We first met Ben Walker in Christopher Golden's wildly successful novel, Arafat, and there's even word of a third story, Red Hands, coming in 2020. As if this is not exciting enough, word on the street is the series has been optioned for television with Chris writing the pilot and serving as Executive Producer.
Meet Sophie Durand, the archeologist in charge of a dig called The Beneath Project. The intrigue is evident from the very first page as Sophie suspects she's being followed on a market street in Amadiya.
Golden is a master of observation and he uses that skill in his descriptive writing style.
Assyrians had settled the area of the dig some 5,000 years ago. Now the Muslim Kurds, Christians, Jews all lay various claims to the territory.
It's not long before the story goes from intrigue to heart-pounding action...
"...Sophie wondered how it had come to this, they were archeologists, researchers, teachers, Martin was still a graduate student, but here they were on a stretch of road in the middle of nowhere with men chasing them—men full of menace and malice and the presumption they could do anything to anyone and get away with it."
The Beneath Project has broken through to a room with ancient writings and a single jar placed on an altar. After deciphering the text, it is believed this jar may be the legendary Pandora's Box of Greek mythology. The writing actually speaks of two boxes, one filled with goodness, the other evil. No one knows which jar is in The Pandora Room.
It's not long before Ben Walker arrives on the scene. Be works for DARPA - The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Their job is to "look into emerging science and unexplained phenomena and make absolutely certain that if it was possible someone could make a weapon out of it the United States would be the first to do so."
The Pandora Box is one of those books you can't say a lot about without giving away its secrets and they are best discovered by the reader. The most a reviewer can do is praise the work and lay accolades upon the author.
"Evil exists...Whatever's here with us, I feel it. I can practically taste it, whatever it is."
The words flow like a country stream. Every bit as exciting as Dan Brown at his best. Make no mistake about it, The Pandora Box is as much a horror story as it is a thriller. A very satisfying read.
100% recommended.
Published by St. Martin's Press, The Pandora Room is available in hardcover, paperback, e-book and audio formats.
From the author's bio - Christopher Golden is the New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Ararat, Tin Men, Wildwood Road, and many others. Golden co-created (with Mike Mignola) two cult favorite comic book series, Baltimore and Joe Golem: Occult Detective. He is also the co-host of the podcasts Three Guys with Beards and Defenders Dialogue, and the founder of the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family.
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