I’ve been reading the series of fantastic action/adventure/science fiction/thrillers by the collaborative team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. For the moment, I have come to the end of the 11 book series and await for the newest to come out in paperback. So, in this review, I’m going to review the whole series. Ready? Let’s go.
First of all, one does not need to read all of these books in order, or to read every single one. Each book (which the exception of the three books called the Diogenes Trilogy) are a single story in themself. However, if you want to know the order of the books, this is how I read them:
- Riptide
- Relic
- Mount Dragon (actually am reading this last)
- Relicquary
- Thunderhead
- Ice Limit
- The Cabinet of Curiosities
- Still Life With Crows
- Brimstone – First book of the Diogenes Trilogy
- Dance of Death – Second book of the Diogenes Trilogy
- The Book of the Dead – Third book of the Diogenes Trilogy
My first book to tackle was Riptide and it drew me in with the teaser that this involved a pirate’s treasure and that pirate’s diabolical scheme to keep everyone away from getting to it. This story was a great introduction to these two writers and I was kept on the edge of my seat with every page turned. One of the first things that you’ll learn about Preston and Child is that with each book they encourage the reader to step beyond the book, the story and the characters and to discover those nuggets of history, or those curiosities that each story is based upon. In Riptide the story centers around an actual flooded “Money Pit” of Oak Island, Nova Scotia. Both the fictional story in Riptide and the Oak Island story are worth reading.
Second came Relic. There was a really bad movie based, loosely, upon this book. Watch the movie if you’re curious, but realize that it has very little to do with the story. This book takes the reader into the fascinating maze known as The New York Museum of Natural History (aka the American Museum of Natural History in New York). Several of the books returns to this museum and should I ever visit New York, I will make a special effort to see this museum. In Relic, the reader is introduced to the first of Preston & Child’s characters that reappear in other stories. They are the enigmatic Special Agent Pendergast, Margo Green, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta and William Smithback. All four are on the hunt for a moster that haunts the subterranean depths of the museum; and kills.
Mount Dragon was actually written after Relic, but I had not been able to get the book and since Mount Dragon didn’t have any of the four above characters, I figured I’d jump into Relicquary. This story continues with the four characters above and takes place in the hidden “city” beneath the city of New York. I really enjoyed this story as I followed Pendergast down into abandoned subway tunnels and into the deepest, darkest places where only the Mole People have the courage to visit. This time, it isn’t just one monster, but several. The story really came to life for me and I was now firmly attached to these characters.
Thunderhead takes the reader out of the museum and on a search for the origin city of the mysterious Anasazi. The nosy reporter, William Smithback is an unwelcome addition to the party of explorers led by Nora Kelly. I love any story that takes me into the strange ruins and Indian folklore. In this story, we learn about Nora’s father and how his search for the original Anasazi city led to his disappearance. If you read none of the other books, read this one. It’s worth curling up with. You’ll find yourself cheering Nora along her quest and then hoping and praying she survives.
All of the Preston and Child books ask that at some point you suspend your beliefs and The Ice Limit very nearly went too far for me. Its story deals with a billionaire who is bent upon becoming the possessor of a very large, highly unusual, rare, and extremely dangerous meteorite. In this story we are introduced to Eli Glinn and his engineering company, Effective Engineering Solutions, Inc. Glinn can do anything and he NEVER fails to deliver. I’ll leave it there, so as to not spoil anything. The story was a good one, if over the top for me, but it was the great characters that kept my attention and made me stick with them until the end.
Just as I took a break from the books at this point, so will I do with this review. Continue on to Part II.
Tags: Amazon, books, fiction, Preston And Child
