Reliquary (Pendergast, Book 2)

Features

• Cover Type: Mass Market Paperback with 480 pages
• Published by: Tor Books July 15, 1998
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0812542835
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0812542837
• Book Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Weighs: 7.8 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
The netherworld of New York City?its subways, aqueducts, sewers and the homeless who inhabit them?proves as shuddery a setting for the authors' latest scientific monster mash as the American Museum of Natural History did for their bestselling Relic, to which this is the sequel. In the earlier novel, Mbwun, a ferocious creature that seemed part reptile, part human, rampaged through the museum killing people. The sequel, set 18 months after Mbwun was destroyed, opens with a police diver finding the headless bodies of two people apparently killed by underground cannibals. The corpses are sent to the museum's lab for analysis, which brings a number of returnees from Relic?burly homicide cop Vincent D'Agosta, anthropologist Margo Green, New York Post crime reporter Bill Smithback?to the case. They're soon joined by the novels' Sherlock Holmes figure, the irresistibly cool Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI. Forays by these principals into the kingdom of the Mole People (underground homeless), plus some forensic breakthroughs, point to a race of mini-Mbwun at work in an escalating series of savage killings that incite the city's upper crust to civil disobedience. The city's answer, to flood its nether vaults, turns out to threaten a global catastrophe that only Pendergast and company, aided by Navy SEALS, can avert. The story's "surprise" ending makes as much sense as ketchup on popcorn, and the entire novel has a desperate air about it as the authors stuff it with complications and, by pitting the homeless against the swells, try to create a kind of Decapitation of the Vanities. It's high on suspense and awesome fun in parts, though, especially when exploring the city's nightmare underbelly. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate selections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
The curator of the Natural History Museum rejoins police and the FBI as they attempt to solve horrific murders. A frightening sequel to The Relic, it's a terrific read on its own.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Reliquary (Hardcover) Members of New York City's Police Scuba Squad discover two headless skeletons, one of which is hideously deformed, in the Humboldt Kill, aka "Cloaca Maxima, named after the great central sewer of ancient Rome" for obvious reasons. NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta is called in to investigate the who, why, what, where, etc., of the decapitated corpses, and discovers a link between them and a series of murders plaguing the city's underground homeless population. The violent deaths of the anonymous "houseless," the so-called "mole" people, have not been a priority for the powers that be, but when one of the corpses is identified as that of a wealthy socialite, priorities change fast! The inability to discover the identity, or the species (?), of the unusually malformed skeleton, leads Lt. D'Agosta to enlist the aid of his old friend, anthropologist Margo Green, an assistant curator at the New York Museum of Natural History, and her former professor and mentor, the retired scientist Dr. Frock. FBI Special Agent Prendergast hooks up with the Doctor, the Lieutenant, and the professor, and they are later joined by journalist Bill Smithback. After finding some fascinating new evidence, the team attempts to discover if there is a link between the mole people's brutal murders, the two skeletons found in the Kill, and the Museum Beast incident of the previous year. It is important to note that "Reliquary" is the sequel to "Relic," and though this reads well as a stand-alone novel, it has strong ties to the first book in terms of plot, and characters. Green, D'Agosta, Prendergast, Frock and Smithback all worked together on the Museum Beast case. Enough background information is woven into this storyline so that one need not be familiar with "Relic" to enjoy this book. The plot and sub-plots take some twists and turns, but everything leads our diverse team of sleuths and experts downward, deep into the dark maze of abandoned subway tunnels and sewers that lie beneath the streets of New York. One of the aspects of "Reliquary" that most intrigues me, is the factual, rather than the fictional. Much of the information included about the world underneath the streets of Manhattan is fact. "It has been estimated that as many as five thousand homeless people have lived in the vast warren of underground tracks, subway tunnels, ancient aqueducts, coal tunnels, waiting rooms, disused gas mains, etc., which riddle underground Manhattan. Grand Station alone sits above seven stories of tunnels." The Author's Note contains more information on this subject. I don't want to interject spoilers, so suffice it to say that there are some creepy critters hanging out with the regulars below the Big Apple's glittering sidewalks. One of Margo Green's friends and colleagues, a gifted scientist, had been working secretly, on his own, with some of the plant fibers the now dead Museum Monster needed in order to feed. The man came up with much more than he bargained for, and consequently placed not only the population of New York at risk, but the entire ecosystem of our planet...and worse!! Yoiks! This book starts off with a bang, that is to say, quickly with lots of scariness - which is good. However, the pace slows significantly about halfway through. The concept that "less is more" is seemingly unknown to Misters Preston and Child. I have encountered problems with their tendency to over-write before. Repetitiveness may cause boredom in the reader, and frequent exposure can take the scariness out of monsters. I think "Reliquary" is about 50-75 pages too long. The authors build suspense to a fever pitch, the tension peaks, begins to fall-off, and their point is still not made, nor are the mysteries solved. The lack of a taut narrative, really distracts from the horror and suspense. And, I was/am extremely disappointed in the ending. Not credible at all!! Here I have trekked through the smelly sludge of centuries, thirty stories beneath the city surface, seemingly forever, in order to accompany our protagonists, especially Agent Prendergast, who is superb...for this kind of finale?? If you enjoy Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, then by all means pick-up a copy of "Reliquary." It has its good moments and is entertaining, especially, when exploring the belly of the beast. JANA