Helpful Score: 5
This was a good sequel to the first in the series, Relic. I was glad that Pendergast was in this was as well, and thought his entrance into the book was pretty funny.
I found the Wisher woman truly annoying. It's amazing how self-righteous the rich get when one of their own is killed, but can easily look the other way when it's the poor. I wonder if these type of people ever consider that while they tie up the police with their protests (such as in the book) that they prevent them from doing their jobs elsewhere?
The story also has a continuation of morons in the upper chains-of-command with the police and officials who only see and hear what they want to. They once again manage to ignore evidence brought before them by key characters and go on with their own agendas leaving the reader smacking their forehead over their stupidity.
On a side note. Why would someone use lily-pad plants as packing material? Wouldn't they be a poor choice, since as a water plant they'd have to be dried out before being used or they'd go to rot in crates? I know it's essential to the story, but wouldn't a grass-type plant, similiar to what's used for straw, have made more sense?
The main villain in the story may, or may not, be a surprise. Especially since, in my opinion, it was a bit Scooby-Doo on the unveiling.
I found the Wisher woman truly annoying. It's amazing how self-righteous the rich get when one of their own is killed, but can easily look the other way when it's the poor. I wonder if these type of people ever consider that while they tie up the police with their protests (such as in the book) that they prevent them from doing their jobs elsewhere?
The story also has a continuation of morons in the upper chains-of-command with the police and officials who only see and hear what they want to. They once again manage to ignore evidence brought before them by key characters and go on with their own agendas leaving the reader smacking their forehead over their stupidity.
On a side note. Why would someone use lily-pad plants as packing material? Wouldn't they be a poor choice, since as a water plant they'd have to be dried out before being used or they'd go to rot in crates? I know it's essential to the story, but wouldn't a grass-type plant, similiar to what's used for straw, have made more sense?
The main villain in the story may, or may not, be a surprise. Especially since, in my opinion, it was a bit Scooby-Doo on the unveiling.
Helpful Score: 4
A year ago, I read the prequel to this book, Relic. I shouldn't have waited so long to read The Reliquary but I could remember enough of the basic facts from the first book so I wasn't lost. To my disappointment, Agent Pendergast wasn't introduced until almost half way through the book. I like the other characters but I didn't think they were strong enough to carry that first half. The "yellow" journalist Bill Smithback was just flat out obnoxious as was most of the upper echelon of the police department. That had a stereotypical or cliche-ish feel to it that I didn't like. You have to suspend belief in reality in several places throughout the book. Sometimes that was annoying; sometimes it was amusing. When I looked back at what I wrote about the first book it seems that I enjoyed it much more than this one. I really like the Pendergast character so I'm looking forward to the next two books--I think he's supposed to be the "star" in those...I hope so!
There is one thing that I appreciated in this book: the authors focused a lot on the issues of the homeless living underground in New York City. Many are veterans of our wars or are mentally ill; I liked the fact that the authors humanized them and brought attention to their needs.
There is one thing that I appreciated in this book: the authors focused a lot on the issues of the homeless living underground in New York City. Many are veterans of our wars or are mentally ill; I liked the fact that the authors humanized them and brought attention to their needs.
Helpful Score: 3
Even better than Relic, I enjoyed the story and the description of underground New York is fascinating
Helpful Score: 2
This was a grab you by the seat of your pants thriller.
A possable monster(s) is killing people in a horrible brutal way.
This leads the protaganists (Pendergrast; a sort of modern Sherlock Holmes of the F.B.I. with his brillianter than everyone else abilities and D'Agosta; the portly, cigar smoking, excellent detective of the NYPD that partners with Pendergrast ) into the tunnels under Manhattan.
Here there are whole colonies of homeless people. Here also lives The Beast !
I found this a Can't Put Down book !
A possable monster(s) is killing people in a horrible brutal way.
This leads the protaganists (Pendergrast; a sort of modern Sherlock Holmes of the F.B.I. with his brillianter than everyone else abilities and D'Agosta; the portly, cigar smoking, excellent detective of the NYPD that partners with Pendergrast ) into the tunnels under Manhattan.
