The Cabinet of Curiosities

A Novel

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz

Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Book 3 in the series. In an ancient tunnel underneath New York City a charnel house is discovered. Inside are 36 bodies all murdered and mutilated more than a century ago. While FBI agent Pendergast investigates the old crimes, identical killings start to terrorize the city. The nightmare has begun. Again.

©2012 Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (P)2012 Hachette Audio

A little bit formulaic

The most negative thing I have to say about the book is that the "Pendergast smart, ranking police officer stupid and selfish" formula has definitely gotten old. There must be some competent individuals in the NYPD that wouldn't always work against Pendergast.

That said the plot line was interesting and kept me wanting to know how it would all turn out. Plus some of the strange bits of historical trivia were interesting. I know they are representative rather than actual historical but the "Cabinets of Curiosities" were an interesting attraction at one point in time.

There is a bit of a production problem where a sentence or two are repeated and that annoyed me but not enough to interfere with the storyline.

Jack the Ripper vs Pendergast

Where does The Cabinet of Curiosities rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10

What other book might you compare The Cabinet of Curiosities to and why?

The Relic, the Reliquary... also H.P. Lovecraft's "The Terrible old Man": of the mysterious old man with a terrible power for murder, & "The Shunned House": with it's long family history of strange happenings and deaths, & "the Hound": with it's horrific collection of strange things and the terrible fate of the collectors. But maybe Lovecrft's "Herbert West-Reanimator" with it's gruesome surgery/magic and underground tunnels and horrific out comes.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Marosz – was your favorite?

Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast; he is the Elric of Melnibone of the F. B. I. - in this tale he becomes more pale (nearly albino), more strangely alien, and wizard-like. The story passes from a New York dectetive noir story and veers towards becoming a sword and sorcery adventure. Quite exciting, and very twisted! Pendergast is revealed to be even stranger than thought, with some VERY strange family, and he's becoming less human and more like Elric with each book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, however... it was too long to get it all in...it's a wonderfully twisted tale that gets weirder and more twisted the more you hear...and yet retains it's brilliant wit and it's ever so smart human questions on "just really what would you do if..."

Any additional comments?

These horror/crime stories reach nearly insane Lovecraftian madness, but, unlike Lovecraft, Preston saves us from falling into insanity with a hero of such power as to match the terror & alien-other-ness of the weird-crimes echoing ghostly step for step. I thrill to these books with their very creepy "Tales from the Crypt" pre-code grotesque and chilling violence. But most of all, what these are really about is that I love the ultimate X-files investigator - the one man who could face such mind-bending horrors and win - our hero: Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast. The more I read and discover about him, the more questions there are about his shadowy past, and the stranger he becomes, but the more heroic and awesome. He's one of the all time great anti-heroes. He is Sherlock Holmes & Elric of Melnibone & Carl Kolchak & Bela Lugosi (as a southern gentleman) all transmogrified together into a dreadfully delicious tall, black-clad, ice-cold, albino Vincent Price of a man: Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast.

Great book!

This is what I consider the first in the Pendergast series though his character appears in two previous novels. I love how both authors personal knowledge and research is incorporated into the story. I can only wonder if Preston's time at the American Museum of Natural History hasn't influenced some of the characters that pop up.

The story is great, it's a multi-level mystery with lots of historical references. When I first read this book back in 2002 I had never heard of "Cabinets of Curiosities " and their early influence on museum collections.

I'd love to see this book made into a movie.

Another great Pendergast book.

Truly enjoyable to listen to, the narrater is excellent and adds much to listening pleasure.
Story line is as always strong leaves the listener with all the info it takes to understand what happened through out the story. Love these stories and characters.

One of my favorite Pendergast novels

This book scared the crap out of me. From the discovery of the charnel pit to the creepy Riverside Drive mansion this book is engrossing. Plus I love the visits to the museum and library - good old fashioned detective work is always so much fun. The narrator is pleasant to listen to, although not as good as Aubergenois in later works. Highly recommend.

Pendergststic!

Gripping! Another excellent special agent Pendergast story. Good narration, intricate plot, can't wait to listen to the next one in the series.

Fabulous!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Cabinet of Curiosities to be better than the print version?

My favorite of the series so far..fast paced, well narrated.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Marosz – was your favorite?

Pendergast!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Caught myself talking to them..out loud!

Favorite Pendergast so far

This was a great book. A lot more of Pendergast's back story in this one. Very thrilling

Fabulous!!

Love the narrator. The story was wonderful. Highly recommend. Must read. The characters were great. Wellll mostly Mr Pendergast.

Good book but editing issues

This is another engaging book about Special Agent Pendergast. The story keeps you listening long after you need to stop. However, whether it is poor editing or an error on the part of the reader, there are many instances in the book that sentences are immediately repeated. It could be this was where the reader took a break and restarted or the editor just didn't catch the duplication. One instance isn't bad but this happened multiple times and it is disconcerting to the listener.