“A wonderful, wild ride.” –Michael Koryta, New York Times Bestselling author of How It Happened and If She Wakes From the New York Times bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-winning author comes the sensational new novel that turns ancient lore into a modern-day horror. In one variation on the myth of Pandora’s Box, there were two jars, one for Pandora and one for her sister. One contained … Pandora and one for her sister. One contained blessings of the gods, the other all the world’s curses…
Archaeologist Sophie Durand has spent her life studying ancient mythology and languages. Years of work have led her to the greatest discovery of her career, a subterranean city deep in the heart of Northern Iraq. When Sophie’s team uncovers a secret chamber whose walls are covered in cuneiform, along with a warning from Alexander the Great, history and mythology begin to merge. The writings confirm the Pandora tale of two jars, but the chamber guards only one. It’s a find that could make history, or start a war.
Weird-science expert Ben Walker is called in as the mystery grows ugly. Those who believe the myth want to know which jar was found, the one containing blessings or the one full of curses. Governments rush to lay claim, but jihadi forces aren’t waiting for the dust to settle. Whatever the jars contain, they want it, no matter the cost. For Sophie, Walker, and the others, the Pandora Room may soon become their tomb.
In a novel that breathes new life into the supernatural thriller, Christopher Golden’s pulse-pounding tale is not to be missed.
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Award-winner Christopher Golden’s latest razor-edged thriller The Pandora Room is sure to garner a slew of new trophies. The opening grabbed me by the throat and continued to strangle ever tighter as tensions climbed page by page to the explosive conclusion. Here is a master storyteller at his finest. Brilliantly told, arcanely crafted, with an ending that chills the marrow of your bones.
4.5
Book source ~ NetGalley
Ben Walker, employee of The National Science Foundation (lol, not really – he actually secretly works for DARPA) and survivor of the Mount Ararat incident (among others that are secret) is called in when weird shit is found at an archaeological dig in Northern Iraq. Because that’s what DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) does – investigates natural and unnatural phenomena in case it could be dangerous and used against the US and obtain it if at all possible. In Mosul he meets up with Kim Seong who works as an advisor and observer for the United Nations. She and Walker had survived the horror of Ararat and if they’re both at this dig, then the weird shitometer is likely about to bury the needle. Will Lady Luck shine on them again?
I thought my heebie jeebies had all been heebie jeebied out when I finished Ararat. Wrong! Sweet Mother of Pearl! Walker and Kim step into yet again. Archaeologist Sophie Durand has been at her dig, The Beneath Project, for months when a small room is discovered off a worship chamber inside the underground city. And off of that hidden room is another hidden room. One that should never have been found by anyone. Ever. Because man, oh man. It’s bad. Ever hear of Pandora’s Box? Yeah, that box. Only, it’s actually a jar. I mean, if it really is Pandora’s Box/Jar. Because, is it? Oh! But guess what? There’s more! When the dig is attacked by jihadists, Ben, Kim, and dig workers have to deal with bullets topside and the jar in the city underneath. You’ll have to decide which option is the worst. Because EEEEEEEEE!
Keep hands and feet inside the car at all times and stay strapped in until the very end because this is one wild ride! Near non-stop action, heart palpitating danger, mysterious happenings, horrifying deaths, and danger to the extreme had me gritting my teeth and leaning anxiously forward in my seat on more than one occasion. Great setting, wonderful characters (I worried so much as to who would survive), history, action, danger, and horror. It doesn’t get much better than this folks.
I’m really enjoying the character Ben Walker in this story and the previous novel I read from Mr. Golden! He gives us an action packed adventure that revolves around the legend of Pandora’s Box.
An isolated location, excavations, and a discovery that could be devastating in the wrong hands. We have people underground with a contagion loose, jihadis above attacking. But an evil also lurks below with the group of workers and scientists! I liked that the author mentions the thawing of the permafrost which is happening now, in our lifetime, which will release great amounts of carbon into the atmosphere!
This review originally appeared at High Fever Books: https://www.highfeverbooks.com/reviews/the-pandora-room-by-christopher-golden
The Pandora Room, Christopher Golden’s follow-up to his Bram Stoker Award-winning novel Ararat, sees Ben Walker returning for more supernatural archeological shenanigans and cave-based craziness.
In the book’s opening moments, Sophie Durand discovers she and her team are being followed during a trip into town for supplies. It’s a small leap in logic to realize that whoever is watching her must want whatever is buried in the subterranean city recently uncovered in Northern Iraq. Not until they discover a hidden chamber does Sophie realize what mysterious find is so prized. Her dig site isn’t home to just the remains of an ancient city, but to an ancient artifact straight out of myth — Pandora’s Box. Or, more accurately, Pandora’s jar. Enter “weird shit” expert Ben Walker, his UN counterpart and lover Seong Kim, and a violent ISIS raid to seize the jar and its ancient deadly contents.
