”Every sixty to seventy million years or so, life starts getting very well adapted to its environment. Too well adapted, perhaps. There is a population explosion of the successful life forms. Then, suddenly a new species appears out of the blue. It is almost always a predatory creature, a killing machine. It tears through the host population, killing, feeding, multiplying. Slowly at first, then ever faster.” The Amazon has always been an attractive source for exploration for the scientific co...

Have you ever read a book that was so intense and absorbing in some areas you were reading so fast, and you thought, ''did I read all of that part ?'' This is one of those books.I have to thank Matthew for his recommendation on this one.This was an enjoyable thriller read for me. Since I had worked before in an Art Museum as security personal and then curator, I could place myself in that atmosphere.It was a great thriller with different twists I can't wait to read more from these authorsThis is...

This is another book (series of books) I was introduced to by my late wife (we were married 34 years before she passed so there were quite a few books we ended up sharing, sometimes to the surprise of each of us. I introduced her to things like epic fantasy she "introed" me to things like, well Preston/Child or Koontz). I am surprised not only that I liked it (them) but that I decided to give it 4 stars. This is a surprisingly absorbing read and the Pendergast character while he could have ended...

Days before the New York Museum of Natural History is about to have a huge gala exhibition, people are getting murdered within the museum. Is it a serial killer, or something even more dangerous?This was an extremely enjoyable thriller, and I had a hard time putting it down. I loved the setting, in a very large museum, with tons of dark creepy rooms filled with rare artifacts, dinosaur bones, and lots of winding tunnels running underneath. I really liked some of the characters, like Pendergast,

RelicSome thoughts.Now, this isn’t really a review, simply because too much time has passed since I actually read the novel to form any objective and cohesive opinion on its literary merit. What I would like to focus on is what remained with me.I’m sticking to my original rating. This novel is one of the few that my wife and I still discuss on a rather regular basis, even after all this time. Relic ticked quite a few of the right boxes. Such as:(1) Atmospheric setting. In this case, the museum.

4.5 I almost want to give this book a five. It kept my attention until I finished it. I had trouble taking breaks from it or setting it down. It’s the first of Special Agent Pendergast series and while I wasn’t all that impressed with him, I like his manner and can’t wait to see what he will do or say in future books. It was an intelligent read steeped in fields of archaeology, anthropology, botany, paleontology and evolution. It was hard to get bored here, especially since it all happened insid...

Ooh, this was a perfect spooky read for October. Several of my coworkers have raved about the Pendergast series, and despite feeling daunted by the number of books on the list, I decided to check out the first one. "Relic" is the story of a mysterious creature from the Amazon who somehow finds its way to New York City and goes on a killing spree in the Museum of Natural History. FBI Agent Pendergast has been tracking the suspicious killings and works with scientists at the museum to catch the be...

A strange case where I’ve been taking some notes while I was reading the book, which I rarely do, and said notes were mostly negative, but I still enjoyed the book immensely.I think this is almost a tale of two halves. In the beginning I wasn’t quite sure if I’m reading a mystery, or a thriller, or a horror novel, or maybe even science-fiction. The first chapter actually makes it quite clear what this is going to be, but then it felt a little like the authors were trying to pretend this is somet...

This was recommended to me by several visitors to my site, but I'm sorry folks, I simply couldn't finish it. Cardboard, cliched characters and a monster on a rampage in a museum don't quite add up to a great read. I gave it a good effort, the quick readability of it got me halfway through it but I don't care how it ends or who lives or dies. I'm moving on.

3.5 stars.Relic marks a promising start in my attempt to read more crimes/mysteries/thrillers aside from Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon books. This novel has all the necessary ingredients to satisfy the requirements of a page-turning thriller. Set in the massive New York Museum of Natural History, the element of horror around the gruesome and brutal killings has just the right atmospheric tone to make the narrative creepy enough without being too cheesy. The story started with two separate Prologues...

Sometimes I really want a hot dog.I don’t care that it’s filled with crunchy bits of pig hoofs or that it’s encased in a horse’s transverse colon or even that it will provide enough sodium to last me for the next 75 years. I just want to bite into that thick, juicy tube o’ meat and let the uniquely succulent flavor of indulgence course through my veins even as it drips greasy trails of superfluous yumminess down my chin. That’s kind of how I feel about thrillers. I don’t read them all the time,

I loved Relic and definitely plan to read more books in this series. Relic was entertaining and suspenseful from the beginning to the end! It was totally riveting and the tension just builds and builds. I literally could not keep turning the pages fast enough.What I loved about it:The creature was intelligent, cunning and scary enough to freak you out! And the mystery behind the origin of the creature was well thought out.The setting of the dark chambers of the museum was fantastic for a creatur...

3.5 stars rounded up because I liked the characters.Well... I started this in 2016, so it counts! Bahahaha. Slammed the last 40% last night when I got home (most of it) and finished the Epilogue this morning. Woof. Talk about action and pacing... and that revelation in the last few pages! Yikes! Starting this, I felt like I was reading a Jurassic Park knockoff. Not in a bad way, but it was all super-sciencey and talked about a prehistoric creature from the Amazon. The museum setting was fantasti...

A good mix of science and suspense. Reminds me of Michael Crichton. Very thrilling - lots of good twists that I did not see coming.

He who walks on all fours.....Upper XingúSept. 17, 1987 Montague, I’ve decided to send Carlos back with the last crate and go on alone in search of Crocker. Carlos is trustworthy, and I can’t risk losing the crate should anything happen to me. Take note of the shaman’s rattle and other ritual objects. They seem unique. But the figurine I’ve enclosed, which we found in a deserted hut at this site, is the proof I’ve been looking for. Note the exaggerated claws, the reptilian attributes, the hints

I have a confession to make! Do not judge me too harshly. Although I enjoy reading classic literary novels, and respectable Pulitzer Prize and Booker Prize award-winning books, and challenging books that are taught in Great Literature classes, and informative topical non-fiction - I also am a fan of the Silly Saturday SyFy horror movies! I watch them all day and into the night! (Ok, ok, I look away a lot.) The traditional classic horror scenarios of being trapped and hunted down one by one on a