Several years ago I stumbled upon a novel by Preston and Child, Relic. I had actually read the book once before, but I had noticed at the bookstore that there were several in the series. I decided that I was going to reread the first book so that I could go on to read others of the series. And I was very glad that I did. Relic is followed by Reliquary, and next is The Cabinet of Curiosities, which is my current favorite from these talented authors.. At the moment, I am reading Blue Labyrinth, the 14th in the series.
But here is the truth. The reason that I really love this series is the characters, a mixture of very different personalities centered around the genius, sophisticated, and mysterious Pendergast. Pendergast is an agent with the FBI, but is only loosely affiliated with the government in most stories. He seems to successfully work alone, skirting the law, but always successfully getting his man, er, monster.
I love the cool Pendergast. He has the ageless feeling of Sherlock Holmes, with the quick and accurate observations and thought processes that seem to race far ahead of everyone else that he encounters.
The rest of the characters are delightfully well rounded. We see a little of their inner thoughts, and their motivations make sense with the context of the story. They also bring in a nice range of backgrounds, personalities, and viewpoints. It has made me realize that the reason that I enjoy these books, while I like the spooky topics, complicated plots, and action scenes, is really because I like the people in the novels. I care about them. I want to find out what happens to them. And most of all, I will continue to read these intricate mysteries to see what happens next.
So I eagerly await the next few novels to see what adventures Pendergast will take me to, and how he will eventually save the day!
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