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Reliquary is the smash hit second book in the Pendergast series, from New York Times bestselling authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln ChildHidden 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, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must show more 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... in Reliquary, from bestselling coauthors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
. Thriller. Fiction. show less
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Wova4 Both books explore the subterranean world beneath New York and have horror elements.
SomeGuyInVirginia Same genre, different styles.
Member Reviews
Siempre me han llamado la atención los libros escritos a cuatro manos. No tengo claro cómo se coordinan a la hora de llevar a cabo el trabajo. ¿Un capítulo cada uno? ¿Uno tiene las ideas y otro redacta? Me parece que debe tener más ventajas que inconvenientes, ya que si uno de los dos se atasca en algún punto de la trama, siempre es más fácil salir del apuro consultando al otro. Lo que sí tengo claro es que el dúo Preston-Child realiza su trabajo de maravilla. Saben escribir, bien, muy bien.
‘El relicario’ (Reliquary, 1997) es la secuela de ‘The Relic (El ídolo perdido)’, primer libro de la serie del agente del FBI Pendergast, y absoluto best seller internacional, con adaptación cinematográfica incluida. Hay que show more empezar diciendo que este segundo libro es mucho mejor que el anterior. Tal vez pueda leerse de manera independiente, pero no lo aconsejo, ya que la historia retoma los hechos poco después de lo acontecido en ‘The Relic’ y es fácil perder todo el entramado que se forma alrededor.
En cuanto a la historia de ‘El relicario’, nos encontramos otra vez en Nueva York. La novela empieza con la aparición de dos esqueletos en las aguas residuales de un río, con claras deformidades. Es entonces cuando entran en la investigación viejos conocidos, como son el teniente D’Agosta y Margo Green, conservadora del Museo de Historia Natural. Parece que algo se está cociendo en los subterráneos de Manhattan, verdadero laberinto y un mundo aparte.
La acción no decae en ningún momento, y vamos conociendo un poco más al enigmático agente Pendergast, cuyo protagonismo es mayor que en la primera novela. Impresionante todo el tercio final, que se lee casi sin respiración. Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child dignifican el tan denostado (a mi entender injustamente) género del best seller. show less
‘El relicario’ (Reliquary, 1997) es la secuela de ‘The Relic (El ídolo perdido)’, primer libro de la serie del agente del FBI Pendergast, y absoluto best seller internacional, con adaptación cinematográfica incluida. Hay que show more empezar diciendo que este segundo libro es mucho mejor que el anterior. Tal vez pueda leerse de manera independiente, pero no lo aconsejo, ya que la historia retoma los hechos poco después de lo acontecido en ‘The Relic’ y es fácil perder todo el entramado que se forma alrededor.
En cuanto a la historia de ‘El relicario’, nos encontramos otra vez en Nueva York. La novela empieza con la aparición de dos esqueletos en las aguas residuales de un río, con claras deformidades. Es entonces cuando entran en la investigación viejos conocidos, como son el teniente D’Agosta y Margo Green, conservadora del Museo de Historia Natural. Parece que algo se está cociendo en los subterráneos de Manhattan, verdadero laberinto y un mundo aparte.
