Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Relic  By  cover art

Relic

By: Douglas Preston,Lincoln Child
Narrated by: David Colacci
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.00

Buy for $25.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Relic, a Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child thriller that introduces FBI Special Agent Pendergast

Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human....

But the museum's directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.

Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who - or what - is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?

Prolong the suspense: listen to the sequel, Reliquary.
©1994 by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. (P)1995 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"With its close-up view of museum life and politics, plausible scientific background, sharply drawn characters and a plot line that's blissfully free of gratuitous romance, this well-crafted novel offers first-rate thrills and chills." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Wildly cool....Thrill hounds couldn't ask for a creepier environment....a thriller staged in the world's scariest building, with no room for the squeamish." ( Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about Relic

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6,343
  • 4 Stars
    3,944
  • 3 Stars
    1,629
  • 2 Stars
    461
  • 1 Stars
    258
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,876
  • 4 Stars
    2,875
  • 3 Stars
    1,089
  • 2 Stars
    246
  • 1 Stars
    151
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,539
  • 4 Stars
    2,893
  • 3 Stars
    1,257
  • 2 Stars
    373
  • 1 Stars
    197

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Non-Perishable

Even thought "Relic" was published 'way back in 1994, it still delivers plenty of thrills and excitement after all these years. In my opinion, that test of timelessness indicates a good novel. The plot of "Relic" had the potential to flop, since it tells an improbable monster story. But Preston/Child's excellent writing and thorough research facilitate our willing suspension of disbelief, rendering even the most far-fetched plot concepts scientifically plausible. "Relic" grips you right from the beginning, and doesn't let go until the end. The extended sequence in the dark catacombs under New York's Natural History Museum provides unparalleled suspense. "Relic," unlike most thrillers, has no primary hero, but, rather, three or four protagonists. However, it commences a wonderful series of intelligent thrillers featuring the brilliant, erudite, albino F.B.I. agent Aloysius Pendergast, introduced in this novel. David Colacci gives us an excellent reading of this audiobook. I highly recommend "Relic" to any thriller aficionado.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

159 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Pleasantly surprised.

I read another Agent Pendergast novel before this one, and barely liked it. Not even sure why I bought this one, but I really liked it. The details about the museum and the research were fascinating, and the premise enjoyable. Much of the story reminded me of the old "Night Stalker" show.

Part of it you can believe, but some of it will tax credibility, and there are holes they don't even bother laying boards across, much less filling in. But overall, a good, smart, tense monster mystery that will have you deciding to drive slower or set your alarm half an hour later to fit in one more scene.

And the narrator fits the story--quick, accurate, detailed. Never trips over complicated science or academic terms. Good job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

106 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Relic (Unabrigded)

This book was written in 1994. The technology is somewhat dated, but the story line was great. The narration is second to none. Like others, I bought this book because it was on sale, but it was truly entertaining. It is an early Pendergast novel, and it really sets the stage for novels later in the series. Even though the sci-fi gets a little incredible at the end, if you like a good sci-fi mystery, download this book. You will not be sorry.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

88 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Personal Favorite

This is one of those books I have read more than once, but as soon as I saw it was available for download, I had to listen again. I love the whole series, but my favorites are the first two books, Relic and Reliquary. Although all the books can stand alone, it is particularly interesting to listen to them in order, since many of the characters are revisited as the series progresses.

If you enjoy a little science with your supense, you will definitely enjoy Preston and Child's books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

85 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Nailbiting Thrills and Perfectly Drawn Characters

This is my first experience with Detective Pendergast and I can assure it will not be my last. I have already downloaded the sequel and can't wait to see what happens next. I was dubious of this monster type genre at first, but the museum provides such a titilating backdrop and the characters are so interesting that my preconceptions quickly fell away. You won't regret trying this one!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

49 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book, NOTHING like the movie

I was leery of getting this book because I had seen the movie and it was HORRIBLE. However, the book is nothing like the movie. I am a big SciFi fan, and thoroughly enjoyed the twists of this book. I thought the authors did an extremely good job and the book wasn't predictable to me. I'm extremely picky about narrators and thought this one did an ok job. He didn't annoy me like a lot of narrators do.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Listen!

This was undoubtedly an excellent listen. I have followed all the books for FBI Pendergast, and I was thrilled to see finally we have the beginning of all of the characters introduced in the later of the series. The characters are well developed and this book definetely kept me interested all the way to the epilogue... Cant wait to download Book 2.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Destined to become a classic

I am drawn to stories about the unknown - spooky stories about what lurks in the basement of a museum attract me. I had this story on my wish list for awhile, but put it on hold because I listened to another in this series - "Fever Dream", and although I liked the story, I was annoyed by the profanity (mostly from the NYC police officer) and by the attempted rape scene. However, my adult daughter read "Relic", and liked it. So I downloaded it. Yes, there is profanity in this book, too, mostly from the same Police Officer. That said, however, the authors are fantastic writers, IMO, and it is obvious that much research goes into their writing. I gave it 5 stars because it's one of those books with much suspense - you don't want to stop listening. There's no romance or sexual situations in this book. However, if you are put off by gory descriptions of decapitations and the like, you might not like this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Can't muster the enthusiasm others portray

Perhaps this is just not my genre--mixing science fiction into a thriller. If that juxtaposition doesn't bother you, you may love the book. My larger complaint is the overbearing Southern accent used for Pendergast. As a native Southerner, I find that the exaggerated dialect and mannerisms of the Pendergast character make him less credible, and frankly quite annoying. I won't be back for more of this series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Hopefully soon I'll find a 4+ star book

The narration is well done... characters are narrated consistently and distinctly.

The characters are fairly realistic and fleshed out but the story itself is pretty lame. I read scifi and thrillers/detective stories and thought this would be a blend of the two but it doesn't really hit the mark as either.

You have to accept the existence of a monster, which is fine. But you also have to accept that a museum would not shut down as soon as there were a series of atrocious and unexplainable murders inside it. Then you have to accept that a graduate student would be the "detective" and the "real" detectives more interested in... I'm not sure what they were doing, but they weren't doing any detecting.

I got this book on sale so give it 3 stars. If I had paid full price I would have been disappointed...

Thr3e and any of the Harry Bosch stories are better thrillers. Altered Carbon is a better blend of sci-fi and detective. Artifact is a better "monster" story. Now I just wish someone could point me in the right direction because this is audiobook number 4 in a row that I finished only because I had paid for them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

22 people found this helpful