I recall Ararat being a bit of a slow-burn with Golden ratcheting up the tension by increments and lulling us into that book’s horror element by degrees, until everything finally boils over into all-out insanity. The Pandora Room, however, wastes little time dropping us into the thick of things. Golden brings in the tension right from the start as Sophie is followed by a pair of mustached men, leading to a car chase through the desert and an encounter with Allied military forces protecting her archaeological dig site. Although, as with Ararat, Golden reins in the horror elements for a good long while, but there’s certainly no shortage of action. Once the supernatural aspects come into play and it’s (mostly kinda sorta) clear that Sophie, Walker, and company are not alone in this underground city, The Pandora Room becomes a frenetic sequence of chases, gunplay, double crosses, and all sorts of other associated mayhem.
The Pandora Room is a worthy sequel to Ararat, but like most sequels and series it fairly closely adheres to the original’s formula for success. It’s kind of like Die Hard 2 in terms of sequels. To borrow from John McClane, there’s another cave, another ancient evil…how can the same shit happen to the same guy twice? It’s forgivable, of course, simply because of how enjoyable it is, but it does tread heavily on familiar ground already covered in the prior book. Golden injects just enough freshness to keep the formula alive, gives us an extreme landscape to set it all in that’s the polar opposite of Ararat’s freezing, high-altitude mountain cave, and seriously ups the ante in terms of threat levels and deadly serious dangers from both inside the subterranean city and the jihadist-filled desert above. The Pandora Room feels familiar, but there’s enough unknowns lurking about the edges to make the endeavor welcome. There’s also some neat teases into Walker’s past unseen adventures that I would love to see fleshed out at some point, particularly his time in Guatemala, and a brief detour to the Arctic that has plenty of story potential and horrific implications to fill a future novel (book 3, perhaps, Mr. Golden? Please?)
Books like Ararat and The Pandora Room hit a particular sweet spot for me, and Golden has a done a wonderful job of following in the footsteps of authors like James Rollins. Turning to the ancient world and historical myths made real is an endlessly fascinating realm to mine for present-day fiction, and the implications of what ancient evils could be mishandled in the present provides all sorts of harrowing horror. While Rollins trends more toward the high-tech aspects of ancient history/modern military thrillers, Golden puts in a sweet spin all his own by taking similar conceits and running them through the filter of horror and supernatural terrors, and with plenty of run-and-gun vim and verve. Basically, if you dig Rollins’s Sigma Force books or are maybe looking for something a little fresher than that long-running series, the two (thus far) Ben Walker books are a natural pick up. The Pandora Room is meaty, scary, and has enough potential what if? terrors to keep you up late into the night worrying about ancient evils and their possible weaponization. It’s not exactly a feel good read, but it sure is damn well riveting.
The Pandora Room is a marvelous collision of adrenaline-fueled plotting and graceful writing. Christopher Golden knows how to tell a story, and he knows how to work the reader’s emotions. This hybrid of high adventure, supernatural thrills, and all-too-plausible chills is a wonderful, wild ride.
I was completely swept away by this book. Christopher Golden takes us deep underground in an edge of your seat thriller steeped in mythology, international turmoil, and terror. Want to catch a glimpse of what true evil looks like? Brace yourself and enter The Pandora Room.
A haunting look at what happens when a legendary myth crashes into our stark reality, Christopher Golden’s The Pandora Room has it all ― a chilling premise, taut pacing and a compelling protagonist in the complex and heroic Sophie Durand. A globe-trotting supernatural thriller that also feels deeply personal at the same time, Golden’s sharp and powerful prose will keep readers glued to this book. You’re in for a wild ride.
Not exactly a new idea but well written and a couple of nice twists
My first Christopher Golden but not my last.
The follow-up book to Ararat finds Ben Walker on another adventure to a remote place in the world. An archeological team is investigating a subterranean city when they find a secret chamber that hints to the myth of Pandora and her box being a reality. This room contains a jar. Could it be the jar given to Pandora or the jar given to Pandora’s sister. One jar has all the evils in the world while the other jar has all the world’s blessings. Strange things and visions begin to appear to the team members. Ben has survived a lot, but will be survive this time? I enjoyed this book, but felt Ararat was better.
Another killer thriller featuring DARPA agent Ben Walker working under the cover of the National Science Foundation
A team of archaeologists, scientists, professors and military have been working in Kurdistan on the Beneath Project – an underground city with plenty of historical ramifications. As the project is winding down, with a good portion of the crew having already left, a hidden portion of the city is found and a priceless artifact is discovered.
It could be one of two items – one extremely beneficial and the other beyond evil. And they don’t know which one they’ve discovered.
I enjoyed author Golden’s pacing in this thriller. It goes from zero to 60 in the blink of an eye.
I was glad to have Ben Walker and Kim Seong back in this second book that follows after ARARAT. It’s a good pairing.
There’s lots of action, bloody, horrific action at that, and Walker is faced with making some life-changing decisions, not only for himself but for mankind.
This was another fun offering from Golden. Hopefully there will be more in the series.
I received this book from St. Martin’s Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
Christopher Golden knows how to thrill. The Pandora Room is such a spooky adventure. Political intrigue and mythic threats mingle to make a story that plays with your sense of reality. On top of that, it’s also just a lot of fun!