La acción no decae en ningún momento, y vamos conociendo un poco más al enigmático agente Pendergast, cuyo protagonismo es mayor que en la primera novela. Impresionante todo el tercio final, que se lee casi sin respiración. Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child dignifican el tan denostado (a mi entender injustamente) género del best seller. show less
What is it about some books that make them so readable? Despite the silly premise, the moralizing, the rather vague character development, and the 1,001 plot holes, I devoured this sequel in short order. I guess it's simply the pure dumb & creepy fun that tools along at a reckless pace paying little heed as to whether or not any sense is being made. The short chapters often end on mini cliff-hangers and the next chapter tantalizes by picking up where another character was previously in imminent danger, so one is compelled to read just a little more to see what happens. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Though effective at first, the ploy does wear a bit thin after a while. Still, it's tough to be too critical of a book like this because it goes show more down so darn easy. show less
Book 2- 2 headless skeletons are discovered in the Humboldt Kill, NY. Both have unusual deformities. Lt. D'Agosta, Dr. Margo Green and Pendergast discover a cannibalistic group in NY's underground, and that a Lily, the Mbwun lily, is at the heart of the mania that causes the group's cannibalistic behavior. When the group threatens to release it into NY's reservoir, the battle begins, but not just with the threat. The politics of NY government and moneyed society creates the usual conflict between the haves and have-nots, with the lack of concern for the lives of the community creating a far worse scenario for preventing the poisoning of an entire city. I enjoyed the discovery of this underground world and the maneuvering of the various show more entities to protect their own interests, though I was of course, on the side of the have-nots. The suspense and claustrophobia is intensified by the setting of the subways and underground dwellings, but added to by the closed-minded community leaders who can't see beyond their own needs. It's a frantic scramble and it made me consider more scenarios that have happened, or could because people are protecting their interests, instead of those they have taken an oath to represent. show less
This was a decent follow up to Relic. I enjoyed the writing style and the characters, but at times, the story felt interminable. I think a hundred pages could have been culled without losing anything. Also, there was a moment that was supposed to be a shocking reveal, but I’m almost positive the fact was revealed at the end of Relic. I know it’s been awhile since I read Relic, so perhaps I only figured it out myself and remembered, but I don’t think so. Anyway, this was good, but I’d hoped for a little more edge-of-my-seat tension. Hopefully the next one will be a bit better.
Based on the other reviews I've read, I'm in the minority that likes this book better than Relic. I liked Relic, but the entire origin of the 'museum beast' just seemed weird to me, and that was resolved in Reliquary. The action and suspense now takes place in the city's underground tunnels and there may be more than one of the creatures still alive, because something is killing off the underground homeless and the occasional topside resident. The creature episodes of X-Files were always my favorite and this reminds me of the show.
Review by Jeremy Taylor
In 1994, obscure author Douglas Preston and unknown horror enthusiast Lincoln Child burst onto the international literary scene with The Relic, a science-fiction story about a horrific creature wreaking havoc in the New York Museum of Natural History. The book was an instant best-seller and quickly was made into a popular horror movie. Two years later the authors released Mount Dragon, a medical thriller that was more scientifically plausible but less entertaining. A year after that, they published Reliquary, a sequel to their debut phenomenon.
Sadly, Reliquary isn’t half the book that The Relic was. Though it is set back in New York and has most of the same characters as the previous novel, the followup lacks show more the spontaneity and creativity of the original.
Reliquary reintroduces readers to the stoic and dependable Sergeant D’Agosta, the museum curator Margo Green, and the intriguing and mysterious Special Agent Pendergast. The familiar and likeable characters are the best thing this novel has going for it.
When D’Agosta dredges up a badly misshapen human skeleton from the sludge of a noxious Hudson River runoff pool, he enlists the investigative services of Margo Green, hoping she can help shed some light on the strange discovery. Margo quickly realizes that this skeleton, together with other grotesque finds around the city, are linked to the events that took place in the museum some months before. Disturbed and frightened, she seeks the aid of her friend Bill Smithback, the New York Post crime reporter who also appeared in the previous book. When Agent Pendergast shows up, the gang makes short work of discovering the truth and then embarking on a search-and-destroy mission to ferret out the culprits threatening the city once again.
The Mbwun creature from The Relic makes a reappearance in Reliquary as well, but this time it’s not an exotic Amazon import, it’s a home-grown variety. Pendergast and company find a whole race of mini-Mbwuns living deep underground in the extensive New York tunnel system, where they’ve been systematically abducting and brutally murdering members of the city’s underground homeless community.
The clear highlight of the book is the extensive exploration through the tunnel system deep underground. Combining fact, urban legend, and outright fantasy, the authors have constructed a fascinating subterranean world where no one can be trusted and nothing is what it seems. Combing through this dangerous territory, Pendergast manages to not only find the Mbwuns and put them out of commission forever but also save the city—and perhaps the world—from a sinister plot to create more even Mbwuns.
The book’s main flaw is that it is the continuation of a story was satisfactorily finished. Though it’s fun to see these characters again, the events of Relic had plenty of closure and dragging them into a new book serves only to diminish the first one. Fans of Preston and Child know that these same characters show up again in subsequent stories, leading me to believe that the world could easily have done without this book altogether.
