The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston

Preston and Child have once again crafted an engrossing novel that delves into the dark places of humanity. Pendergast, meanwhile, works to discover the killer’s home, but it’s the reader who is in for a shock or two, as we learn more about Special Agent Pendergast this time around. Smithback, while not believing that theory, scents a story, and a chance to get back into Nora’s good graces, digs into the mystery, and before the end of the story, finds himself in a terrifying situation. Is he right? Is there a killer out there that has found a key to eternal life, and is stalking the streets for some unknown reason? Pendergast believes that the murders are being committed by the same person, despite the fact that the remains in the charnel house are over a century old. Bodies are being discovered with the lower portion of their spinal cords removed, while the victims are still alive. Things take a turn for the darker when it seems New York is now being plagued by a copycat murderer.

Pendergast is aided by a policeman, his old friend, newspaperman, Bill Smithback and archaeologist, Nora Kelly. Thirty six corpses, brutally murdered, may hold the key to solving a decades old mystery. A charnel house has been discovered while the foundation of a new building is being laid. It’s been a number of years since the journey into the sublevels of the Big Apple, but a curious discovery has drawn Pendergast back to the city. The third novel featuring FBI agent Pendergast is set, once again, in New York.

The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston