About a year ago I picked up a book by two authors, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, that was about a monster plaguing the halls of the Museum of Natural History in New York. The title of this book was RELIC and, ever since, I've been hooked on the novels turned out by this two-author team. Now, eight books later, I can only say that they are getting better as they go.

One character that has been recently popping up in the weirdly interconnected novels of Preston and Child is that of Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI. The tall, pale, white- blond misfit of an agent from the New Orleans Office always seems to find himself investigating the weird stories, the unbelievable tales, the bizarre cases that no one can believe are true. However, he has the knack for sniffing out the true cases from the hoaxes, and whenever he turns up, the reader can count on being taken on a wild ride.

THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES is no exception to this rule. For a bit of fun, Preston and Child throw a couple of other re-occurring characters into the novel: Reporter and Bestselling Non-Fiction Author Bill Smithback and the Archaeologist Dr. Nora Kelly. Together, these three find themselves knee-deep in an investigation of a serial killer whose first victims seemed to have been killed over a hundred years ago...but new victims bearing the same awful wounds and suffering the same cause of death seem to prove that the killer has re-surfaced to terrorize present day New York City.

One of the things that makes this book stand out from the other novels turned out by these two authors is just how deeply the psychology and history of the Pendergast character are explored. This is one weird guy with a very dark and mysterious past and, although you know that Pendergast is one of the "good guys," you always get the feeling that he is atoning for some of his family's past sins, trying to do right in the world to make up for all the wrong that Pendergasts-past have wrought.

Without giving up too much of the plot of THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, let's just say that the Pendergast character is central to the plot—the reader really gets to know this character without really discovering all that much about him. These two authors are very adept at creating likable, unpredictable characters with personalities and idiosyncrasies all their own but Pendergast is unlike any other character that comes to mind. He seems to be financially secure by what the reader is led to believe is "old family money" but, sometimes, we' re just not sure about that either. He drives around in an elegant Rolls Royce, he dresses in tailored black suits, his appearance is consistently impeccable and his manners are aristocratic. He speaks with an accent that isn't immediately identifiable but we are led to believe, since he is from the New Orleans Office of the FBI, that he is from that region of the country. Why he chose the FBI as a career we do not know. How he always seems to end up in locations that are far out of his jurisdiction (while often on vacation, using his own time to investigate whichever cases catch his eye) is also beyond our grasp. What we do know is that he has a brilliant strategic mind, he is usually one step ahead of whoever or whatever he is pursuing and, as with all great heroes, he has his flaws. Special Agent Pendergast is that one truly distinctive character that readers grow to love and want to read more about.

THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES will only reinforce that with Preston and Child's ever growing legion of fans. This book is a wondrous mix of mystery, fantasy, science fiction, historical adventure and police procedural. These authors know how to set up a story, create the conflict, produce spine-tingling suspense and keep the reader turning those pages until all sense of time slips away into the night. And, after all, isn't that exactly what every book lover wants?

Be on the lookout for this novel as well as their newest paperback, STILL LIFE WITH CROWS, which once again features Special Agent Pendergast. I just finished this one, too, and just as I expected—it was well worth the ride.

Review by Shawn P. Madison