"The Cabinet of Curiosities"

This book is the next in the Pendergast series of books which I have been reading. This book moved along at a phenomenal rate...a true tour de force type of experience. As I suspected in my last post, once the authors stepped out of their 'museum beast' frame of mind, their work would become re-inspiring.
This novel was about the discovery of a charnal house, in New York, and the copycat killings that took place following its appearance. More of Pendergast's family is fleshed out...where he comes from, and what his family has done in the past. I like how the authors are slowly developing Pendergast, a few tidbits of information at a time. It makes me want to know more about what is going on inside his head. Another aspect I truly enjoy in the Preston and Child books is the supernatural. In some of their books (a la Brimstone) something that looks supernatural has a truly mundane origin. Whereas in others (a la Relic) the fantastic does occur within the normal world we live in.
In all, while Reliquary was a slight let down, Cabinet of Curiosities more than delivered it's expected punch. I recommend this book to anyone who is up for a thriller/mystery with just a tad bit of true scientific background.
My next book will not be the next Pendergast novel (Still Life with Crows). I'm not entirely sure that I'm going to be pleased with that one. It seems to be set in rural Kansas and involves a curse somehow. I haven't read too much about it...I prefer to have no real prior knowledge about the books before I read them, so that I may have a more surprising experience. I think though that I need a slight break from Pendergast before continuing on. I'm going to tackle 'The Protector's War" which is the next book in the Emberverse cycle.
The reviews say that as time goes on in the Emberverse series, more and more supernatural events take place. I hope so, I'm definitely more of fantasy than simple out and out alternative history. I truly enjoyed the Nantucket trilogy, but it read to me a lot like Homer's Illiad...a litany of battles and their outcomes. I would prefer something a bit more like the Odyssey, where adventures take place in the real(ish) world.
In other news...this Summer semester saw me acquire two A-'s, an A, and an A+ in school. Whoo Hoo for raising the ole' GPA! I've also developed a new interest that might possibly take time away from my reading. I've begun to become interested in painting miniatures for Role Playing games and such. Perhaps when I get a few of them under my belt that I am proud of, I might just see fit to throw some of those on this site.
So to conclude: Emberverse next. Possibly some Agatha Christie after that (I want to read 'And then there were none'...everyone is telling me it's a great book). Some miniature painting. And at some point I'd like to take some time off from all of that to play a good CRPG, or Console RPG. OH! that reminds me. Star Trek online has been restarted, so that's good news there. Lets hope they can keep up with it!