April 10, 2017
In bestseller Reilly’s silly fourth thriller featuring Jack West Jr. (after 2009’s The Five Greatest Warriors), a runaway galaxy that’s traveling at 10 times the speed of light threatens to destroy Earth. West, after learning that he’s one of those five warriors (along with Jesus, Napoleon, Moses, and Genghis Khan), survives “a terrible showdown against his father in a giant underground shrine beneath Easter Island.” He settles into a quiet life of domesticity on his outback farm in Australia, only to get the bad news about the runaway galaxy and immediately be kidnapped by a representative of one of the four eternal kingdoms that rule the world. West lands in a hellish arena where he’s forced to participate in a brutal battle to death against human and not-quite human adversaries, including minotaurs who are really Neanderthals in bull masks. Diagrams resembling screenshots of video games don’t enhance the text, which is further marred by banal dialogue (“I’ve never found myself in a place calling itself the Underworld, ruled by a guy calling himself Hades, fighting for my life against guys in bull and lion helmets”). Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME.
Starred review from May 1, 2017
Jack West Jr., the hero of such rip-roaring adventures as The 6 Sacred Stones (2008) and The 5 Greatest Warriors (2010), returns, and as a special treat for the author's fans, he's joined in a guest appearance by Shane Scofield, otherwise known as the Scarecrow, the hero of Reilly's other popular action series. The novel begins with Jack waking up in a strange place, being attacked by a strange creature, and barely coming out of the encounter alive. Jack soon learns that he's been abducted by a man who calls himself Hades, the master of ceremonies for the Great Games of Hydra. Jack is to compete against a dozen others in the games. At stake: not just Jack's own life but also the lives of his family and the fate of the world itself (something to do with a runaway galaxy). To readers unfamiliar with Reilly's brand of action-adventure, this all probably sounds seriously outrageous. And it is, but in Reilly's skillful hands, it's also strangely believable, thanks to the incredibly fast pacing and the characters' own complete acceptance of their situations. If they believe it, and if the story moves quickly enough, we don't have the time or inclination to notice how wildly implausible it all is. We just buckle in and enjoy the ride. Another spectacularly fun romp by the reigning master of high-concept adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)