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thatswedishguy 's review for:
Reliquary
by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
In my review of [b:Relic|67035|Relic (Pendergast, #1)|Douglas Preston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389576748l/67035._SY75_.jpg|23046], I noted that it just didn't live up to the hype set by the movie and I stand by that evaluation. I adore [a:Douglas Preston|12577|Douglas Preston|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399043352p2/12577.jpg] and [a:Lincoln Child|11091|Lincoln Child|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1437511558p2/11091.jpg], especially the latter from reading [b:Deep Storm|13135601|Deep Storm|Lincoln Child|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322715657l/13135601._SX50_.jpg|1410754] and its sequels, but I went into Relic expecting a super schlocky creature feature and found something that tried to be a little more.
Free from the expectations of a movie adaptation, however, Reliquary stood out a lot better than its predecessor and felt like a more solid piece of writing. The characters stood out more and the story itself was a lot more gripping (probably because I didn't know the story beat by beat) with its twists and turns. Pendergast and D'Agosta seems to have switched places, Pendergast now far more interesting than D'Agosta who seems to mostly just be there because the story needed a cop. Which is a shame, his and Pendergast's interactions is one of the better parts of the book and I really wish that was more front and center.
Other characters also return with... varying degrees of success. Some feel tacked on because they were in the first book while others do at least fill some kind of use. A couple of new characters are added for good measure, some who might be interesting to see in the future, some who... well, I wouldn't really be that bothered if they never appeared again.
My only complaint was that I figured out about halfway through the book who was the mastermind behind the mystery which sort of lessened the rest of the story to me. I still enjoyed it but I kept thinking "Stop listening to anything they say, they're clearly the villain!" Granted, I figured out mostly through... well, just having read and seen a lot of thrillers and the book does a good job of laying out the crumbs for you to follow... to a point. After a while, the book really does try to just hammer it home relentlessly to where it was just frustrating to read. "I get it." I'd say, "They're clearly evil, we get it."
Still, the book did keep me captivated throughout and it was a bother to have to put it down to do things like sleep and eat and go to work (although I get a lot of reading done at work too). Luckily you can go to the toilet and still read! Some parts felt redundant and long stretches of the book set up events that... didn't really have any great payoff. Mostly they seemed designed to force certain characters to be part of events when they really didn't need to.
If the Relic didn't sell me on the Pendergast series, this book certainly did. I have my issues with it but I can't deny that I was sacrificing sleep to read instead and that ain't a bad review. The characters grew on me (mostly) and I want to continue reading to see where they end up in the future.
Now to actually get a hold of the book which isn't easy, it seems!
Free from the expectations of a movie adaptation, however, Reliquary stood out a lot better than its predecessor and felt like a more solid piece of writing. The characters stood out more and the story itself was a lot more gripping (probably because I didn't know the story beat by beat) with its twists and turns. Pendergast and D'Agosta seems to have switched places, Pendergast now far more interesting than D'Agosta who seems to mostly just be there because the story needed a cop. Which is a shame, his and Pendergast's interactions is one of the better parts of the book and I really wish that was more front and center.
Other characters also return with... varying degrees of success. Some feel tacked on because they were in the first book while others do at least fill some kind of use. A couple of new characters are added for good measure, some who might be interesting to see in the future, some who... well, I wouldn't really be that bothered if they never appeared again.
My only complaint was that I figured out about halfway through the book who was the mastermind behind the mystery which sort of lessened the rest of the story to me. I still enjoyed it but I kept thinking "Stop listening to anything they say, they're clearly the villain!" Granted, I figured out mostly through... well, just having read and seen a lot of thrillers and the book does a good job of laying out the crumbs for you to follow... to a point. After a while, the book really does try to just hammer it home relentlessly to where it was just frustrating to read. "I get it." I'd say, "They're clearly evil, we get it."
Still, the book did keep me captivated throughout and it was a bother to have to put it down to do things like sleep and eat and go to work (although I get a lot of reading done at work too). Luckily you can go to the toilet and still read! Some parts felt redundant and long stretches of the book set up events that... didn't really have any great payoff. Mostly they seemed designed to force certain characters to be part of events when they really didn't need to.
If the Relic didn't sell me on the Pendergast series, this book certainly did. I have my issues with it but I can't deny that I was sacrificing sleep to read instead and that ain't a bad review. The characters grew on me (mostly) and I want to continue reading to see where they end up in the future.
Now to actually get a hold of the book which isn't easy, it seems!