The Relic

I am currently reading the book "The Relic". I must say it is... different. I am going to go out on a limb here and say this book was written after the screenplay. It reads like a screenplay. Cheesy scenes and all. I need to mention I have never seen the movie. The bad part is that it is just good enough to keep me reading. You ever get that? Kinda sucks actually. If it was horrible I would just put it down and start reading my next book, "Freakonomics" (loaned to me by a coworker).

SPOILERS AHEAD. Here is a problem with the book that is classic B movie. The 'monster' in the book is some freak-of-nature-mutant. But it just so happens that one of the leading people that work in the museum where the monster is killing people has a theory on random mutations in animals. How convenient. They have a machine that processes DNA and spits out what kind of animal it is and what it is decended from.

I am a big believer in "Suspension of Disbelief". A good book/movie needs to suck the reader/viewer in. It need not be "real life" or even "possible with current technology" (in the case of sci-fi), but it must be believable. It must follow the laws of physics and the laws of probability. Stray too far from these paths and suspension of disbelief evaporates. If I find myself snapping back into the real world to say to myself "That's not possible", or worse, "that is silly", then you've lost me.