Rogue special-operations agent McCracken has never been shy about answering the call, and this time it comes in the aftermath of a deepwater oil rig disaster that claims the life of a onetime member of his commando unit. The remnants of the rig and its missing crew lead him to the inescapable conclusion that one of the most mysterious and deadly forces in the universe is to blame: dark matter, both a limitless source of potential energy and an unimaginably destructive weapon.
Joining forces again with his trusty sidekick, Johnny Wareagle, McCracken races to stop two deadly enemies who want the dark matter at all costs. A powerful energy magnate and the leader of a Japanese doomsday cult both seek the ultimate prize for their own nefarious reasons, and McCracken and Wareagle’s mission to defeat them takes the duo on a nonstop journey across the world and thousands of years into the past where the truth lies in the ancient Pandora’s Temple, built to safeguard the world’s most powerful weapon.
McCracken’s only hope to save the world is to find the mythical temple. Along the way, he and Wareagle find themselves up against Mexican drug gangs, killer robots, an army of professional assassins, and a legendary sea monster. The hero of nine previous bestselling thrillers, McCracken is used to the odds being stacked against him, but this time the stakes have never been higher.
Pandora’s Temple by Jon Land
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When it comes to thrillers, sometimes I really like them, and there are other times when I am just not too sure. This is a book that is very well-written, and I found the story very fast-paced. In fact, once I started it, I really didn’t want to put it down. There was never a dull moment, and I was even able to keep the characters straight. Sometimes I feel really lost when I read thrillers, but this one was fairly easy to follow.
I could have done without the profanity, but since a man wrote the book (I know, I’m sexist), and it is a thriller, I can be forgiving. I am glad there were no sex scenes nor overly descriptive violence. Yes, there was violence, but I could handle what was being written.
There is one portion of the book that just didn’t seem to make sense. I struggled to set aside the reality I know and go searching for the lost Pandora’s temple. And the ending really did make me roll my eyes. I know what the author was trying to do, but I would have preferred a different explanation for the happenings in the book. But maybe that is my realistic side kicking in.
Except for that, this is one of the better thrillers I have read, and I can recommend to those of you who like thrillers (or even if you want to try a well-written thriller, this may be for you).
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
on Land is the USA Today bestselling author of 50 books, including ten titles in the critically acclaimed Caitlin Strong series: Strong Enough to Die, Strong Justice, Strong at the Break, Strong Vengeance, Strong Rain Falling (winner of the 2014 International Book Award and 2013 USA Best Book Award for Mystery-Suspense), Strong Darkness (winner of the 2014 USA Books Best Book Award and the 2015 International Book Award for Thriller, and Strong Light of Day which won the 2016 International Book Award for Best Thriller-Adventure, the 2015 Books and Author Award for Best Mystery Thriller, and the 2016 Beverly Hills Book Award for Best Mystery. Strong Cold Dead became the fourth title in the series in a row to win the International Book Award in 2017 and about which Booklist said, “Thrillers don’t get any better than this,” in a starred review. It was followed by Strong to the Bone, winner of the 2017 American Book Fest Best Book Award for Mystery Suspense and the 2018 International Book Award for best Mystery as well as Thriller. It was followed by Strong as Steel (April ’19) about which Suspense Magazine proclaimed, “Get ready to sink your teeth into what just might be the best novel of 2019.” The book went on to win the 2019 International Book Award for Best Thriller/Adventure.
Most recently, Jon has taken over the MURDER, SHE WROTE book series based on the hit CBS television show starring Angela Lansbury. His fourth effort writing as “Jessica Fletcher,” A Time for Murder, will be published in November of 2019 and about which Suspense Magazine proclaimed, “In a word, this book is a ‘Masterpiece.’ Land captured the essence of a Murder, She Wrote TV episode, and placed it into a book format that fans want, offering much more in regards to Jessica’s own life. We call Land a thriller writer but with A Time for Murder he has put his name on the short list of the top mystery whodunit authors of today.” It will be followed by the Agatha Christie-inspired Murder of Twelve in May of 2020. Within the past year, he also took over writing duties of Margaret Truman’s New York Times bestselling series Capital Crimes.
Additionally, Jon has teamed with multiple New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham on a new bestselling sci-fi series, the first of which, The Rising, was published by Forge in January of 2017. It will be followed by Blood Moon in early 2020 which continues the story of two intrepid teenagers who are all that stands between the world and total annihilation. The Associated Press called The Rising, “An exciting and wonderful character-driven first book in an imaginative series. Elements of romance, young adult angst, old-style science fiction and action propel this story to unexpected places.”
Jon’s award-wining nonfiction titles include Betrayal (2011), winner of the 2011 International Book Award in True Crime and Takedown (2016) which won both 2016’s USA Best Books Award and the International Book Award in True Crime. His latest nonfiction titles include No Surrender (July 2017) and 1st and Forever (August 2018), both of which won the American Book Fest Award in their respective nonfiction categories, along with Chasing the Dragon (February 2019) and Guardian (May 2019)
He also wrote the film Dirty Deeds, a teen comedy that follows the exploits of a high school senior attempting to complete ten impossible dares in a single night. The film (starring Milo Ventimiglia, Zoe Saldana, and Charles Durning) opened in eight cities in October of 2005, followed by a DVD release in January of 2006. Since then it has been downloaded over 50 million times via various streaming services.
He is a 1979 graduate of Brown University, lives in Providence, Rhode Island and can be reached at jonlandbooks.com or on Twitter @jondland.
