Customer Reviews

Relic

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This novel follows the regular human vs nature formula. It is predictable and condescending. The language the scientists use serves only to indicate that the author cannot communicate with audiences.

Not so good, disappointed that it was suggested based on previous books I had read. I will try another one by this other thou.

Amazingly, I can't think of one negative thing to say about this totally engrossing nail-biter, which so far is the zenith of the authors' work. Appealing, witty characters, amazing monster, intriguing genetic and evolutionary techno-babble, great spooky museum atmosphere, stomach-churning action sequences. There are even a couple of touches of romantic tension which are fortunately kept very subtle (as it should have been in "Mount Dragon"). Thank goodness I read "Relic" before seeing the so-so movie version, which featured a rather cool monster but entirely left out some of the most interesting characters, FBI Agent Pendergast, reporter Bill Smithback, George Moriarty; and combined three museum officials into one character. Do NOT base your opinion of "Relic" on the movie, read the original story. I also highly recommend the atmospheric unabridged audiotape.

I rarely reread books, but after reading Relic for the third time, I knew I had to write a review. As indicated in the title of this review, the book takes a truly original idea to drive its plot, and set that idea in a rather unusual location.

I don't want to give away the plot, but the location is the American Museum of Natural history and its dozens of sub-basements and unused rooms.

Relic is creepy without being cliched; in the tradition of Michael Crichton's better work, this is a popular novel that is also intelligent. I highly recommend it.

I wanted this book the moment I saw it. For SOME reason I could NOT identify, I just KNEW it was going to be good...well I was wrong...it wasn't just good, it was GREAT. One of the reviews calls it Jurassic Park meets Jaws, and I think that might give the wrong impression of what this story is all about. Originally this was going to be just something to read on my bus trips to work while my car was being fixed, but it turned out to be MUCH more. I ended up reading this at every spare moment I could (including a few that I couldn't) and insisted that my wife read it--and although she is notoriously very much against violence and action, she finished the book faster than I did.

When the movie came out I was first in line on opening day...unfortunately the movie tanked in such a horrible way that it might actually convince folks who were thinking about reading it to avoid it entirely---DON'T DO IT! Read the book, and let the authors give you a taste of what a thriller SHOULD be like. I've GOT to tell you, the setting for this book is by FAR THE most frightening building I have ever read about in fiction. Preston & Child do an impressive job at describing just how utterly horrific it could be to not just be trapped inside the basement of one of the largest buildings on the planet, but trapped WITH something more terrifying than words can describe (although the authors do a good job of it...).

The ending was truly a surprise to me. I can't say that about too many books I read (and certainly no movies I can think of) and no matter HOW impossible the plot seemed, Preston & Child swept me up into their world, one that was peopled with good, not-so-good and downright bad people and one very scary, 'thing'. I HAVE to admit that for a first collaboration, these guys get it right on the money and STILL my favorite book they have put out to date (the sequel 'Reliquary' is actually just so-so by comparison). There are just a small number of authors that I actually look forward to reading...and Preston & Child are ON that short list. I have to say, their latest, 'The Ice Limit' was superb--especially the VERY UNEXPECTED ENDING. That book was worth the price for the last chapter alone. If you have yet to read anything by these two very gifted authors, do yourself a favor and pick up ANY of their books, and get to know the fictional and fun world's in which they have created, you will be VERY glad you did, trust me.

I've been a fan of horror for a long time and have read hundreds of horror novels. I've never had a book affect me the way this one did. I would check the doors and windows twice before I went to bed and wake at the slightest noise. I felt like a kid after his/her first horror film! Since then I've been a Preston and Child fan; reading all their books.

This book was very thrilling. In the beginning, it starts off in the Amazon, with a group of men exploring the jungle searching for a lost tribe. Then... they mysteriously disappear. That was back in 1989. Now its present day and we are in the Museum of Natural History. Two children who are inside the museum mysteriously disappear. The next day they are found brutally murdered in the subbasement. They are both decapitated, their guts are sprawled all over the place, and and part of there brain is missing. Then, about a week later the same thing happens to a guard. No one knows what is doing this, it is thought to be a serial killer. Then, when the main character, Margo, and her friend, Dr. Frock, figure out that there is something not human, a beast causing all this no one believes that it could be possible. But... there is a new exhibition coming ups soon in the museum. They better try to get it called off before anything else happens. But they can't remember? No one believes them. Now they have to try to convince them before anything bad happens. But its too late, the mass crowd will attract the beast and they encounter it face to face. This story was the most thrilling story that I have ever read. It was recommended to me by a friend who said it was one of the best books he ever read too. Since I'm not too keen on reading, when I saw the length of the book I was turned off by it, but trusting my friend, I read it. And boy was that a good idea. I found myself reading over 50 pages a night and that's pretty good for me since I don't really like to read. This book was a thrilling page-turner, and it even had a little humor in it. I Found myself, when I had to stop reading it, not wanting to, and all day wondering whats going to happen. I can't wait until I read the next book by these authors. In conclusion, this is the best book i have ever read. I would recommend this book to well, just about everyone, but mostly to the people who like gory horror and suspense novels. This was a great book.

The characters are so well written, you can picture them in your mind. The scenes are written just as well, even though I haven't been to New York or some of the other locations, I can see them. I couldn't put the book down, the story within a story keeps you wanting more.

I have finished reading about three-quarters of this book. I started it yesterday morning and have been unable to put it down since. I can't wait to go back to it and find out the ending. This is a taut thriller that does a great job of grabbing the reader's attention from the very first page and sustaining it till the last. Even though it should nominally be classified under the horror genre, there is not too much blood and gore. What there is plenty of is suspense and mystery. There are also no unnecessary romantic and/or sentimental digressions. I was curious as to how the writing style would look because this book has two authors. I was pleasantly surprised to find the style is uniformly good throughout the book.
I would have given the book five stars except that some of the scientific details presented in it do not appear to be well researched. Most of the science described is outdated by today's standards. But even the most standard and simplest of techniques is presented without any explanation as to it's purpose, strengths or weaknesses. The result is that genetic methods described in the book sound ridiculously simple to do. I also can't believe that one could prepare DNA, sequence it and run it out in a single afternoon. With today's technologies, it would still take a day and half at the least.
Ignore these weak points and you have an absorbing read.

This novel has a definitivly 'Jurassic Park' feel, but stands out in it's own right.

Child & Preston do a fantastic job of fusing true scientific techniques in genetic engineering, with strange Amazonian legends.

Monsters and Museums, everyone!

Anyone wanting a taste of some fun & sureal writing, that might want taste of you, read this book.