Book Review: Beyond the Ice Limit by Preston And Child

Beyond the Ice Limit by Douglas Preston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A much wanted sequel to a story that went full fledged downhill for all important characters.

I was hooked to the first part Ice Limit and its climax was an absolute banger. All important characters were simply tossed into the plot and played about mercilessly.

This sequel was good, well-researched and fast-paced as well.

The first 50 pages of theme setting and introducing some new characters were a dull drag. None of the new characters played a pivotal role to leave imprints in the readers’ minds.

As Gideon Crew became more involved with the story, it felt again like Eli Glinn is the actual protagonist and rest are all supporting characters. Gideon didn’t do anything remarkable or jaw-opening throughout the book.

The Baobab or the alien entity was the only character development intensely researched and put forward. The entity threatened us with every single scene it came into picture. It exuded enigmatic and an eerie presence and the fear of the unknown was always creeping steadily inside our heads.

The worm subplot causing complete mayhem inside the ship was up to a certain level entertaining, but I felt it was bit overdone and simply used to kill off all the supporting characters.

Climax was a complete let-down in the whole novel. The authors simply got tired with the plot that they decided to bring it to an abrupt good end. The nuke idea and the destruction of the Baobab, survival of the important characters like Gideon, Sam, Glinn, Garza was a bit far-fetched. A good read, overall.



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Book Review: The cabinet of curiosities by Preston & Child

The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ever since I read Relic, the duo writers of pendergast series excited me. After reasearch for this year’s new reading collections, I found this one. The gist was pretty unique and catchy.

The cabinet of curiosities is a wonderful and riveting read!

The first half of the book was filled with so much suspense and dreadful thrill that it gave me chills down the spines whenever the unknown assailant comes into picture.

Other than the actual plot and the flow, rest all were pretty ok to decent form of work. The character portrayal of Pendergast was unimpressive – his ubiquitous presence and omniscience vanish after first half. Why the Sherlock vibes?

Nora and Bill were ok too. I loved the sergeant Patrick.

The second half was like a rambling medical drama interspersed with a psychopathic killer element.

The revelation of the killer and a slight twist were pretty unconvincing compared to weight of the theme in which the plot traversed.

Having written an apocalyptic thriller novella myself, I can say the motive behind such drastic themes are often not that interesting or justifiable. So, here also it was the same.

A good read overall. Kind of a page turner.



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Book Review: City of Endless Night by Preston and Child

City of Endless Night by Douglas Preston

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Preston and Child are brilliant authors whose theme setting for a novel deeply inspires me and instills thrill inside me. City of Endless Night was an amazing crime investigation thriller with proper case of murders being chased down by Agent Pendergast.

The initial part involving the secret murders were very neatly done, highly sophisticated and suspenseful. The literary piece was also good.

However, the characters were not inspiring or engaging enough. And, after the revelation of the killer and the final confrontation, it all seemed very farfetched and unrealistic. It didn’t hold well with me. Several other characters were basically useless in the storyline.

The intricate details of the case investigation and press reporting were captivating and that’s all there is to this book.



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