Fresh from the best selling novel and major motion picture The Relic, authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have once again teamed up. This time they have give us Reliquary, a sequel to The Relic.

I normally don't read much mainstream horror but, having thoroughly enjoyed the movie version of The Relic, I figured I'd give Reliquary a try. The premise is intriguing enough: a series of brutal murders lead to a terrifying encounter deep beneath the streets of New York City. Plenty of good material there. Just the thought of nasty critters crawling around the subway system was enough to make me very thankful that I spend my commutes stuck on a nice sunny freeway.

Although it is a sequel, Reliquary works very well as a stand-alone novel. The main characters are carefully introduced and leftover connections from the first novel are explained for those readers who weren't around the first time.

The action starts quickly with the discovery of two headless skeletons; one of which is quite horribly disfigured. From there suspense and terror begins to build as the novel threads its way deeper and deeper into the dark maze of abandoned subway tunnels and sewers that lie beneath the streets of New York. The suspense heightens as the authors drop tantalizing hints and clues to the origin of the nightmare that lurks in the dark.

Reliquary was a gripping read and difficult to put down (especially in the dark). And, in a warped tribute to the authors, discovering that I have a new paranoia of subways is probably a pretty good recommendation.

Wayne MacLaurin is a regular SF Site reviewer. More of his opinions are available on our Book Reviews pages.