Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Relic
Relic
Relic
Audiobook13 hours

Relic

Written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Narrated by David Colacci

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Relic, a Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child thriller that introduces FBI Special Agent Pendergast

Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...

But the museum's directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.

Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who--or what--is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?

LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 25, 2007
ISBN9781423330431
Relic
Author

Douglas Preston

Douglas Preston has published 39 books of fiction and nonfiction, of which 32 have been New York Times bestsellers, some reaching the #1 position. Two of his novels, co-written with Lincoln Child, were chosen in a National Public Radio poll of readers as being among the 100 greatest thrillers ever written. His recent nonfiction book, The Lost City of the Monkey God, was named a notable book of the year by the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and National Geographic magazine. In addition to books, Preston writes about archaeology and paleontology for the New Yorker Magazine. He worked as an editor for the American Museum of Natural History in New York and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards in the U.S. and Europe, and he served as president of the Authors Guild from 2019 to 2023.

More audiobooks from Douglas Preston

Related to Relic

Titles in the series (2)

View More

Related audiobooks

Horror Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for Relic

Rating: 3.92920120280083 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,928 ratings101 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Nothing is better than a scary, suspenseful novel by great storytellers. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child ratchet up the scare factor with gory descriptions, unbelievable scenarios where the hero(s) are needed to step up and assist, and a fantastical storyline. The pages just kept flipping until the very end.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent ! This book kept me on the edge of my seat. A must read if you are a lover of science and suspense
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    very enjoyable and easy to listen to and that's it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The book is good four-star monster fun. The narrator (two stars) should be relegated to bedtime stories for small children. I dont believe he had ever heard a single one of the accents he attempted. Had to listen to it at 2x speed to distract myself from it. Again, good, fun book with a bit of “am I ignorant or is that just not something that is true” here and there.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent story line. Prendergast and Capt D'Agosto great team. Read it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The narration and voice affects added suspence, really recommend listening.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely loved the narrator. He was varied with the tones and accents and it was a delight to listen to.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent plot with well developed central characters. Subject was just creepy enough to hold my interest . I thoroughly enjoyed the listen - a much needed departure from reality.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After reading Lincoln Child's Jeremy Logan series, which I found entertaining, I happened on a number of reviews promoting the collaborative co-authoring efforts of Preston and Child. I therefore decided to try Relic which is the first book in the Pendergast series. And boy, was I pleasantly surprised. The book was a mixture of James Rollins' Subterranean, James Murray's Awakened and Matthew Reilly's Contest.

    The suspense was terrific and I found myself so engrossed at times that I was rather anxious while listening to the audiobook. It was extremely well narrated. I especially loved the narrator's (David Colacci) take on Pendergast's Louisiana accent. The additional sound effects were also brilliantly done without intruding on the storyline.

    The characters were quite distinguishable from each other and even relatable. Sure, some characters were a bit clichéd, but the protagonist, Pendergast, was interesting and different from the normal run of the mill hero. I can't wait to see how his character gets developed further on in the series.

    The story was tightly written and the suspense was palpable throughout. The twist right at the end also came as an unsuspected surprise and therefore I can't wait to start reading the second book in the series. I'm very happy to see that there are 19 books in the series. Less so to find that most of them are NOT available as audiobooks on Scribd.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Scintilla ting true horror... extremely well written...read, you will not be disappointed.j
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really loved the sneaky twist at the end, very clever.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3.5

    This book is a very fast and entertaining read. Apart for occasionally too detailed depictions of characters' actions, it is more than a good way to have fun.

    The whole series is named after a character who doesn't have a leading role in this story. Pendergast is neither a central nor minor character here. There isn't a character you could say he or she is a major character in the novel. Aloysius Pendergast and Margo Green and to a lesser degree NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta, Dr. Frock and a journalist William Smithback are the ones who each in their own way help to find the truth behind the present killings and museum's past. Still, even though Pendergast isn't as prominent here as I would like, I am glad it's his series. I want to read more about him since you get only crumbs and teasers here (his past, his wife and so on).

    The lack of romance worked so well here. I like that Margo Green is written as a ordinary woman, someone who is neither weak nor some kick-ass heroine. Margo could be anyone. She is completely normal, she can't really keep a secret, she gets scared. Pendergast and Margo do end up together fighting for their lives, but that's it. If anything romantic happens in later books, it doesn't matter.

    I like that Smithback is a real character, not some caricature of a journalist only after a story. He does want it, but not at any cost. The Mayor is another character who is not presented as your usual politician.
    The red tape, bureaucrats and too ambitious agents form a antagonistic knot the main characters have to entangle to get to the truth. They are a bit one-dimensional, but since the story itself is really good, it doesn't ruin it.

