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)

It's an audiobook, not a hokey radio drama.

I've read and loved this series so many times, and the prospect of audiobooks was awfully exciting. Still great books, wonderful characters, etc, but the narrator completely tanked the mood and intellect. It's riddled with stereotypical, cartoonish voices and incredibly cheap sound effects that not only don't add to the story, but dramatically denigrate the whole experience. It's just so sad. And cheap. A thoughtful narrator can easily and subtly distinguish characters of infinitely varying backgrounds and voices without doing silly, affected, insulting "VOICES!!!" And certainly nothing deserves reverb and faux radio crackle as opposed to a talented artist able to communicate setting and mood on their own. This series of books especially demands nuance. Instead, we've got a poor voice-over audition compilation tape. Instead of being able to lose myself in a much loved story as anticipated, I ended up feeling insulted, on edge, and just waiting for a Wilhelm scream.

Great start for a series

FBI man Pendagraf is for sure a very different and interesting character. Not typical...kind of an amneican Sherlock Holmes ... I think I'll be reading this series off and on for quite sometime. These adventures seem to move around quite q lot with unusual twist and turns to the plots I have read to date

Scared me to death!!!

This is the first book in the FBI Agent Pendergast series and it will knock your socks off. I still think it is one of the best of the 16 books in the series. That is quite an accomplishment because almost every one of the Pendergast books by Preston and Childs are fantastic.

This book starts with a totally frightening chapter about some men in a South American jungle. There is a supernatural feel that made it difficult for me to breath. Then the story shifts to New York where a new exhibit is going to be presented at the museum. Grisley murders at the museum brings about the introduction of FBI Special Agent Pendergast. He is one of the most remarkable characters in current literature. Tall, pale, impeccably dressed and extraordinarily cultured - Pendergast is amazing. There are some scenes in this novel that scared me breathless. When the mystery is revealed at the end, I was stunned. Did not see that coming.

There are several other great characters introduced in the first book that you will see again in future books in the series. I particularly like Detective Dagosta. If you have not yet listened to a Pendergast book, I highly recommend that you start right now! You won't be disappointed.

Okay, but a few oddities

Overall, an enjoyable story. I liked the ending very much; and the book was much better than the movie.

Two minor things bothered me;
1) The authors seemed to struggle with the general intelligence of the killer, in one breath he/she/it is as dumb as a water buffalo, then the next cunning as a fox. And it seemed to be which ever was convenient for the current scene/trap/victim.
2) felt at times narrator would lose or mix up the character's voices, or they were sometimes just too indistinct.

Relic

Great story. Narration a bit over dramatic. Description of weapons was a bit faulty for a police thriller.

Not bad but not amzing either.

The narration was OK. Many voices were hard to tell apart.
The story was interesting and the writing was decent. The segues into bad science were enough to take me out of the book's world and back to mine where I could feel my head shaking and a smirk of embarrassment upon my face.
I will probably get another book in the series, but only because I listen to audiobook for 10 hours per day and eventually I run out of ideas.

This book was different than the film in loads of ways, so if like me, you love to pick out the differences and ponder on why they were changed, be prepared to pause the book a lot.

Excellent

I really enjoyed meeting Pendergast and it was the beginning of a long and rewarding relationship.

Quality writing

I love how this book makes you feel smarter!Sure it’s a super entertaining murder mystery with wonderfully detailed characters, but the authors also sneak in a ton of anatomy, science jargon, and detailed information on niche topics. The authors also employ an extensive vocabulary, which is refreshing for a modern novel.

Brilliant book.

This book would have to be one of the most gripping stories I have listened to. Right from the very start it had me wanting to hear more. The Narrator did a spectacular job telling the story, the voices and affects he used really drew me in and had me on the edge of my seat. I cant wait to hear the sequel.

Recommended by a friend, took a chance.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would now recommend to another friend and to you. This is stepping out of my usual English country house mystery and I totally took my friend's recommendation on faith and I am glad I did. The story was good with twists and surprises. The narration was great!

What other book might you compare Relic to and why?

A similar story I'd compare this to is "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

Which scene was your favorite?

The finale, the wrap-up.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I prefer a well thought out story that intrigues me but that I can listen to in convenient pieces. This story suited me well. And it surprised me. I would definitely listen to the narrator David Colacci again and look for another Preston & Child book.