Reliquary is reasonably well written, and parts of it are action-packed and enjoyable. But the book as a whole feels forced and almost desperate. Readers who enjoyed these authors’ first book would be not ill-advised to skip this book altogether and move on to the next one in the series.
(http://www.cerebralexchange.com/books/reviews.asp?book=168&host=1) show less
In 1994, obscure author Douglas Preston and unknown horror enthusiast Lincoln Child burst onto the international literary scene with The Relic, a science-fiction story about a horrific creature wreaking havoc in the New York Museum of Natural History. The book was an instant best-seller and quickly was made into a popular horror movie. Two years later the authors released Mount Dragon, a medical thriller that was more scientifically plausible but less entertaining. A year after that, they published Reliquary, a sequel to their debut phenomenon.
Sadly, Reliquary isn’t half the book that The Relic was. Though it is set back in New York and has most of the same characters as the previous novel, the followup lacks show more the spontaneity and creativity of the original.
Reliquary reintroduces readers to the stoic and dependable Sergeant D’Agosta, the museum curator Margo Green, and the intriguing and mysterious Special Agent Pendergast. The familiar and likeable characters are the best thing this novel has going for it.
When D’Agosta dredges up a badly misshapen human skeleton from the sludge of a noxious Hudson River runoff pool, he enlists the investigative services of Margo Green, hoping she can help shed some light on the strange discovery. Margo quickly realizes that this skeleton, together with other grotesque finds around the city, are linked to the events that took place in the museum some months before. Disturbed and frightened, she seeks the aid of her friend Bill Smithback, the New York Post crime reporter who also appeared in the previous book. When Agent Pendergast shows up, the gang makes short work of discovering the truth and then embarking on a search-and-destroy mission to ferret out the culprits threatening the city once again.
The Mbwun creature from The Relic makes a reappearance in Reliquary as well, but this time it’s not an exotic Amazon import, it’s a home-grown variety. Pendergast and company find a whole race of mini-Mbwuns living deep underground in the extensive New York tunnel system, where they’ve been systematically abducting and brutally murdering members of the city’s underground homeless community.
The clear highlight of the book is the extensive exploration through the tunnel system deep underground. Combining fact, urban legend, and outright fantasy, the authors have constructed a fascinating subterranean world where no one can be trusted and nothing is what it seems. Combing through this dangerous territory, Pendergast manages to not only find the Mbwuns and put them out of commission forever but also save the city—and perhaps the world—from a sinister plot to create more even Mbwuns.
The book’s main flaw is that it is the continuation of a story was satisfactorily finished. Though it’s fun to see these characters again, the events of Relic had plenty of closure and dragging them into a new book serves only to diminish the first one. Fans of Preston and Child know that these same characters show up again in subsequent stories, leading me to believe that the world could easily have done without this book altogether.
Reliquary is reasonably well written, and parts of it are action-packed and enjoyable. But the book as a whole feels forced and almost desperate. Readers who enjoyed these authors’ first book would be not ill-advised to skip this book altogether and move on to the next one in the series.
(http://www.cerebralexchange.com/books/reviews.asp?book=168&host=1) show less
This is the second book in the Special Agent Pendergast series and begins 18 months after the main events in the novel 'Relic'. I'll note that the epilogue in the first book which took place 6 months after the main events turns out to be quite a clue and material to this story. Although there are some new characters, several of the surviving main characters from the prior book are here again. The fact that I already knew some of the people here made this book easy to dive into, and overall I consider this a better book than the first and despite what I say next I enjoyed reading this story. Parts of this are a hard to put the book down page turner, especially the latter part of the book where the action is almost non-stop.
Like I said show more about the prior book, much of this one could also be an X-Files episode of monster of the week, although maybe a two-parter would be needed. I learned more about New York City as well. There is something slightly tiresome about these two books. The bosses of various things in these two books generally fall into the bureaucratic idjit class wanting things swept under the rug, don't rattle the cage, look for someone else to blame, get it solved yesterday, etc etc. Only our peeps on the front line have the smarts to take care of things. In the first book the Mayor of New York City takes a small but important place in the events and proves himself to be a smart leader. In this book, 18 months later, the good mayor is out of office.
