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)

Edge of your seat

What made the experience of listening to Relic the most enjoyable?

I liked the character development. The motives behind their actions. Also the threads and tid bits of information that seen unimportant until you find out how it all plays together.

Which character – as performed by David Colacci – was your favorite?

Margo.

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

Yes. I listened to it while cleaning house, cooking, and as I took a walk.

Any additional comments?

Can't wait to listen and/or read the rest of the series. Don't see how I have missed these all these years!

Murders at the Museum

What made the experience of listening to Relic the most enjoyable?

I loved getting some insight into the inner workings of the Museum of Natural History. Despite the grisly deaths that occur, I want to visit now more than ever.

Any additional comments?

A wonderful book that I had read multiple times before. Now I get to enjoy listening to it. Great narrator.

Chilling

absolutely bone and blood chilling. David Colacci was a wonderful choice for the voice over.

Very Entertaining.

What did you love best about Relic?

I really enjoyed the narrator and the use of sound effects in phone conversations, the tunnels, basement, etc.

Who was your favorite character and why?

D'Agosto. Thought he was a good solid cop character, smart and caring, yet still tough. In contrast to Pendergast, who I liked, but he seemed a bit untouchable.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed the build of the whole story, knowing that there would have to be a showdown between the beast and the protagonists. I especially enjoyed the "payoff" at the end. Didn't see it coming...

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Again the payoff was well done.

Any additional comments?

Not a great book, in terms of a classic, but very enjoyable. Will read another in the series.

As usual dark and rich like a complex coffee.

You can only drink a cup or two a day, that is Preston and Child. After taking a break after "wheel of darkness" I was ready for a rich brew again.

Good listen, has me hooked already

Good narration and story. Kept me interested and entertained. The oddness and intrigue of Pendergast is a great mix with the plot and adds a good contrast to the other characters. I'm always weary when picking up a new series and I was delightfully surprised with this one.

Narration "trick" kill this story

Any additional comments?

I generally liked the story - the museum angle was definitely good.

The casual way every female character is helpless and stupid, needing to be rescued by much smarter men, makes me realize how dated this is - and how glad I am that culture has evolved away from that portrayal being acceptable!

I liked the reader himself, but this book was excruciating to listen to with all the echo effects, bursts of music - it's not a performance but it's not just a reading, instead it was just painful. I finally started fast-forwarding every time someone's dialog echoed or was disorted to indicate phone calls, internal monologues, or walking in tunnels. Again, that part is probably dated back to the early days of books on tape; and thankfully we have evolved past it.

I'm hoping this is the start of a series that grows past the fledgling efforts. First books are hard, and I want to keep going with this series to see it improve.

Distracting

That's the best way I can describe it. The story proceeds at a good pace but it's interrupted by techno babble of various professions, plot twists lifted from jurassic park and csi, and reverb added needlessly to audio segments supposedly in halls or sewers.

It wants to be a movie. Not a serious one, just a decent summer popcorn flick.

I enjoyed it, but it's nothing new or spectacular.

if it wasn't for the reader

I'm not sure I could have finished this book if I had to read it myself. The story was slow to start and on a few occasions I got lost.

Monsters created by man

Would you listen to Relic again? Why?

I just might

What did you like best about this story?

Character development

What about David Colacci’s performance did you like?

Ecxellent vocie and character imagery thur voice

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

As always Pendergast

Any additional comments?

En excellent read / listen love the series