Publisher's Weekly Review
Reilly doesn't stint on the crazy in his fifth thriller featuring Capt. Jack West Jr. (after 2017's The Four Legendary Kingdoms). West, representing Orlando, the King of Land, has just prevailed in the Great Games held in the Underworld, becoming only the fourth such champion, joining Osiris, Gilgamesh, and Hercules. But West did not get the prize for which he contended, "the Mysteries that would see the Earth safely through the coming crisis," because an assassination attempt on Lord Hades and a revolt by a Minotaur army disrupted the proceedings. West is then targeted for death by the Knights of the Golden Eight, who have also been charged with capturing his daughter, Lily, and her friend Alby Calvin, setting up a wild ride as the trio try to remain safe. Reilly doesn't make it easy to take his conceit of hidden realities and the manipulation of human history by powerful supernatural beings seriously. West's allies have names like Sky Monster, Stretch, and Pooh Bear, and Hades intervenes with New York City planners to make sure that a new luxury highrise doesn't impede the view from his own apartment. This one's strictly for series fans. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Fans of Reilly's brand of larger-than-life thrillers will no doubt remember that in The Four Legendary Kingdoms (2017), Jack West, Jr., who had already saved the world from chaos a handful of times, was forced to compete in the ancient Hydra Games. At stake was nothing less than the future of humanity. This new novel picks up shortly after that one. Jack is targeted for assassination by the villainous Golden Eight; all Jack needs to do to save his own life is survive a series of life-threatening tests, locate the assumed-to-be-mythological Three Secret Cities, and, oh yes, prevent the universe from collapsing. It's all balderdash, of course, but it's lovingly crafted balderdash, perfectly paced and completely convincing (for balderdash, that is). Perfect fare for fans of James Rollins' Sigma Force series, although it should be noted that Reilly's novels are (intentionally) less grounded in reality than Robbins'. A breathless adventure, well told.--David Pitt Copyright 2018 Booklist