Here there are whole colonies of homeless people. Here also lives The Beast !
I found this a Can't Put Down book !
Helpful Score: 2
Great book.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked this sequel to Relic with its mix of horror and mystery. I especially liked how different events all intersected in interesting ways.
This is a sequel to The Relic which I read about a year ago (actually listened to an audio book). This is also the second in the Pendergast series. Reliquary picks up from where Relic left off and tells how a large group of beasts similar to the beast in the Relic has been murdering and decapitating the citizens of New York, mainly the homeless who live in the myriad tunnels and forgotten chambers underneath Manhattan. The characters from the Relic return in this sequel including museum curator, Margo Green; police lieutenant, D'Agosta, and FBI agent Pendergast. Margo figures out that the drug from the plant craved by the museum beast in Relic has been given to a large group of individuals who have morphed into similar beasts. Probably the most fascinating part of this novel was the descriptions of the people or moles that live underground in NYC. Also described are some of the areas underground including an abandoned area 30 stories beneath Manhattan that was going to be used by the very rich as part of an elaborate railroad that would bypass the crowded stations used by the common people. According to the authors, these places do actually exist and there are whole communities of homeless that live in them. Overall, this was another good entry by Preston/Child which also includes a surprising twist near the end. A solid recommendation for this one. I have several other books by this team that I also look forward to reading.
I enjoyed "The Relic" and wanted to continue with the series. "Reliquary" is the sequel. The monster part was good, the social setting was the part that annoyed me. This novel was a social platform for the authors to inform and educate the readers of underground dwellers of NYC's tunnel system. There are good scary parts, and there are annoying social responsiblity parts.
Wow! Cliff-hanger stuff! I look for everything I can get from these guys, and like 'em all!
The sequel to the "Relic." This book is a real page-turner, impossible to put down. Highly recommended.
Great writers and story. Loved it.
This is the sequel to Preston/Child's "Relic", and I found it just as exciting and nerve-wracking as the first book. Back once more into the underground tunnels beneath the Museum . . . .
This is the sequel to the title RELIC; also an EXCELLENT read!
a good book that is keep you on the edge of your seat
Great sequel to "The Relic" - full thrills and chills.
Just as riveting as The Relic! Wish they would make this one into a movie too.
This was a great read.
Very good mystery book about the Metropolitan Museum in New York City and the strange goings on when 2 bodies are found.
This is an excellent sequel to Relic. I love Agent Pendergast!
I enjoyed this sequel just as much as the first. Fast paced thriller with memorable characters. I also enjoyed the social message that was quietly introduced. A worthy read.
Great read! Just don't read it on a dark and stormy night!
Not quite as good as Relic. This one felt as if they were just trying to rewrite the first one.
This one was quite exciting, but a bit more predictable than their first book. The ending twist was not really a surprise, though it was still exciting to read it all being played out. I had a lot of fun reading it, and I am very curious to see where this series goes - I can't imagine that this plant could cause any more trouble!
A great sequel to the book 'The Relic'. The same characters are back, although some are insanely different after surviving through the first story. The added character development really makes you feel much more involved with the plot.
Also, it does a great job of describing the different strata of people that live in, and BELOW, New York City!
Also, it does a great job of describing the different strata of people that live in, and BELOW, New York City!
Another great DP/LC book. This book fills in a lot of information that you did not get in The Relic. I enjoyed it.
This was a great effort in story telling. But you sell yourself short if you read this before RELIC. If you have read RELIC, you want to read this sequel. It is a "nail biter", "can't put it down " kind of book. You have gotta love Pentergast.
Loved this one too. A great follow up to Relic.
Second novel in the Agent Pendergast series. Sequel to "RELIC"
This book will keep you going. It is scary but extremely enjoyable.
Wonderful suspense and thriller Preston and Child are a great duo of writers. This is a sequel to Relic which was also an awesome read. Grabs you right away and holds on until the end.
