Customer Reviews

The Cabinet of Curiosities

5 star:		(101)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I loved this book! I had not read any of the collaborations of Preston and Child previous to this book. I am so glad I gave their writing a chance.

When a New York City construction crew unearths a tunnel filled with thirty-seven victims of a late-nineteenth century killer, FBI Special Agent Pendergast approaches Nora Kelly, an archaeologist at the New York Museum of Natural History, to ask her help in examining the site before the powerful company building on the land can rebury the bones.

Kelly and Pendergast determine that the victims were surgically dissected while still alive, and the bodies sealed in what was once the basement of a museum called "Shottum's Cabinet of Natural Productions and Curiosities." Pendergast is interested in the one hundred-year-old murders for reasons of his own, but as he and Kelly begin their research, a present-day serial killer commits the first of several homicides identical to those found in Shottum's Cabinet. Kelly shares her findings with her on and off again boyfriend New York Times reporter Bill Smithback, and together with Pendergast they race to stop a nineteenth century killer who is apparently still at work.

Preston and Child pool together their similar writing skills in a story that has you on the edge of your seat. I give it two thumbs up. You definitely won't want to put this one down.

I realy enjoyed the book. It's well written and keeps you wanting to get through the book to the end.

I have read many of the Preston/Child books with this one being the least impressive. This book provides plenty of suspense, however I felt let down by the ending. If you would like to read a good book by these guys then read either Relic or Thunderhead(my favorite) you won't be dissappointed.

Excellent thriller. A cross between Michael Crichton and Stephen King. I borrowed this book from my grandmother and was hooked from page 1. Just the right mix of horror, suspense, and mystery. If you love psychological thrillers, this book is for you. This was the first Preston-Child book I read, but it won't be the last!

A gangbusters beginning plot that carries the interest through most of the book, but then gets mired down in some pretty good writing that simply goes on, and on, and on, and on -- to no apparent purpose.

I'll not repeat the theme of the book. That's well handled by others. I like the story; I just wish the authors would tell it.

If you have found the formula for prolonging your life, you may wish to spend time with this novel. Otherwise, life's too short.

this book had a lot going for it: interesting characters, wonderful and vivid descriptions of victorian new york, and an intriguing look at the resources of museums...but ultimately it sinks under the weight of a few outlandish plot twists and an anticlimactic (and generally predictable) ending.

All in all, a good beach read (and a good jumping off point for learning more about history and new york).

Forget making any plans-schedule absolutely nothing! You will not be able to put this down! Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have created another page turner with the return of FBI Agent Pendergast (Relic) and Dr. Nora Kelly and Bill Smithback (Thunderhead). As a former crime scene technician and archeology nut I found this book to be well written and one hell of a fun read. If you want thrills and chills this is the book for you.

This book would be a bargain at twice the price. I could tell some one what was going on relatively early, but it made no difference, no difference at all. If I had to say which fiction book I've read is the best one ever, I'd say this one. This is Preston's and Childs' greatest work to date.

It is a masterpiece. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I listened to the audiobook of "Cabinet of Curiosities" especting it to be a disappointment. I was happily surprised to find it an interesting story that kept my attention. Usually I save audiobooks for time spent working out, but found myself sneaking a listen on other occasions. I enjoyed this book so much that I'm buying the paperback for my husband to read. Although this book does not have as much detailed forensics in it, if you like television shows like "C.S.I." and "Crossing Jordan" you will enjoy this book.

I found this book a disappointment. I cannot tell if it is because I read it right after Relic, by the same authors, which had very favorably impressed me. This opus sees the comeback of several characters that appeared in previous Preston & Child books (Special Agent Pendergast from Relic, Nora Kelly from Thunderhead and Smithback, appearing in both) as well as the environment of the N.Y. Museum of Natural History, but one does not get the impression of a coherent universe : the Museum's top brass is changed, as is the N.Y. mayor, one wonders where is Margo Green from Relic... and Pendergast is *Really* too much. Too wealthy, too smart, too able... all in all incredible, or should I say unbelievable? . Whereas Relic was a good horror thriller, including the nasty stroke at the end; the Cabinet of Curiosities demands really too much from the reader's goodwill and suspension of disbelief . The sequence of events leading to the serial killer going on a spree, and putting on his trail the only man able to find him out, and who, coincidentally, is ideally fitted for the task with all the necessary traits and who, moreover, is tied to him by bonds the reader will discover as he goes along... It is all too much for me. Perhaps you'll like it better than I did, if you are really fans of the genre or the authors.