Relic

Pendergast, Book 1

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 13 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Relic, a Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child thriller that introduces FBI Special Agent Pendergast

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?

Prolong the suspense: listen to the sequel, Reliquary.

©1994 by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. (P)1995 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"With its close-up view of museum life and politics, plausible scientific background, sharply drawn characters and a plot line that's blissfully free of gratuitous romance, this well-crafted novel offers first-rate thrills and chills." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Wildly cool....Thrill hounds couldn't ask for a creepier environment....a thriller staged in the world's scariest building, with no room for the squeamish." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Trouble Getting Past the Narration...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

READING this book would be time well spent. I can't really say that listening to it was, purely because of the silly narration.

What did you like best about this story?

This really is a fun story, blending sic-fi and thriller genres. It's not to the level of a Michael Crichton novel -- the evolutionary science is vague and not well researched -- but it is certainly better than James Patterson Zoo.

Would you be willing to try another one of David Colacci’s performances?

Never. He was 100% the WORST narrator I've come across, after listening to hundreds of audiobooks.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

This book was a movie... a very very terrible movie. Read the paper copy of the book, and avoid putting yourself through the movie.

Any additional comments?

I'm actually a fan of this book - in written form. I wanted so badly to get into the story, but found it nearly impossible to do so because my brain was continuously fighting the cartoonish accents and poor narration of David Colacci. The whole performance was SO over the top, which just doesn't work for a book that walks the line of sic-fi/fantasy, such as this one. Almost every character was given an outlandish and poorly executed accent. So disappointed... I just need to get through the sub-par narrations to get to the books performed by Scott Brick and Rene Auberjonois.

Narrator Ruined Story for Me

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not, story is sub-par entertainment. Surreal and un-realistic plot. Slightly exciting, but narration was terrible.

What could Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The story was fair and probably would have been best if a narrator like Scott Brick or Dick Hill read this story.

Would you be willing to try another one of David Colacci’s performances?

NO (not for this type of story anyway)

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Possibly

Any additional comments?

Just terrible narration. Sound quality of voice is echoey and high pitched. Sound effects were horribly annoying and I had to turn down the sound many times because of this annoyance. The story was fair and probably would have been best if a narrator like Scott Brick or Dick Hill read this story.

Wheelchair cluelessness

One of the main characters is a brilliant scientist who has done expeditions in his wheelchair, who has full use of his arms and a very strong grip, all noted in the prose. So why does he suddenly need another character to push him around? This and other nonsense about wheelchair use was annoying. A little bit of research, a few chats with folks who use wheelchairs, and maybe the authors would not be so clueless. Sadly, too few readers will even notice the ableist cliches ("wheelchair-bound", "iron prison", etc.) or the unexamined assumptions that underlie them.

The story itself is pretty silly, but a competent monster tale, good fluff as a soundtrack to chores. The reader, David Colacci, is reliable. Like a good mechanic, he knows his trade, cares enough to research pronunciation of uncommon and technical terms.

well used credit

A book that that required my full attention. Enjoyed the storyline and the narrator was great.

I wish I knew about this sooner!

Great story and it gets interesting from the beginning and gets more exciting as the story continues. Great narrator! I look forward to listening to next book in the series.

sort of like X-files meets CSI

I wasn't sure what I was going to think of this book, and the other reviews were mixed, but I had a pretty good time listening to it. If you enjoyed the X-files, then you'll probably like the book. For a thriller, I found it quite technical at times. I appreciate that the authors really know their stuff (from science and biology to technology to forensics) but all the detailed jargon sort of bogged it down at times.

As for the narration, I have to say that the overall critiques are pretty fair. The 'special effects' of radio static and echoing voices was unnecessary and somewhat annoying at times. The accents were all pretty exaggerated. It all depends on how much you let it bother you. I've heard worse.

The plot was definitely more on the sci-fi side rather than thriller. Adding a bunch of science doesn't necessarily make it anything other than a sci-fi book. Anyway, my criticisms would be that sometimes plot points were repeated again and again rather unnecessarily. Don't worry, we get it, we got it the first nine or ten times. More than that, I was really hoping for something more. It never delivers the twists or unexpected turns that I expect from a first rate thriller. Yes the science stuff that provided the backing was cool and hard to guess at, but the straight out heroes need to escape from/kill mysterious beast side of the plot was a bit bland. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad and get whats coming to them, everything wraps up nice and tidily (except for the strand which will provide the plot for the sequel). It was never unexpected. I just wish there had been a bit more substance on the plot/character side to flesh out all the science backing.

Just not that exciting.

Pretty well written for this genre fiction. But there's actually very little mystery. We know the nature of the Relic early on, and it takes a long time and many characters to head toward a climax. The result: there's just not a lot of suspense.

unstoppable

If you could sum up Relic in three words, what would they be?

I usually listen only during my commute, but kept this on even after my drive was over.

One of my favorites of all time.

I have loved this book since it came out. The characters connect with me especially Pendergast.

Riveting Adventure

Part X-Fikes meets Bones meets Jurassic Park? I want to say it's fast paced but there are times if you just hang in there it muddled through. It's a great adventure/meets sci-fi.