Excellent follow-up to Relic...couldn't put the book down!
This was a great read.
Great sequel
Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lies a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beast. When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museaum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. The trail soon leads deep underground, where they will face the awakening of a slumbering nightmare.
Of course nothing can top the original most of the time, but this one comes close. I loved Relic and I think this sequel, Reliquary, is a great follow-up and continuation of the story-line. Also gives a wonderful, if scary, look into human nature.
I have never been disappointed by these two authors. There subject matter may be way out there for some, but reading their works is like watching a movie. If you liked Relic, you'll love Reliquary!
Sequel to the relic, this one takes us beneath the city of
Manhattan,Where the homeless live the moles, but also something
else and this something kills.
Awesome read keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Manhattan,Where the homeless live the moles, but also something
else and this something kills.
Awesome read keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Very interesting story about the tunnels under New York City. Very good read!
puzzling mystery in a New York museum
GREAT HORROR THRILLER, SEQUAL TO THE RELIC
Love this Agent Pendergast 'series'!
Better than The Relic!
From Publishers Weekly
The netherworld of New York City--its subways, aqueducts, sewers and the homeless who inhabit them--proves as shuddery a setting for the authors' latest scientific monster mash as the American Museum of Natural History did for their bestselling Relic, to which this is the sequel. In the earlier novel, Mbwun, a ferocious creature that seemed part reptile, part human, rampaged through the museum killing people. The sequel, set 18 months after Mbwun was destroyed, opens with a police diver finding the headless bodies of two people apparently killed by underground cannibals. The corpses are sent to the museum's lab for analysis, which brings a number of returnees from Relic--burly homicide cop Vincent D'Agosta, anthropologist Margo Green, New York Post crime reporter Bill Smithback--to the case. They're soon joined by the novels' Sherlock Holmes figure, the irresistibly cool Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI. Forays by these principals into the kingdom of the Mole People (underground homeless), plus some forensic breakthroughs, point to a race of mini-Mbwun at work in an escalating series of savage killings that incite the city's upper crust to civil disobedience. The city's answer, to flood its nether vaults, turns out to threaten a global catastrophe that only Pendergast and company, aided by Navy SEALS, can avert. The story's "surprise" ending makes as much sense as ketchup on popcorn, and the entire novel has a desperate air about it as the authors stuff it with complications and, by pitting the homeless against the swells, try to create a kind of Decapitation of the Vanities. It's high on suspense and tremendous fun in parts, though, especially when exploring the city's nightmare underbelly.
From Publishers Weekly
The netherworld of New York City--its subways, aqueducts, sewers and the homeless who inhabit them--proves as shuddery a setting for the authors' latest scientific monster mash as the American Museum of Natural History did for their bestselling Relic, to which this is the sequel. In the earlier novel, Mbwun, a ferocious creature that seemed part reptile, part human, rampaged through the museum killing people. The sequel, set 18 months after Mbwun was destroyed, opens with a police diver finding the headless bodies of two people apparently killed by underground cannibals. The corpses are sent to the museum's lab for analysis, which brings a number of returnees from Relic--burly homicide cop Vincent D'Agosta, anthropologist Margo Green, New York Post crime reporter Bill Smithback--to the case. They're soon joined by the novels' Sherlock Holmes figure, the irresistibly cool Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI. Forays by these principals into the kingdom of the Mole People (underground homeless), plus some forensic breakthroughs, point to a race of mini-Mbwun at work in an escalating series of savage killings that incite the city's upper crust to civil disobedience. The city's answer, to flood its nether vaults, turns out to threaten a global catastrophe that only Pendergast and company, aided by Navy SEALS, can avert. The story's "surprise" ending makes as much sense as ketchup on popcorn, and the entire novel has a desperate air about it as the authors stuff it with complications and, by pitting the homeless against the swells, try to create a kind of Decapitation of the Vanities. It's high on suspense and tremendous fun in parts, though, especially when exploring the city's nightmare underbelly.
