Customer Reviews

Pandora's Curse

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Mining engineer/millionaire/secret agent/explorer/and general do gooder Philip Mercer is at it again. He's been sponsored for membership in the prestigious Surveyor's Society, a collection of explorers, wanna be explorers, and wealthy philanthropists who have nothing better to do than spend their money on explorations. Mercer's membership, a life long ambition, is contingent upon his joining an expedition to uncover Camp Decade, an abandoned U.S. army base on Greenland, presently buried under 30 feet of ice.

News of the expedition reaches the executive offices of Kohl Industries, a huge German industrial conglomerate. Kohl led by top executive Klaus Raeder and second in command and Neo-Nazi Gunther Rath, had profited greatly while serving the Nazi cause during WW2. They are presently negotiating reparations to Jewish organizations to keep themselves in good stead. European Nazi hunters simultaneously get wind of the expedition as well. They place German trauma surgeon Annika Klein, a grand daughter of a famous Austrian Nazi hunter in Mercer's group.

It seems that Kohl was instrumental in financing the Greenland based "Pandora Plot". The Surveyor Society expedition threatens to expose the plot, weakening Kohl's position in the world market. Kohl's execs are desperate to destroy the evidence of their involvement. They piggy back onto the Society's expedition with a group from a Kohl subsidiary, Geo-Research to secretly destroy the loose ends.

The Pandora Plot involved the stealing of Jewish gold by the Nazis. The gold was fashioned into shielding receptacles to hold intensely radioactive fragments of the 1908 Tunguska meteorite which exploded in Siberia. A cache of these boxes lay hidden in an underground cavern in Greenland.

While this is happening Pope Leo XIV is organizing what is called the Universal Convocation. Clerics representing all the worlds religions are being brought together on a huge cruise ship which will be sailing in the Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland.

Mercer's mission is abundantly clear...............save the world.

Du Brul fashions a fascinating read in tying together all the fragments of his plot cohesively. He reminds me of Clive Cussler before he got lazy. As Cussler himself says Du Brul is "the finest adventure writer on the scene today". I wholeheartedly agree.

This is the first Jack Du Brul novel I have read and I found it to be very well put together and interesting. It contains a good mix of action with a decent dose of historical background tying it together well. The fact it is set in one of the most unhospitable places on earth, in Greenland adds to the suspense. Philip Mercer the main character of the novel is very likeable and a hero for the new millenium.

I guess that I can understand why some of these elitist reviewers feel the way they do, with their sharp criticisms and barbs. I imagine that no book would ever please them. However, I read Pandora's Curse not to criticize and let everyone know how smart I am, but simply to enjoy an adventure novel, and boy did I enjoy. The only thing I didn't like was Mr. DuBrul's tendency to jump around, but then there are a lot of successful authors who do the same. The end result? I plan on purchasing all of Mr. DuBrul's books ASAP. Highly recommended!!!

Pandora's Curse is the best book yet by Jack Du Brul. A great mix of humor, romance, and the thrilling action that will leave you exhausted. Phillip Mercer battles the elements in Greenland and Iceland to uncover a horrific secret left over from WWII. The fast paced action will leave you gasping for breath with each twist and turn of the story. Move over Dirk Pitt! Phillip Mercer has arrived! Other books by Jack Du Brul include: Vulcan's Forge, Charon's Landing, and Medusa Stone.

A great story, and a great read but please Jack, start checking your details and facts. A submarine weighs exactly the same every time it submerges (archimedes law), having fewer passengers won't make it lighter or faster. I found some of the technical mistakes enormously distracting from a great story, and easily written around. Otherwise, better than Clive Cussler and with some practice may be the next Tom Clancy. Well worth the reading.

HE DID IT AGAIN
I remember picking up Vulcan's Forge in the beginning of 1999. Never heard of this guy Jack DuBrul but the synopsis sounded good to me. So I bought it (Audio Unabridged. I only listen to books). Outstanding book. Went looking for more of his books. What this is the only one he has out. That can't be, the book was too good. But alas Charon's Landing is do out in April. After a big sigh of relief I ordered it from Brilliance audio books. The next April (2000) what do I see but Medusa Stone at my local bookstore. I thought I died and gone to Heaven. Went to Talking Book World and Bought Medusa Stone. This is just to cool here is a young Author that only has three books and they get better and better. I wondered what his next book would be. I know it would be good but could it top the rest. On Sept 5th I see Jack Dubrul's name on this book with a blow away cover had to order it over the Internet because Talking Book World did not have it yet and I could not wait. Pandora's Curse took me to a place that I had prayed never to be stationed at when I spent 20 years in the Air Force. Greenland. Jack's Pandora's Curse showed me parts of Greenland that I never thought could exist. The plot takes so many twist and turns that you feel like you have been on the worlds biggest Roller coaster ride at one of the coldest places on this Planet. I recommend this book to anyone that likes excitement and adventure.

Also recommended: anything by Jack Dubrul, Clive Cussler, Patrick Robinson and James W Houston

Phillip Mercer is back and as good as ever. This book combines Nazi and Nazi hunters, religous fanatics and some very interesting premises. This book is a page turner and the type of book that Cussler, Clancy and Ludlum were famous for.
I could not put it down and lost a lot of sleep by doing a little reading before I went to bed, the one more chapter kept going on chapter after chapter.
If you want a good story that has an intersting premise and in the page turner style of the authors above, read this book.

I got only part of the way through this book, and had to put it down...it was so boring! He develops his main character, and his plot, with a bit too much scientific interest, to the point where the story goes nowhere. You get the feeling he only wrote this book to fulfill a contract, or to show off is geological knowledge, and to keep himself busy, that he only threw in the characters, and the story to show off his smarts...not to write an exciting story for the reader's. He obviously tries to copy Cussler's writing style, and story telling abilities, but falls far shy of the mark, as Cussler runs Numa, and has experienced many diving adventures of his own, and writes Pitt, and Austin in as James Bondian clones of himself.
DuBrull is a talented author, but doesn't show it in this book. Read instead his "Vulcan's Forge" and "Medusa Stone", which are much better books.

The newest installment in the adventures of Mercer-mining engineer with no equal- is a wild ride through the frozen tundra and the frigid waters around Greenland. From start to finish this book does not stop! It's like 472 pages on a careening roller coaster. If your an action addict this book is definitely for you. Mercer no sooner gets out of one deadly jam than finds himself thrust into another. I couldn't put this book down and I highly recommend it along with the rest of the Philip Mercer adventures by Jack Du Brul.

Jack DuBrul is by far the best adventure writer on the scene today. Pandora's Curse is his best book yet. Clive Cussler pales in comparison to Jack DuBrul. Buy this book now, but read his 3 previous books first. You won't be disappointed.