Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf: Book Review: Pandora's Temple by Jon Land with TWO Giveaways

This is a wild ride in search of dark trouble.

Pandora's Temple

by Jon Land

File Size: 841 KB
Print Length: 412 pages
Publisher: Open Road E-riginal (November 20, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00961J7Z8

Genre: Thriller

My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: November 20, 2012

What if Pandora’s Box were real? Blaine McCracken finds himself facing this very question—and the greatest threat to mankind—in his long-awaited return to the page

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.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Jon Land including rare images from the author’s personal collection.

Review:
Blaine McCracken was believed by some to be dead. Others believed the man, nearing 60, was too old for active service. Neither belief is true as McCraken is still the man to manage the “impossible” and a government bureaucrat has called him in to head a dangerous retrieval of student hostages from one of the biggest drug lords in Mexico. The drug lord, surrounded by his army of soldiers, laughs at McCraken’s demand to release the American hostages. He stops laughing when his compound is bombarded and McCraken, with his faithful team, small but tough Sal Belamo, and imposing seven foot, Johnny Wareagle, open fire.

McCraken is then asked to investigate an event in the Gulf that involved the explosion of a deepwater oil rig that one of his war bodies had been working on. The event was rated as a “Level Six” event with “Level Five” being a nuclear attack. The three man team are joined by Captain Seven, their weapons and tech specialist buddy who some might mistake for a left-over 70's, dope smoking, hippy. Captain Seven determines that the event is actually the result of a “dark matter” attack. With legend of power dating back to a Greecian myth, it appears that there are two dangerous men out to obtain control of the source.

One man is a power hungry energy business magnate who wants to control the substance and wipe out all other power resources. He is convinced he can do this even though his team of scientists warn of the destruction that even small experiments have revealed. The other man is the leader of a radical terrorist group seeking world destruction.

McCraken finds himself trying to protect a witness who was on the ocean rig and has already been attacked. He is sure she know more than she is telling. The team take her to a government building that is protected by giant drones and security consisting of SWORDS, or Special Weapons Observation Remote reconnaissance Direct action System robots. At least they thought they were secure until someone else gets control. McCraken and Wareagle have to battle their way out of that fiasco so they can track down the terrorists.

This story reminded me of adventures by Clive Cussler--full of action and suspense but with an extra dose of humor. The tale is chock full of tense moments of danger, volatile excitement, wry humor and fast paced action. I liked the diversity of the “good guys” team with their ‘mature’, eccentric quirks. The book is well written and the action scenes are well done and believable. I loved how the Greek myth was woven behind the action with some surprising touches. I would like to read more of this author and these characters. If you like fast-paced thrillers loaded with action and danger, and capped with humor, you are bound to enjoy the explosive nature of this story!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

McCraken has to wonder if he can still accomplish the impossible:

In that moment the last two years vanished behind the haze of battle McCraken knew so well. Age lost all meaning, time measured in the breaths and moments between explosions, gunshots and screams. Do I still have it? Location 375.

McCraken and Wareagle ponder the Pandora jar:

“Could be the jar was capable of taking care of itself just fine.”
“Maybe the jar found us, Blainey.” Location 5210.

I received this title for an honest review through Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours .

Author Bio:

Jon Land is the critically acclaimed author of 32 books, including the bestselling series featuring Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong that includes STRONG ENOUGH TO DIE, STRONG JUSTICE, STRONG AT THE BREAK, STRONG VENGEANCE (July 2012) and STRONG RAIN FALLING (August 2013). He has more recently brought his long-time series hero Blaine McCracken back to the page in PANDORA’S TEMPLE (November 2012). He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Websites & Links:

www.jonlandbooks.com

Giveaways:
Both giveaways are International.

There are TWO giveaways! First, the Author is doing something special. He is giving away 1 e-book set of all of his McCracken Titles.

ENDS 2/28.

That's a giveaway I wish I could enter!

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SECOND GIVEAWAY

Giveaway of ebook copy of The Omega Command

Mr. Land has generously offered to give those reviewers/bloggers that are posting a review, the opportunity to host a giveaway of his previous novel The Omega Command.
Enter this Rafflecopter Giveaway for an e-book copy of The Omega Command.

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