Musings on the Written Word

Sunday, December 26, 2004

The Cabinent of Curiousities

The Cabinent of Curiousities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

This duo wrote The Relic as well as other stories and some of the same characters which featured in those previous books were in this one. Luckily it didn't effect the story at all that I did not know that when I first started reading it. There were a couple references to previous instances in the characters lives - but it wasn't enough to make you feel like you'd missed something. Nor did it give away the other books, which is always a plus. Now I can hunt them down and read them without the story having been spoiled for me.

At the start of this book a room is found underground which houses many, many dead bodies. The site is under construction and the discovery is hushed up - but not before Agent Pendergast manages to get an archaeologist down there to look at them. She gathers impressions and writes down notes which lead her to believe that all of them were victims of a serial killer.

Agent Pendergast knows more than he's saying, but he gives enough hints and asks for enough favors that in the end the archaeologist as well as her reporter boyfriend end up in the search to discover what had happened to the killer. Because the people weren't killed just for the fun of it - they were all killed in an attempt to find a way to prolong life.

When new murders start to take place, almost identical to the ones in the past, it makes you wonder - did he manage to find such a thing?

This was a fast paced and entertaining read, even if the scientific parts of it seemed a bit of a stretch. I could see myself rereading this in a couple years. And I will definitely have to check out some of their other books.

Posted by Amme :: 7:47 PM :: 0 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- Afterlife by Douglas Clegg

Afterlife is aptly named as it dives head first into what happens after death. The main character, Julie, has to deal with life after her husband is murdered. And, if that isn't hard enough on its own, odd things start to happen which muddy the waters even more. Her daughter still claims to speak with her father, as well as see him in the house. Julie still dreams about her husband - odd dreams of the like she's never had before.

But, as she tries to get on with life - events conspire to cause her to investigate a bit into her husband's life and that's when things get interesting. Because her husband seems to have been linked to a psychic program when he was a child - something he'd never mentioned to her.

The beginning of the book starts out with the major question being - is something supernatural going on - or is Julie just going a bit crazy? Clegg manages to keep the suspense going right up until the end on this one. And the end is very much a must read for anyone who loves, or even mildly likes, horror.

Posted by Amme :: 7:25 PM :: 0 comments

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

I've read many, many of the Discworld books. There something of the satire in them that pokes fun at other fantasy books as well as the modern world. In Going Postal we meet Moist von Lipvig who appears to be Discworld's version of a confidence man. Only he gets caught and is offered a choice by an unlikely Angel - Lord Vetinari - who offers him the job of Postmaster.

Of course the Post Office hasn't been run in years and the stockpiling of letters has caused some very odd things to happen in the Office. Add in the fact that most information is sent by the Clacks, and Moist has his job cut out for him. A job he can't escape for he has a golem as a parole officer. And nothing stops a golem from its Job.

But, it takes one to know one and when Moist starts butting heads against the man in charge of the Clacks company - he ends up in a battle to see who's the best confindence man in Ankh - Morpork.

Hope and the visions of it are strong elements to this book and it seems a bit of a departure from some of the other Discworld books.

I enjoyed it a lot, although I have to say I miss the more liberal use of footnotes which a Discworld book usually has. And this book really made me hunger for a book about Vetinari - even if he is the big mysterious ruler of Ankh - Morpork. I have faith in Pratchett - he could do a story with Lord Vetinari and still keep the mystery in it.

Posted by Amme :: 4:43 PM :: 0 comments