ARC REVIEW The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden

 Ben Walker #2, Walker is back for another adventure. I think this can be read as a standalone since they are two separate stories but for the two returning characters a bit of character development happened in the first book; you can always go back and read the first book if you feel the need to after reading this one. I enjoy Golden's writing, for me this one was quite a bit more enjoyable to read than the first, topic-wise I have always been more interested in Pandora's Box than the arc, viruses and creepy ass ghost are more my thing.

Archaeologist Sophie Durand was leading a dig site of an underground city in the Northern Iraqi/Kurdistan area when she discovers what she thinks is Pandora's Box. Kim Seong gets called in by the UN to oversee and decide who gets custody of the item. To help her out she asks specifically for Ben Walker. Walker is use to handling stuff for the government making sure old artifacts and such end up in the right hands. But what happens no one expects. The local jihadi view this discovery as a threat to their history and religion and lead an attack at the dig site. Top side the American and Kurdish soldier are fighting to keep the jihadi from making it down into the underground city and destroying everything; while down below the scientist, researchers, and laborers are facing a horrible virus and pretty soon they are trapped there with no way out.

Overall, great read. I did tear up at one point toward the end it was one of those moments where you want to throw the book across the room, curse the author and then go right back to reading it because you have to find out what happens next. This book was creepy, morbid, and a little grotesque a few times and I loved it. I loved the characters, as large of a cast that he had it was easy to follow, each time the narrative changed perspectives he named the person it switched to within the first sentence. There were some unanswered questions at the end, so I am hoping another book comes soon and answers them, well not too soon you can tell Golden does research his stuff first and that takes time but it so worth it.     

ARC REVIEW Ararat by Christopher Golden

Ararat is a horror, mystery, monster-ish book. It's not what I thought it would be, but that is not a bad thing. It was well written and even though I really didn't like the overall plot it was written engaging enough to keep me wanting to read it and finding out what happens. It wasn't bad just not my usual cup of tea. Don't get me wrong I love creepy, scary, paranormal, and horror stories but demonic possession stories don't really do it for me. I was expecting something a little more monstrous and abominable, so yes I was disappointed there. I did like the creep factor Christopher Golden inserted into the whole Noah's Ark story, that was a good twist. I halfway expected all the characters introduced in the first chapters to die at the end of the those chapters.

Earthquake in Turkey reveals a cave opening with a giant ship inside it. Locals and scholars believe it to be Noah's Ark. Advanced teams are sent up the mountain Ararat to discover the truth.

Adam, Meryam, Feyiz, and Hakan made a deal with the Turkish government that who ever made it to the cave first would have the rights to the cave. Adam and Meryam are adventurist and authors, they record all their adventures and put them out on the internet and finding Noah's Ark, if it is indeed The Ark, would be the big break they needed. Feyiz and Hakan are sherpas they know the mountain better than anyone else. In a race against time these four start ascending the mountain hopefully to get their before the other team. Three weeks later specialist Dr. Ben Walker, Dr. Kim Seong, and Father Cornelius Hughes are called up the mountain for their expert opinion, but on what they don't know yet. Once they get there it's immediate, a dark feeling surrounds them. Something isn't right with the cave or the ruins of the ship. Once they see what Adam and Meryam found in the ruins of the ark strange things start to happen. The sarcophagus with a demonic looking corpse makes everyone uncomfortable. Rumors are running rampant and the workers are getting scared of the creature but a blizzard she them trapped inside the cave until the next morning at least. But people start disappearing and people keep behaving out of the norm. Can the crew make it past nightfall or will they be forced to leave the cave and face the blizzard instead of the thing inside it.

Overall, like I said not normally my kind of read but was written in a way I needed to find out what happened.      

ARC REVIEW The Jekyll Revelation by Robert Masello

I've always loved the story of Jekyll and Hyde and this was a fantastic interpretation of the story. Interweaving Hyde, Jack the Ripper, and the real life of Robert Lewis Stevenson. The back and forth jumping from modern times to Victorian times, from the third person POV of environmental scientist, Rafael Salazar, to the first person journal of Stevenson, it was an outstanding concept and as annoying as it got sometimes with the mini cliffhangers at the end of the chapters it was a really good read. As slow as it was at times it made up for it by the intense situations the characters got into, a good almost horror suspense.

It all start with a foreboding open chapter from the journal of Stevenson telling that something followed him from London, something he thought he left far behind. The next chapter jumps to modern day California Topanga county and Rafael tracking the coyotes the has been researching and documenting. It also introduces the trouble makers that make Rafael's life hell and the woman he can't stop thinking about. The Stevenson journal entries follow him from the time he visits a doctor in the mountains of the Alps to try and cure or control his tuberculosis. The treatments are unconventional and Stevenson ends up suffering from some unusual side effects. Rafael's side of the story just spans a few weeks it follows him from the discovery of an old trunk full of a noxious smell, a set of gentleman's Victorian suit, a flask, and an old journal. As Rafael reads the journal he finds out the startling truth behind Jack the Ripper and the real story of Mr. Hyde. And with every other chapter the reader also slowly discovers the truth.

Overall, this was a great read and if you can stand the slow progression of the story and the back and forth POV it really pays off in the end.