The Cabinet of Curiosities by Preston and Child

If you are the type of reader that enjoys being drawn into a novel to the point where you cannot wait to turn the page this is the choice for you. The main character is a man named Pendergast. He is an FBI agent who seems to have a secretive past that drives him to feel intrigued to investigate cases of this nature. He is the perfect man for the job once things begin to heat up, a cop with a motivation that creates a plot from very little direction. He gets wind of a massive chamber underground that is filled with the skeletons of people who went missing in the late 1800’s. Agent Pendergast reaches out for aid from an archaeologist named Nora Kelly. Nora works for the New York Museum and is your stereotypical nerdy historian. She is socially stingy, but she knows her stuff; reminding me of the librarian from the popular motion picture The Mummy. They came to the conclusion that it was not a cemetery by the obvious mutated structures. These people were murdered, and in a gruesome manner by being operated on while alive. There seems to be no reason to pursue and investigation on such an old case until someone in the enormous city decides to simulate these past murders in the present day. The fact that the bulk of the action takes place in such a large city that New York is, creates an additional element to the mysteriousness, suspense, and frustration of the plot. There is so much going on, so many people, and so many direction that can have affect on a situation like this when in a city environment that it can have an overwhelming effect that makes the story even more enjoyable. Do not be intimidated by the thickness from cover to cover because your “curiosities” will propel you to uncovering the final twist to the plot before you know what happened.