The Pandora Room

A Novel

By: Christopher Golden

Narrated by: Amber Benson

The Pandora Room is New York Times best-selling author Christopher Golden’s chilling exploration of what happens when the original Pandora's box is discovered in an ancient subterranean city, stirring international conflict and exposing the archaeological team to curses, whispers, and the terror of a legendary plague.

In one ancient variation on the myth of Pandora’s box, there were two jars, one for Pandora and one for her sister, Anesidora. One contained all the blessings of the gods; the other all the world’s curses. Now, in a subterranean city in Northern Iraq, archaeologist Sophie Durand has discovered a secret chamber covered in writing that confirms that version of the tale - a chamber that contains a single jar.

“Weird shit” expert Ben Walker joins Sophie’s team just as the mystery deepens and grows ugly. Those who believe the myth want to know which jar has been found in the Pandora Room, 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 jar contains, they want it, no matter who they have to kill...or what will emerge when they open it. For Sophie, Walker, and the others, the Pandora Room may soon become their tomb.

©2019 Christopher Golden (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Here is a master storyteller at his finest. Brilliantly told, arcanely crafted, with an ending that chills the marrow of your bones.” (James Rollins, New York Times best-selling author of The Demon Crown)

"The Pandora Room is a marvelous collision of adrenaline-fueled plotting and graceful writing.... This hybrid of high adventure, supernatural thrills, and all-too-plausible chills is a wonderful, wild ride.” (Michael Koryta, New York Times best-selling author of How It Happened and If She Wakes)

Captivating and intense

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve come to appreciate the Walker trilogy Golden has written so far. I hoped to get more background on how the title room got sealed off from the rest of the world but it was still a good book regardless. I highly recommend.

What an awesome ride!

Great story! Characters you can connect with. A touch of history with a bit of mythology and spectral terror.

Too similar to the first book

I don't understand why there are references to unnatural creatures in his past but he doesn't believe in the supernatural. The attack and the military characters needed to be proofed by a military expert. Much of what happened didn't make sense from a tactical point of view. The trek through the cavern dragged badly. Just like the characters, I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep my eyes open.

The Accents Kill It (Not in a Good Way)

The story itself is great - but the narrator’s horrible accents and pronunciation is absolutely atrocious. Completely took me out of the story more than once.

wonderful

I really love the Ben Walker books! they have delicious twists and turns and are so well written!!

A good read

I enjoyed this book and author. if you've not read Ararat do yourself a favor and get that book by this author!

There are some editing glitches.

There are some editing glitches. This was my first book with this particular narrator and I did not like her performance and intonation . And finally who was the mole of the New Caliphate?

Not good... but not bad... just serviceable

The second book in the Ben Walker series was only a let down when compared to the first book Ararat. The pacing was really fast but this hurt the book, there was too much action and not enough suspense.

I compare this second book to a thriller/horror franchise taking a hard left turn into the action genre. It’s worth a read/listen only if you want to complete the series. This is a skip otherwise go straight to the third.

Story was alright

I was very excited to listen to this book.

Right away I started to regret not simply reading it myself.

The narrators accents and mouth noises were so distracting that I skipped some parts.

I enjoyed the first one so much but this was so similar it was a let down.

Christopher Golden does it again!

I read Ararat and loved it. I listened the Pandora Room because Ben Walker was returning from the previous story. I really enjoyed this story as well. I will definitely find more books from this author.