The Cabinet of Curiosities: A Novel (Pendergast Book 3) by Douglas Preston (Epub)

Description

In one of NPR’s 100 Best Thrillers Ever, FBI agent Pendergast discovers thirty-six murdered bodies in a New York City charnel house . . . and now, more than a century later, a killer strikes again.

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.

User’s Reviews

From Publishers Weekly In seven bestselling novels (from Relic to The Ice Limit), Preston and Child have delivered a body of science-based thrillers that for high excitement and robust scientific imaginings rival those of Michael Crichton. Their eighth outing is another richly entertaining tale, about the hunt for a seemingly immortal serial killer at work in New York City. Preston and Child revive characters and settings from earlier novels, often a red flag that authorial imagination is tiring; but in this case, all comes together with zing. There’s FBI Special Agent Pendergast (from Relic), pale, refined and possessed of a Holmes-like brain; dogged New York Times reporter William Smithback Jr. and his fiery erstwhile girlfriend, Nora Kelly of the New York (read American, where Preston used to work) Museum of Natural History (both characters from Thunderhead with the museum the setting for Relic). The action begins when groundbreaking for an apartment tower in downtown Manhattan reveals a charnel house of murder victims from the late 19th century. Enter Pendergast, who for unexplained reasons taps Kelly to study the remains before the site is stripped by the building’s developer, a Donald Trump-type who, with the mayor’s backing, will accept no construction delays. As Kelly calls on Smithback for investigative help, the city is struck by killings that duplicate the earlier murders, with the victims’ spinal cords ripped away and clues pointing to a 19th-century scientist who sought the secret of immortality. Featuring fabulous locales, colorful characters, pointed riffs on city and museum politics, cool forensic and paleontological speculation and several gripping set pieces including an extended white-knuckle climax, this a great beach novel, at times gruesome, always fun: Preston-Child at the top of their game. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From School Library Journal Adult/High School-FBI Special Agent Pendergast needs the talents of Nora Kelly, an archaeologist, and William Smithback, Jr., a researcher and reporter, to track down a serial killer whom he is sure has been stalking his prey since the late-19th century. When a real-estate developer demolishes a building and finds victims of a murderer who killed by tearing out their spinal columns, the three team up to pursue the evil behind the acts. Along the way, they nearly lose their lives as they relentlessly track the killer who, indeed, is still alive at the beginning of the 21st century. Pendergast stands out as a unique character, mysterious in his own right, with almost superhuman strength and endurance, and encyclopedic knowledge, and the human emotions and abilities of his two assistants intensifies interest in them. The authors again weave facts from New York City history with a thriller plot to produce an adventure filled with fast-moving events, gruesome scenes, and enough scary moments to keep the pages turning quickly. Fans of Preston and Child’s Relic (Tor, 1996) or Reliquary (Forge, 1997) will enjoy this title as well.Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From AudioFile When archaeologist Nora Kelly is called to a building sitewhere a long-buried body is found, she little expects to be embarkingon the path of a mystery that will lead back to the last century, withdanger reaching into the present. This is an intense and interestingstory, entwining the quest for eternal life with the history ofAmerica, New York, and present-day politics and influence. RenéAuberjonois crafts his narration with great care; each word is voicedwith perfect tone, pitch, and emotion, and each character is providedwith a fitting personality. The result is narration that flowsbeautifully while providing insight into the story and those whoinhabit it. Satisfyingly imbued with thrills and suspense, the proseis fully realized in Auberjonois’s performance, and he even manages tomake some of the more fantastic aspects seem reasonable. A totallyengrossing experience. M.A.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award© AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Review “This is an intense and interesting story, entwining the quest for eternal life with the history of America, New York, and present-day politics and influence. Rene Auberjonois crafts his narration with great care; each word is voiced with perfect tone, pitch, and emotion, and each character is provided with a fitting personality. The result is narration that flows beautifully while providing insight into the story and those who inhabit it. Satisfyingly imbued with thrills and suspense, the prose is fully realized in Auberjonois’s performance, and he even manages to make some of the more fantastic aspects seem reasonable. A totally engrossing experience.”―AudioFile Magazine –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Review “This is an intense and interesting story, entwining the quest for eternal life with the history of America, New York, and present-day politics and influence. Rene Auberjonois crafts his narration with great care; each word is voiced with perfect tone, pitch, and emotion, and each character is provided with a fitting personality. The result is narration that flows beautifully while providing insight into the story and those who inhabit it. Satisfyingly imbued with thrills and suspense, the prose is fully realized in Auberjonois’s performance, and he even manages to make some of the more fantastic aspects seem reasonable. A totally engrossing experience.” (AudioFile Magazine) –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I have just discovered Preston and Child. They are able collaborators (I would like to know what part each plays in writing this series of novels). I must say this book had me guessing all the way to the end. I had imagined an ending different from the actual one— a nice surprise. I am currently reading the 9th installment of the Pendergast series. For new readers, please start with The Relic and read in order. This is not an absolute requirement but I think your enjoyment will be enhanced if you do so.Here are the specifics of why I gave this book four stars: First, great character development. Second, Pendergast is a modern variation of Holmes, a true protagonist in the romantic tradition of heroes. Third, the writing is flawless. I don’t see repetition of phrasing as I did when reading authors as Harry Turtledove. All the books I have read are page turners. Fourth, the skein of the plot was excellent. It was logical based on the characters defined personalities. Finally, and this is a major reason to read the series, Preston and Child construct true mystery/thrillers combined into one book. The action is not unduly bloody, but when it occurs it furthers the atmosphere of the novel. Further, I am not interested in intensely romantic interludes. These books strike the right balance in this regard.Overall I am favorably impressed. I think you will be too.

