Book Review: Pandora's Daughter

By Sandy Amazeen Nov 14, 2007, 2:17 GMT

Megan Blair heard voices crying out in pain from early memory, an ability her mother Sarah tried to suppress or ignore right up until a fanatic murdered her. Immediately afterwards, beachside companion Neal Grady located Megan huddling in a cave, overwhelmed by the deluge of voices tearing her sanity apart and aided her by suppressing those voices. Twelve years later Megan was making a name and a life for herself as an ER doctor in Atlanta, Georgia, living a quiet life with her uncle Phillip. Megan’s life is turned upside down when a truck ran her off the road one night on her way home from work setting off a chain reaction that revealed nothing is what it appeared. Neal reintroduces himself with some hard truths about Sarah and Megan’s psychic abilities, Molino the seriously deranged man hunting them and the Ledger both men are pursuing. Megan holds the key to locating the Ledger but only if Neal can keep her alive long enough to do so. Molino views anyone gifted with psychic ability as a freak to be tortured for amusement before meeting a slow death and the Ledger is thought to contain names and addresses of an entire freak network. Molino will do whatever it takes to procure the Ledger including kidnapping those near and dear to Megan. He has a particular interest in pursuing and destroying Megan that has nothing to do with the Ledger. Neal and his cohorts will need to use every advantage if they are to protect the Ledger and Megan as she develops, kicking and screaming into a full-fledged Pandora.

Johansen’s latest novel is a nicely developed thriller that combines strong antagonists, likeable protagonists and just the right amount of sexual tension for a dynamite read. The psychic element is deftly handled so it adds a nice layer without being overplayed while the plot twists keep the action brisk and leaves readers looking for more from this prolific author.