Reliquary is the second novel in the Agent Pendergast series. It was published by Tor Books in 1997 and is the third collaborative Preston-Child novel, following Relic and Mount Dragon.
Plot Summary[]
When police find two skeletons locked in a bony embrace deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, Natural History Museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid in the investigation. She soon realizes that the expertise the cops want is the result of her ordeal last year, battling the horrific beast loose in the basement corridors of the Museum. Because the skeletons show signs, not only of foul play, but of abnormalities point to thing: the awakening of a slumbering nightmare. Aided by Lieutenant D'Agosta, the enigmatic FBI agent Pendergast, and the brilliant scientist Dr. Frock, the search for answers will take Margo and her team far beneath the city of Manhattan, into an underworld few know exist - and fewer still would dare to go.
-Publisher's synopsis
Returning Characters[]
Mentioned: John Whittlesey, Greg Kawakita, Carlos, Ian Cuthbert, Thomas Crocker
First Appearances[]
- Laura Hayward
- Simon Brambell
- Olivia Merriam (Museum Director)
- Chief Horlocker
- Snow
- Pamela Wisher
- Anette Wisher
- Stan Duffy (Chief Engineer of Hydraulics)
- Carlin
- Captain Jack Waxie
- Jack Masters (Head of NYPD's Tactical Response Unit)
- Sy Hagedorn (Administrator of the Physical Anthropology Lab)
- Lieutenant Miller
- Mole People/Homeless/Route 666 Community: Mephisto, Tail Gunner, Little Harry, Boy Alice, Flint, Joe Atcity, Fat Boy, Hector, Dark Annie, Master Sargent
Locations[]
- New York
- Astor Tunnels
- Devils Attic
- Humboldt Kill
- The Dakota Apartment
- New York Museum of Natural History
Notes[]
- In Two Graves, While in Pendergast's Dakota Apartment Study, Viola Maskelene notices an odd assortment of items in a display case, one of them being a piece of a wheelchair (Frock's)
- Between Relic and this book, Pendergast was offered director of the FBI New York Field Office, but turned it down
Timeline[]
- Takes place in August, 18 months after the events of Relic
- exactly one year later, Pendergast, D'agosta and Margo met for lunch to try the seafood
Antagonist(s)[]
Deaths[]
- Body Count: 33+
- The amount of homeless turned into wrinklers and killed, or killed by Wrinklers, us unknown, expected to be several hundred
- it is unknown if there were any deaths during the "take back our city rally"
Notable Deaths[]
- Greg Kawakita, Waxie, Simon Brambell, Pamela Wisher, Mephisto, Frock, Duffy, Nick Bitterman
- 8 Swat team members
- 9 killed on Subway