⭐ I hung in there with this book , but in the end it was just ok. The entire second half of the book was just too contrived. It’s not like I’m incapable of suspending my disbelief for a few hours in the interest of a story. I’ve read and watched full on fantasy sci-fi with rapt attention because the characters acted in predictable ways that comported with who they were and the story was compelling. Here I found myself flipping through pages in the latter chapters to get through long winded explanatory material while saying “yeah yeah we all know where this is going, get on with it already”. I was supposed to be swept away by suspense and instead I found myself bored and pissed.Add to that the fact that some of the premises and assumptions were just idiotic. Example: Career NYPD employees are all fat and stupid. Lifelong cops-police captains for crying out loud- have no clue how their own investigative divisions function and create search warrants out of whole cloth without even a nod to the fourth amendment. To make matters even worse, some unknown judge actually signs the fishing expedition and then they all have a big press conference based on no evidence whatsoever.But I guess my biggest complaint is that, with more than one author, the book comes off as if written by a committee, and the committee members all got their favorite twists crammed into the story whether they made any sense or not. I have read these guys before and enjoyed their work, as I did the first quarter of this one. Then the plot went sideways and they lost me. Even Pendegrast’s endless ruminations became tiresome to the point of irritating. I should have quit when I was ahead.

⭐ Special Agent Pendergast from the previous novels “Relic” and “Reliquary” returns in this absolutely brilliant read. I won’t go into plot details here, but after a hundred year old mass grave is discovered under a New York city building site, Pendergast arrives to investigate. It’s not long before new murders begin with the same MO resulting in Pendergast and his allies racing to make the connection and stop the killer.If you haven’t read the previous books (which were also great) you can still enjoy this. One of the greatest things about this series is that these are truly stand alone books – there’s no previous knowledge needed, and no cheap cliffhangers. Pendergast is radically different then the usual FBI agent character, being highly intelligent and mysterious, yet likeable and flawed – a very difficult thing to write successfully.For fans of the series, this is everything you could hope for. It introduces several characters that go on to become series regulars such as Nora Kelly, Wren, Proctor, and of course Constance Green. It also establishes some of Pendergast’s techniques like the memory crossings, and starts to shed light on his problematic family history.It’s rare I’ll give 5 star ratings to anything, but I feel this book really deserves it. It’s a long read (over 600 pages) but the story flows so well it feels half that length. If you’re willing to put the time in, you’ll be rewarded.

