.gif)
Reliquary (novel)
Encyclopedia
Reliquary is the 1997 New York Times best-selling sequel to Relic, by Douglas Preston
and Lincoln Child
. The legacy of the blood-maddened Mbwun lives on in "Reliquary", but the focus is shifted from the original museum setting to the tunnels beneath the streets of New York City
.
, and even deeper towards enigmatic beings called the Wrinklers. Soon, they realize that the Wrinklers are led by Frock, who has taken a modified version of the Mbwun plant to regain the use of his legs. He also gave the drug to the people who were to become the Wrinklers. After going underground, the group kills them with an explosion, vitamin D infused water and a flood.
New Characters:
Douglas Preston
Douglas Preston is an American author who has written seventeen popular techno-thriller and horror novels, four alone and the rest with Lincoln Child...
and Lincoln Child
Lincoln Child
Lincoln Child is an author of seventeen techno-thriller and horror novels. He often writes with Douglas Preston. Many of their novels have become bestsellers, and one, Relic, was adapted into a feature film...
. The legacy of the blood-maddened Mbwun lives on in "Reliquary", but the focus is shifted from the original museum setting to the tunnels beneath the streets of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Plot summary
The story picks up where the epilogue of Relic left off. Two headless skeletons are found in the Humboldt Kill. When further decapitated bodies follow, there is suspicion of a second Mbwun monster. Major characters from the original book team up with new ones to solve the puzzle. The mystery soon leads underground to the Mole peopleMole People
Mole people is a term used to refer to the homeless people living under large cities in abandoned subway tunnels and shafts.- Urban folklore :...
, and even deeper towards enigmatic beings called the Wrinklers. Soon, they realize that the Wrinklers are led by Frock, who has taken a modified version of the Mbwun plant to regain the use of his legs. He also gave the drug to the people who were to become the Wrinklers. After going underground, the group kills them with an explosion, vitamin D infused water and a flood.
Characters
Many major characters from Relic return:- Police CaptainPolice captain- France :France uses the rank of capitaine for management duties in both uniformed and plain-clothed policing. The rank comes senior to lieutenant and junior to commandant....
Vincent D'AgostaVincent D'AgostaDetective Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta is a fictional character appearing in the novels of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. He is an Italian New Yorker and a main character in several different storylines.-Fictional character biography:...
- New York Police Department, initially in charge of the investigation. - Dr. Margo Green - now assistant curator of the New York Museum of Natural History
- A. X. L. PendergastAloysius PendergastAloysius Xingu L. Pendergast is a fictional character appearing in novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. He first appeared as a supporting character in their first novel, Relic, and in its sequel Reliquary, before assuming the protagonist role in The Cabinet of Curiosities.Pendergast is a...
- Special Agent for the FBIFederal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime... - Bill Smithback - journalist, now crime reporter working for the New York PostNew York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
- Dr. Whitney C. Frock - Margo Green's former PhD mentor, evolutionary biologist, retired from the museum.
- Dr. Ian Dunbar- D'Agosta's FBI protector
New Characters:
- Sergeant Laura Hayward - New York police officer who worked on a unit to roust the homeless; a published author working on her Masters Degree in SociologySociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at New York UniversityNew York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and an expert on the underground societies of New York. The second and third sections of the novel are preceded by excerpts from a paper she wrote that is awaiting publication. Later appears in the Preston/Child novels Brimstone, Dance of Death and The Book of the Dead. In the years between Reliquary and Brimstone Hayward is promoted to captain. - CaptainPolice captain- France :France uses the rank of capitaine for management duties in both uniformed and plain-clothed policing. The rank comes senior to lieutenant and junior to commandant....
Jack Waxie - D'Agosta's superior; takes over the investigation - Anette Wisher - mother of murdered socialiteSocialiteA socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
Pamela Wisher, who then leads a crusade to save the city from crime. - Redmond Horlocker - Chief of the New York Police Department
- Mephisto - the leader of an underground community beneath Central ParkCentral ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
- Dr. Simon Brambell - Chief Medical Examiner (his brother appears in other novels by Preston & Child)
- Bryce Harriman - crime reporter for the New York Times; Smithback's rival