Have you ever read "Jurassic Park?" If so, you will definitely love this book. "Relic" was written by duo Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, who have done many books together. Last week I reviewed Douglas Preston's "Blasphemy" and mentioned he and Lincoln Child worked on the Pentergast Series. Relic is the first book in this series.

Okay, so here’s what’s happening. A series of gruesome murders have taken place in New York City’s Museum of Natural History. It has the staff on edge, and threatens to delay a much awaited opening of the Superstition Exhibition. The murder investigation falls under New York Cit Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, a hot tempered police detective, who joins forces was a smooth-talking Sherlock Holmes-esque FBI Special Agent Pentergast who has been tracking down the murderer for some time. Other main characters include, graduate student/museum staffer, Margo Green, her boss Dr. Frock, and Smithback, a cocky journalist. As the investigation progresses, so does the body count of the murders. It is soon realized that the killer is not a human, but a creature of some kind, called the Mlbwun, which seems to be a reptilian-primate like mutant. I would discuss the creature more, but it would require additional spoilers.

As the bunch investigate the murders, they uncover the origin of the Mlbwunn, along with a discovery that uncovers the story of an unsuccessful expedition in South America, and a series of similar murders that took place in New Orleans. I would go into details but once again, that means more spoilers.

Then in the climax, or the last third of book, the Superstition Exhibition is opened, and then all hell breaks loose. Another body is discovered, the power goes out causing the museum’s security doors to lock down, trapping Smithback, Margo, Pentergast, D’Agosta, Frock, the mayor and other survivors in the museum with the creature. Suddenly the game is cat-and-mouse, as Frock, Margo and Pentergast search for the creature, while D’Agosta and Smithback lead the trapped guests into the sewers in order to find a way out. The whole time, the Mlbwun can be anywhere.

The book is very well written. The characters were fun and very two dimensional. It was fun to see how each of them interacted with each other. I also loved how the creature never directly appeared until the last half of the book. The characters talk about the murderer is possible a creature, but the question is what is it? It added a level of suspense to the story and made its encounter much more frightening. But like all books, "Relic," has its flaws. The biggest one has to be the science. It seems like this rule, if you’re going to write a science fiction novel, or include science in a story, you gotta be accurate with the science.

This story is loaded with not so accurate science, they never explain how a human can evolve into a reptilian mutant nor can it possible happen in a matter of days. Also, they didn’t explain how, if the creature ran from New Orleans to New York City, how is it that no one ever spotted it! Also there are a few things glossed over about the characters, such as the death of Margo’s father. It’s mentioned, but it doesn’t seem to be playing the characters mind, and it’s only mentioned twice throughout the story.

But these flaws are subtle so they don’t really effect the story much. Regardless of the flaws, this book is a good combination of thriller, science-fiction, murder mystery and horror, and was an excellent read!

But these are just my opinions. Have you read the book? Comment below, read it for yourself and have a nice day!