Techno-Thrillers discussion

Relic by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (1995)


Publisher’s Summary
Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...

But the museum's directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.

Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who—or what—is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?

I see 14 of you already read and rated it, mostly high. For those who have … question:
How many Preston and/or Child books have you read and where do you rate Relic among their books you’ve read?

Wow! His author page says he has 209 distinct works! Relic is the 1st book in the (agent) Pendergast series. He’s up to 22 books in just that one series.

I’ve also read Extinction … so I’m up to a whopping 2 of his 209 works. They are rated about the same … 4.05 for Relic and 4.09 for Extinction. I wouldn’t rate either one quite that high, but they do feel roughly the same level.

Can’t speak to more of his books, but both of the two I read are marked by a crescendo to a real fever pitch intensity, with life/death action that feels like an utter frenzy. He manages this by orchestrating a cacophony of ineptitude, lead by a few obnoxious, overconfident characters who are so egregiously over the top that you are primed to hate them, and not upset to see them fail, but upset at the collateral damage that results.

I kind of like the fever pitch, but resorting to the placement of a strawman designed to fail, be torn down, and be burned in effigy has always been a B-level gimmick in my opinion. It is all too common in this genre and keeps many of the books and movie adaptations from a 5-star result.

I have read almost all of Douglas Preston/Lincoln Childs' books with the exception of the newest books. I've also read most of their separate books.

I read Relic soon after watching the movie. I loved the movie and decided to pick up the book. The book was way better and is still one of their best. I didn't get around to reading it's direct sequel, Reliquary, until I've already read about 6 other Preston/Childs books. Reliquary is a direct sequel to Relic.

I've enjoyed many of the "Pendergast" novels. It's a great series and the authors reuse characters in many of the books. Some of the more recent Pendergast stories don't live up to some the early stories, but I still am enjoying them. The last two I read introduced a new character that has breathed new life in the series.

My favorites are: Relic, The Cabinet of Curiosities, Brimstone, Cemetery Dance, White Fire and City of Endless Night.

Thanks for sharing. I think I’ll put The Reliquary, #2 in the series, on my TBR list for this year.