Alex Hunter, his team, and a couple of Israelis (one an astrophysicist, the other a Mossad agent) head to Iran to investigate what was either a nuclear accident or an artificially-created black hole. Naturally, Beck throws in a beastie-of-the-week, this time an extraterrestrial monstrosity--with a more than passing resemblance to a creature from Islamic folklore--with a voracious appetite and surly attitude. Oh yeah, and the President of Iran is a nutjob who dreams of the apocalypse.Second in the series featuring Alex Hunter, it starts a bit more slowly than Beck's first, but it picks up pretty quickly. This book is quite similar to the first book in this series. Sure, the story is different but otherwise the similarities are plentiful. A new mission for Alex, a new team of HAWC’s, a strong female character, plenty of action, some monstrous adversaries (both human and not so human). There are even a few caves thrown in as well.Luckily it is not all the same. Although, on the surface, there is some strong resemblance with the first book it is not just a re-run with some minor changes. The core of the plot in this book is not just a random discovery but a man-made event. As you can deduce from the book blurb this book takes a stab at the Iranian Islamists. However Iran and their fanatics are mostly used as a convenient backdrop. The story is pure fiction and the Iranian president and hard-liners are portrayed as even more extreme and lunatic than in real life.The Iranian president does not get to play the bad guy all by himself though. As in the first book a not-so-human adversary is also introduced to spice things up. Actually this nefarious creature is a direct result of the actions of the Iranians but he does not know that and he does not care. For him humans are just a tasty snack.Of course Alex gets plenty of opportunities to use his new powers which are apparently continuing to develop by the way. The book and the character of Alex Hunter is getting fairly close to super-hero level when it comes to how powerful this man has become. I guess some people might find it over the top. Me, I like it…so far. It makes these books a bit different from the gray mass of ordinary marine team thrillers.In short, I find this book to be an enjoyable thriller with both a horror and a science fiction twist to it.
Do You like book Return Of The Prophet (2010)?
Just as good as his first and kept me awake at night - I like his imagination
—marieagathe18
A bit far fetched even for a stupid action packed read.
—ada
Another great thriller of the Preston Child variety.
—Cathode
Good book, fast paced, bit over the top but fun
—rdiaz012
