seemed, Preston & Child swept me up into their world, one that was peopled with good, not-so-good and downright bad people and one very scary, 'thing'. I HAVE to admit that for a first collaboration, these guys get it right on the money and STILL my favorite book they have put out to date (the sequel 'Reliquary' is actually just so-so by comparison). There are just a small number of authors that I actually look forward to reading...and Preston & Child are ON that short list. I have to say, their latest, 'The Ice Limit' was superb--especially the VERY UNEXPECTED ENDING. That book was worth the price for the last chapter alone. If you have yet to read anything by these two very gifted authors, do yourself a favor and pick up ANY of their books, and get to know the fictional and fun world's in which they have created, you will be VERY glad you did, trust me.
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Summary: This Horror Fan Has Never Been So Scared!
Review: I've been a fan of horror for a long time and have read hundreds of horror novels. I've never had a book affect me the way this one did. I would check the doors and windows twice before I went to bed and wake at the slightest noise. I felt like a kid after his/her first horror film! Since then I've been a Preston and Child fan; reading all their books.
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Summary: Thrilling
Review: This book was very thrilling. In the beginning, it starts off in the Amazon, with a group of men exploring the jungle searching for a lost tribe. Then... they mysteriously disappear. That was back in 1989. Now its present day and we are in the Museum of Natural History. Two children who are inside the museum mysteriously disappear. The next day they are found brutally murdered in the subbasement. They are both decapitated, their guts are sprawled all over the place, and and part of there brain is missing. Then, about a week later the same thing happens to a guard. No one knows what is doing this, it is thought to be a serial killer. Then, when the main character, Margo, and her friend, Dr. Frock, figure out that there is something not human, a beast causing all this no one believes that it could be possible. But... there is a new exhibition coming ups soon in the museum. They better try to get it called off before anything else happens. But they can't remember? No one believes them. Now they have to try to convince them before anything bad happens. But its too late, the mass crowd will attract the beast and they encounter it face to face. This story was the most thrilling story that I have ever read. It was recommended to me by a friend who said it was one of the best books he ever read too. Since I'm not too keen on reading, when I saw the length of the book I was turned off by it, but trusting my friend, I read it. And boy was that a good idea. I found myself reading over 50 pages a night and that's pretty good for me since I don't really like to read. This book was a thrilling page-turner, and it even had a little humor in it. I Found myself, when I had to stop reading it, not wanting to, and all day wondering whats going to happen. I can't wait until I read the next book by these authors. In conclusion, this is the best book i have ever read. I would recommend this book to well, just about everyone, but mostly to the people who like gory horror and suspense novels. This was a great book.
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Summary: I absolutely adore this book.
Review: My husband recently read "Relic" for the first time, which prompted me to do a reread...and again, I was fascinated by the complexity of this story. I was so terribly saddened by the absolutely horrid film this book was made into..but please do not let the film keep you from reading this masterpiece of horror, suspense, medical thriller...there are no words to describe how incredible Preston/Child's writing is until you read it for yourself. This was my 5th read of "Relic" and I love it a little bit more each time around.
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Summary: My favorite book of all time !
Review: I had just finished reading Jurassic Park and my buddy recommended that I check out a book that was the first written by co-authors, Preston & Child. I said that it couldn't be better than JP. Boy was I wrong! The way that Preston & Child's text flows is amazing. Their stories are so detailed, yet so easy to read. The characters in Relic are easy to feel for. They seem real, not like superhuman characters that have special traits. The creature in the story is horrifying, unlike the creature in the terrible hollywood version. If you like some fact to go along with your fiction, then check out any of the books by Preston & Child. I have read all of their books and, with the exception of "Reliquary" they are all fantastic. It's not to take away from "Reliquary" as a story by itself, but to try to make a successful sequal to the superior "Relic" was bound to fail. "Relic" is an incredible tale of terror. Give it a shot, you won't regret it!
Rating: 
Summary: Yikes!
Review: This is really a terrific thriller. I'm kind of a student of this type of book, because I'd like to write my own thrillers one of these days. People reading this, by the way, might want to click on the "See more editorial reviews" button on the first page of this collection of reviews, because Lincoln Child actually posted a little comment there himself, where he talks about the genesis of this project... For about the first 300 pages, tension just builds and builds, while the scientist Margo Green, the journalist Smithback, and the "odd couple" of law enforcement officials D'Agosta and Pendergast pursue various leads. They are trying to investigate the sudden occurence of several murders, and how they connect to a mysterious ancient relic from an isolated, almost mythic tribe (the Kathoga) from the Amazonian rainforest. They all go down various wrong trails in their search for the truth, seeking a human serial killer; a "curse"; or even the premise they ultimately base their conjectures upon, which is that the "Museum Beast" is a paleozooic creature, dating back millions of years. The wrong trails somehow heighten the tension -- this is a favored plot device of Michael Crichton, whom the authors state that they admire, so maybe that's where the idea came from. Anyway, in the background, a huge, gala party is gearing up to take place at the museum, and the museum administrators, who are keenly aware of the importance of this party to the museum's financial survival, are constantly getting in the way of the investigations, slowing them down at every step, so the pesky murders won't get in the way of their party. What finally (gorily?) happens to these administrators, I will leave it to the reader to gleefully imagine. Anyway, at the gala event, all hell breaks loose, and the characters are split up into small groups for a long time. This allows the authors to switch back and forth between the events happening around various separate groups of characters, which is a well-tried approach to heightening tension. They are left wholly to their own devices with no electricity in the building, a wild storm raging outside, and a gigantic, agile, armor-plated carnivorous monster from hell dogging their every step. Quite a party, hmmm?!?! I liked the ending a lot too -- some reviewers here seem to disagree, but it worked for me. Basically, this is just a really scary novel, combing elements of horror, thrillers, detective fiction, and cutting edge science. Worth the money.
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Summary: Far better than the movie version
Review: Let's face it, how often do our favorite novels get turned into mush by the Hollywood machine? RELIC is one of those novels. This may not be a Shakespearian masterpiece, but it deserved far better treatment than it received in the movie version. RELIC is a wonderfully fun, surprisingly creepy little morality tale about why humans should stop messing around with nature. One curious anthropolgist explores the jungles and finds more than he bargains for. Tribal people talk of the Kothoga, or shadow people. Of course, the American explorers know that this is just superstitious talk, and that nothing can come from the so-called curses? Right? Flash ahead to New York City and its wondrous museums. The New York Museum of Natural History becomes the site of gruesome murders and a newly revived rumor of a museum beast. Museum researcher Margo Green and Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta team up to try to discover the identity of the killer and to stop it before it destroys everyone in its path. Throw in a lavish museum fundraiser complete with an elaborate exhibition that somehow ties into the "beast", and you end up with a lot trapped potential victims and an incredible chase through the underground tunnels beneath the museum. The question is: what exactly is doing the killing and where did it come from?
Preston and Child pull together all the elements for a great work of suspense. I was glued to this story to find out the ending, and I found RELIC to be a fun, intense ride. I recommend this one for anyone interested in "monster" tales and good suspense.
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