    The reason this book is labelled horror among other things is well written and the explanation for the killings and the origin of a strange figurine are not unbelievable. It touches the ordinary things and science just close enough to make a great story.

    While the book doesn't end in cliffhanger, its epilogue leaves an opening of bad things to come.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An oldie but goodie. This story speaks volumes in it's well structured writings and the in depth research the author channeled. Loved the suspense and natural progression of the story. It needed more distrcrptive fortitude surrounding the blood and guts aspects of the killings, ergo a fifth star, but that lacking did not jeopardize the greatness of the story. Very well done and the narration was super. He kept the pace quick and the thrills high, making the story in audiobook form a worthy read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was a great thriller. I got totally sucked in by this one, and was along for the ride. I can't wait to pick up the Reliquary! I am very happy to have stumbled upon the Prendergast series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very good for what it is, which a fantasy-horror-thriller.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    First by the pair and one of the best
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    well written loved the characters make sure to read or listen to the prologue
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Another book I didn't have enough interest in to finish. Which was a shame: I was hoping to find a new series I could get into. Trashy quick reading, perhaps, but still worth it. I did get about 70% of the way through it, but I just didn't care. I didn't care about the characters, or the monster, or the mystery. I didn't get the creepy sense of suspense. I wasn't particularly invested in any of it, or surprised by anything.

    I have seen people squeeing over later books in the series much more, so I might pick up one of those and give Preston and Child another chance. Not now, though.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My first Pendergast! I will admit something so rare it’s only happened once before - I liked the movie better.

    That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book. It’s substantially longer with slower explanations, less action, and more irritating characters.

    Pendergast, who was not in the movie, was an intelligent, sensual, determined, generally heroic character. But also an avid hunter which, while useful in this book, I found generally unpleasant. When he discussed his wife I kept waiting for him to say how his dear Michi died on their once in a lifetime Mermaid Hunt.

    I will be reading book two.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Even better the second time around when I knew how it all turned out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Nice October “read”. I actually listened to this book on Scribd. The audio was good. There were effects that helped give depth. Ie- when they were in a basement it sounded echoey, on the radio it sounded staticky. I’m usually quite good at guessing what’s going to happen in movies and books but this was a little different than a lot of books I read. I did guess a couple things in it but more just before it happened and didn’t feel compelled to guess as often as usual. I think it has a lot to do with the setting and content being different from the books I’ve been reading lately. It was nice to read something different. A little creepy factor but not bad. Some gore. Some nerdy stuff. Some cheesy stuff. Thumbs up.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really loved the book! The story telling was amazing & the ending was definitely not expected!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If you like Michael Crichton movies, you’ll probably like this book. It’s a giant ham and cheese sandwich with memorably melodramatic quotes like, “Margo, this describes a killing machine of the highest order!” ? Sadly, it was quite predictable though.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was enjoyable bubblegum for the brain. Not the best I've read/listened to, but better than most similar books. I will try the others in the series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A very good book, thoroughly enjoyed it
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fantastic thriller, I loved it. Good characters had depth to them, and very beautifully written monster.
    I had so much fun listening to this. Melodious narration by narrator.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human. I’ve been meaning to read this for forever, and now that I have… I dunno. I hit the halfway point and literally quit reading it, decided to give up forever and marked the book DNF and done. And then decided I could at least follow the major exhibit’s opening, and ended up finishing the book, and was kind of pleased that I had. While it felt like X-Files, the investigations felt incredibly forced and like an awful lot of running around with very little to show for it, and I found that a huge boring drag. The action’s good when it happens, at least. Not really all that scary for me -- very little atmosphere, very little build-up. And I wish we had seen more of Pendergast, who is nominally the lead for the series, and less of Margo.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Re-read for the second time. I had forgotten how much action there was in this book as I hadn't read it since its first publication in 1995, when I was introduced to Agent Pendergast.

    The first part of the book starts out a little slow as it provides the back drop for the story and then the last half of the story the action begins.

    What better way to spend the day at a museum without a care in the world until you find out there is a creature loose in the place and no one knows where it could be or where it could strike next. This is no ordinary creature either as it is very intelligent and even has the capability to open doors. It also likes humans, but not to get friendly with them, but to add them to its snack list.

    The book has suspense, mystery, horror, and a little gore thrown in for good measure!

    I am still giving the book five stars like I did before and I will be continuing the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was an exciting one to fall into. Proper fright, with many twists I didn't see coming. The suspense throughout the whole book had my heart pumping. The ending has me hooked and wanting to continue on with the series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Sometimes I like Pendergast, sometimes I don't.
    Good story, looking forward to #2.