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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780446611237
ISBN number: 0446611239
Label: Grand Central Publishing
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 656
Printing Date: June 01, 2003
Publishing house: Grand Central Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 5325
Studio: Grand Central Publishing
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In an ancient tunnel underneath New York City a charnel house is discovered. Inside are thirty-six bodies all murdered and mutilated more than a century ago. While FBI agent Pendergast investigates the old crimes, identical killings start to terrorize the city. The nightmare has begun. Again.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is my favorite Agent Pendegrast novel.
The plot was very similar to an old NightStaker episode that feature a feidn who stalked Seattle in search of spinal fluid to gant him eternal life.
I'm happy that Preston has made the cross-over to thrillers, but in truth the novels like Relic are horror novels with a heavy dose of mystery and splash of police procedural added to make them more board in their market demographics I guess.
It's solid thrills all the way, even if a little over the top at times.
The Fury and the Power (Fury and the Terror) If you want to read the novel that was the mother of all terror thrillers with spies and conspiracies check out John Farris's work.
Rated by buyers 
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This was the very first time I had read a Preston and Child book. I read a lot of reviews that highly praised this book. And I honestly expected it to be a lot better then what it was. To me personally, I found this book to be kind of "high schoolish," meaning it doesn't really fit my idea for an adult book? (Minus the language in certain areas of the book) But I can say that they did a good job building your suspense up, however they dropped it just as fast and moved on to another topic. So with that being said, I just found this book to be "OK" and I doubt I will read anymore books by Preston and Child.
Rated by buyers 
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PLOT: In Manhattan a modern apartment tower is about to be build. When the excavators break into a basement, they uncover the remains of 36 people murdered and gruesomely mutilated over 130 years ago. FBI Special Agent Pendergast and museum archaeologist Nora Kelly start an investigation that reveals the doings of a mysterious doctor who once conducted medical experiments on living human beings. But just as Nora and Pendergast begin to unravel the clues to the century-old killings, a new spree of murder and surgical mutilation erupts in New York.
I am a fan of the writer duo Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. So far their former 6 books were entertaining, thrilling and also a bit scary. (Well, except for "The Ice Limit" which was a bit boring.) Overall always a great mixture between mystery and science. As a result their books are way above the average.
This book really starts well, the stetting is horrible and mysterious, the stage is set for the hunt after a cruel killer and the reader meets characters from previous Preston/Child books like the really cool FBI Agent Pentergast (The Relic, Reliquary) and Nora Kelly (Thunderhead).
Unfortunately the longer I read the less I enjoyed the book.
Pendergast knew too much too early and too easily plus he shared his knowledge with nobody. The other policemen were kept in the dark as well as the reader. Basically it might be a bit more thrilling for the reader not to know too much but in this case this was just too exaggerated and happened too often. After a while it seemed more than stupid to keep other law enforcement colleagues in the dark for so long. Therefore Pentergast's strange behavior started to annoy me.
The story development towards the ending is strange as well. The idea of Pentergast's sort of personal bond to the ancient and recent killings is kind of stupid and neither believable nor necessary at all. Pendergast travelling back in time through a memory crossing technique to discover places and incidences that he did not know anything about in real life, plus interacting with people in this dream? This idea is so absurd it hurts. On top of that the final solution to the whole scenario is just too far-fetched for my taste.
Having solutions based on science and mystery is ok but overall the story should be within certain boundaries. This time however Preston/Child went several steps too far and it was more than I could bear.
Bottom line:
The beginning plus book's initial story are ok and the writing style is good (as usual). Unfortunately the solution is really bad and therefore the book is disappointing in the end. I read all 6 of their previous novels before and I would rank "Cabinet of Curiosities" at the very bottom! (I especially recommend reading "The Relic" and "Riptide" because they kept me awake for long hours and chilled me to the bone.)
I will wait a while before I read another Preston/Child book and hopefully their subsequent book I plan to read (Still life with Crows) is better.
Rated by buyers 
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I have read all of the Pendergast novels and other various Preston/Child works and find myself always thinking of this one as my favorite. Although I like the "Diogenes Trilogy" (Brimstone, Dance of Death and Book of the Dead), this one seemed to really work my imagination better. It was more mentaly stimulating for lack of a better phrase.
One of the reasons I liked this book so much is because although the idea of Enoch Leng's "work" is a little far fetched, it isn't quite as out there as the Relic/Reliquary monsters. Things are more believable and therefore seem more realistic.
Without saying too much, I liked the way that they linked Pendergast to the story to add more substance to his family's "affliction." It also a better way for him to involve himself in a case than the way he takes special interest in odd cases like in "Still Life with Crows." This way, he has a personal interest in the case.
Lastly, this book goes to show Pendergast more human and less superhero than in others. In this book he goes through some rough spots and it's good to see him not getting through things unscathed but have to work hard.
Overall a great book and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys the Pendergast books or has enjoyed other Preston/Child works.
Rated by buyers -
You know how you can always tell "Ensign Fodder" by the blue shirt he's wearing? Not so in this one. I was actually wrong about the fate of one of the characters! That hasn't happened in a long while, and any book creative enough to stump me gets high praise indeed. And while the ending wasn't exactly the way I would want it, it was still a great book and I'd recommend it to anyone who's read any of the other Child/Preston books and enjoyed them (this was my very first exposure, and I don't think reading them out of order detracted much at all since each is a solid stand-alone story).
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