⭐ I didn’t read these sequentially so I always heard about his mysterious uncle and the “cabinet of curiosities” . I figured I need to read this because It must be integral to the series since it’s mentioned frequently.Holy cow this is one of the best in the series!!! Loved this story. I was hooked instantly. For any fan this is a absolute must read.

⭐ As a long time fan of Preston & Child and having read nearly of their books, I would have to say that overall, this is their best one. It is a beautifully crafted, well though out story that grabs you from the first chapter and holds your attention to the last page. As this was their third novel in the Pendergast series, they we’re still in the character development stage for most of their recurring characters but they are all well written and play an integral role, especially Pendergast who is in top form. Pitted against an adversary as shrewd and cunning as he is, it makes for an exciting read. One of the best aspects of this book are the incredibly vivid depictions Lincoln & Child give of 19th century New York. There are a few chapters that you swear you are there and practically smell the New York streets in the 1800s. Great job fellas.This story lays a good foundation of Pendergast’s family background which is further developed in later novels as well as introduces us to Constance Greene who becomes a major character and pseudo love interest of Pendergast later in the series. I will not go into details as to the story’s plot, but will say that the storyline is very interesting. It teters on the fantastic but plausible while not crossing over into the suspension of disbelief realm. This one is well worth your time folks.

⭐ Being my third read by these authors, I’ve wondered which part each plays in their novels. Whichever it may be, they’ve hit on a winning formula. This book is brilliant.Special Agent Pendergast, involves us in a story of extending human life. It takes place from the early NYC tenements of the 1800’s to the upper reaches of Riverside Drive in the present. Extremely complicated testing and experimentation is involved. That being said, one can only assume human specimens are needed to achieve fruition of the “Fountain of youth” goal. Enter the serial killer.The entire novel is very descriptive throughout. We are talking well researched descriptions used here. There are novels using a good deal of description as fluff; page fillers. This is not the case here. The authors have definitely done their homework and have done it well.Being only my third read from them, I’m certainly looking forward to my fourth installment.

⭐ This is a GREAT read. I love Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s imaginative adventures. Wonderful for light, entertaining reading. If you like fiction with a scientific and technical twist, you will love Preston and Child, either together or individually. Never mean spirited or overly gross, good character development and almost always a surprise at the end, this is one of their best stories.

⭐ Nora Kelly is surprised to come into her office at the Museum Of Natural History and find a stranger there. She is even more surprised when he introduces himself as FBI Agent Pendergast and states that he needs her help. During construction, an old tunnel has been found under a building. The tunnel is full of bricked up skeletons; thirty-six of them. Kelly and Pendergast go to the scene and examine the remains before the construction owner has them thrown out and removes all the bodies so that his new building can proceed on schedule. Each is the body of a young man or woman from at least a hundred years before. Each has been operated on, with the excision site being the lower back and spinal cord. Each has been murdered. Kelly isn’t sure why this is so important to Pendergast but starts to understand quickly. A copycat killer has emerged and is killing modern victims in the same manner that the older bodies were killed. As they research the case, a strange motive emerges. Apparently, both the older murderer and the younger believe they have found a way to extend human life which requires the sacrifice of humans. Can Pendergast and Kelly, along with reported William Smithback, solve the mystery before more bodies are found? This is book three in the popular Agent Pendergast series. The authors work together to provide a tale that is strange but believable with overtones of paranormal events. The interplay between Kelly and Smithback and the revealing of Pendergast’s mysterious family background and unorthodox methods keeps the reader turning the pages. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

⭐ Well managed to finally get through this book. If you think this is just a mystery or for some reason you actually think this is light reading…FORGET IT! Very plodding and gruesome, near the end I started to skip some of the descriptive parts. Was not really satisfied with the ending. Read the first two books of the Pendergast series (which were better). So I guess if you like weird and gruesome this book is for you.

⭐ I was expecting a lot after reading Ice Limit where the characters were solid. Multiple unrealistic actions such as, why the dramatic escape from police when being questioned by them when the character was not under arrest so could have simply walked out the door? Other characters were intermittently cartoonish. Or always in the case of the police captain. These issues pulled me out of an otherwise cool story too often.

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