All of Child and Preston's books for fantastic! IF you haven't read them, take time. You won't regret it.
Great sequel to Relic, but make sure you've read Relic first
While I did not enjoy this book as much as I did the first book in the series (Relic), it is quite the thrill ride.
This book is in excellent condition.
This book is in excellent condition.
Excellent follow-up to the Relic. Love these authors!
Another great science thriller from Preston & Child - scary fun that you won't be able to put down.
I loved this book! Found time I didn't have to finish it. These guys are masters of suspense.
great story
The sequel to Relic.
The dangerous substance that caused the killer man-dinosaur in the Natural History Museum has been synthesized and has spead as a drug through underground NYC. The homeless are being killed at a frightening rate, and rumors of freakish mutants in the lowest levels are spreading, but it takes a debutante's death to catch the attention of the media and the police department.
Will Our Heroes figure out the dastardly plot and succeed in the drastic measures they must take to save the Earth's ecosystem? (What do you think?)
The dangerous substance that caused the killer man-dinosaur in the Natural History Museum has been synthesized and has spead as a drug through underground NYC. The homeless are being killed at a frightening rate, and rumors of freakish mutants in the lowest levels are spreading, but it takes a debutante's death to catch the attention of the media and the police department.
Will Our Heroes figure out the dastardly plot and succeed in the drastic measures they must take to save the Earth's ecosystem? (What do you think?)
Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lises a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beast. When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. The trail soon leads deep underground where they will face the awakening of a slumbering nightmare.
Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lies a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beat. When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. The trail soon leads deep underground, where they will face the awakening of a slumbering nightmare.
Excellent. I don't know why they list Relic in parenthesis - it's a separate book and you should read it first.
As always, Preston/Child have surpassed themselves. Riveting story that keeps you guessing till the finale.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
I loved the all the players. Which are from many of these author's. Police Lieutenant D'Agosta & FBI Agent Pendergast
The netherworld of New York City? its subways, aqueducts, sewers and the homeless who inhabit them? proves as shuddery a setting for the authors' latest scientific monster mash as the American Museum of Natural History did for their bestselling Relic, to which this is the sequel. In the earlier novel, Mbwun, a ferocious creature that seemed part reptile, part human, rampaged through the museum killing people. The sequel, set 18 months after Mbwun was destroyed, opens with a police diver finding the headless bodies of two people apparently killed by underground cannibals. The corpses are sent to the museum's lab for analysis, which brings a number of returnees from Relic?burly homicide cop Vincent D'Agosta, anthropologist Margo Green, New York Post crime reporter Bill Smithback?to the case. They're soon joined by the novels' Sherlock Holmes figure, the irresistibly cool Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI. Forays by these principals into the kingdom of the Mole People (underground homeless), plus some forensic breakthroughs, point to a race of mini-Mbwun at work in an escalating series of savage killings that incite the city's upper crust to civil disobedience. The city's answer, to flood its nether vaults, turns out to threaten a global catastrophe that only Pendergast and company, aided by Navy SEALS, can avert. The story's "surprise" ending makes as much sense as ketchup on popcorn, and the entire novel has a desperate air about it as the authors stuff it with complications and, by pitting the homeless against the swells, try to create a kind of Decapitation of the Vanities. It's high on suspense and tremendous fun in parts, though, especially when exploring the city's nightmare underbelly.
The curator of the Natural History Museum rejoins police and the FBI as they attempt to solve horrific murders. A frightening sequel to The Relic, it's a terrific read on its own.
The curator of the Natural History Museum rejoins police and the FBI as they attempt to solve horrific murders. A frightening sequel to The Relic, it's a terrific read on its own.
Maybe not as much fun as the first, but definitely a good ride and a vivid read.
Huge fan of Agent Pendergast novels - he rocks
I guess these books are pretty popular, although they don't appeal to me. This one seems to deal with a beast that lives under a museum.
Special addition. Different Cover
Too long, dull to the point of boring, too much descriptions way too much! nothing believable about it.