There are many surprises here and the ending of this really took me by surprise. It almost jumped the shark. Well, they are the storytellers, and I'm just the reader. I need to catch my breath now. show less
Like I said show more about the prior book, much of this one could also be an X-Files episode of monster of the week, although maybe a two-parter would be needed. I learned more about New York City as well. There is something slightly tiresome about these two books. The bosses of various things in these two books generally fall into the bureaucratic idjit class wanting things swept under the rug, don't rattle the cage, look for someone else to blame, get it solved yesterday, etc etc. Only our peeps on the front line have the smarts to take care of things. In the first book the Mayor of New York City takes a small but important place in the events and proves himself to be a smart leader. In this book, 18 months later, the good mayor is out of office.
There are many surprises here and the ending of this really took me by surprise. It almost jumped the shark. Well, they are the storytellers, and I'm just the reader. I need to catch my breath now. show less
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Douglas Jerome Preston was born on May 20, 1956 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received a B.A. in English literature from Pomona College in 1978. His career began at the American Museum of Natural History, where he worked as an editor and writer from 1978 to 1985. He also was a lecturer in English at Princeton University. He became a full-time show more writer of both fiction and nonfiction books in 1986. Many of his fiction works are co-written with Lincoln Child including Relic, Riptide, Thunderhead, The Wheel of Darkness, Cemetery Dance, and Gideon's Corpse. His nonfiction works include Dinosaurs in the Attic; Cities of Gold: A Journey Across the American Southwest in Pursuit of Coronado; Talking to the Ground; and The Royal Road. He has written for numerous magazines including The New Yorker; Natural History; Harper's; Smithsonian; National Geographic; and Travel and Leisure. He became a New York Times Best Selling author with his titles Two Graves and Crimson Shores which he co-wrote with Lincoln Child, and his titles White Fire, The Lost Island Blue Labyrinth and The Lost City of the Monkey God. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
91+ Works 77,987 Members
Lincoln Child was born in Westport, Connecticut in 1957. He received a degree in English from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. After graduation, he obtained a position as an editorial assistant at St. Martin's Press and eventually became a full editor in 1984. He left St. Martin's Press in 1987 for a job at MetLife and began writing. show more Child has co-written numerous books with Douglas Preston including Relic, White Fire, Cold Vengeance, Riptide, Thunderhead, The Wheel of Darkness, Cemetery Dance, Gideon's Corpse, Blue Labyrinth, and Two Graves. In 2003, he published his first solo novel entitled Utopia. His other solo works include Death Match, Deep Storm, Terminal Freeze, The Third Gate, and The Forgotten Room. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Knaur Taschenbuch (61823)
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- Canonical title
- Reliquary
- Original title
- Reliquary
- Original publication date
- 1997-05
- People/Characters
- Aloysius Pendergast; Vincent D'Agosta; Margo Green; Dr. Whitney Cadwalader Frock; Bill Smithback; Laura Hayward (show all 42); Anette Wisher; Officer Snow; Mephisto; Captain Jack Waxie; Chief Redmond Horlocker; Dr. Simon Brambell; Olivia Merriam; Dr. Louie Padelsky; Tail Gunner; Gregory Kawakita; Sheila Rocco; Robert Willson; Mr. Kirtsema; Bryce Harriman; Al Diamond; Jack Masters; Stan Duffy; Lt. Miller; Officer Carlin; Commander Rachlin; Donovan; Pamela Wisher; Viscount Adair; Sy Hagedorn; Curley; Nick Bitterman; Tanya; Dr. Cavalieri; Little Harry; Boy Alice; Bill Trumbull; Jim Kolb; Alberta Muñoz; Dr. Wasserman; Hausmann; Clarence Kozinsky
- Important places
- Belvedere Castle (Central Park, New York, New York, USA); Central Park, New York, New York, USA; Harlem River, New York, New York, USA; Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA (fictional); New York, USA; New York, New York, USA
- Epigraph
- We listen to the unspoken, we gaze upon the unseen.
Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea - Dedication
- Lincoln Child dedicates this book to his daughter, Veronica.
Douglas Preston dedicates this book to James Mortimer Gibbons, Jr., M.D. - First words
- Snow tested his regulator, checked both air valves, ran his hand along the slick neoprene of the suit.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Although their conversation remains their own, when they left the restaurant D'Agosta was sporting a large - and apparently relieved - grin.
- Original language
- English
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