Please note – The Four Legendary Kingdoms is part of an ongoing series of books and it is entirely likely that if you haven’t read the first three books in this series that this review may contain a spoiler or two. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
A RUTHLESS KIDNAPPING
Jack West Jr and his family are living happily on their remote farm… when Jack is brutally kidnapped and he awakes in an underground cell to find a masked attacker with a knife charging at him.
THE GREAT GAMES
Jack, it seems, has been chosen – along with a dozen other elite soldiers – to compete in a series of deadly challenges designed to fulfill an ancient ritual.
With the fate of the Earth at stake, he will have to traverse diabolical mazes, fight cruel assassins and face unimaginable horrors that will test him like he has never been tested before.
TO HELL AND BACK
In the process, he will discover the mysterious and powerful group of individuals behind it all: The Four Legendary Kingdoms.
He might also discover that he is not the only hero in this place…
If you haven’t ever read a Matthew Reilly novel before, then I would advise you stop reading this review at the end of this paragraph. The Four Legendary Kingdoms is not the book for you, at least… not yet. Go and check out the three previous Jack West Jr novels – Seven Ancient Wonders, The Six Sacred Stones and The Five Greatest Warriors*.
If you have got this far then I can take it that you’re are a fan of Matthew Reilly. Now, I was going to write a long waffling review of The Four Legendary Kingdoms, and dazzle you about how great it is, but I realised about halfway through reading that there is no need. We’ve reached book four in the Jack West Jr series, you already know things are going to be insane (in a good way). I can essentially sum everything up you need to know about this book with a single statement.
If the names Scarecrow and Mother mean anything to you and you relish the idea of them appearing in the same story as Jack West Jr then you really NEED to read this book.
The plot is completely bonkers. There are a plethora of globe spanning conspiracies, and secret societies up to no good. It is exactly what I’ve come to expect from the author. I absolutely love it. If I’m looking for a book that I know is going to raise my spirits, then Matthew Reilly is always a good bet. There are few authors who come close, no one writes high octane thrillers like him. He is the king of action novels. Seriously, once things get going, the mayhem doesn’t let up for four hundred pages. It can only be a matter of time before Hollywood cotton on to the fact and we’ll see his work on screen, I’m sure of it.
The Four Legendary Kingdoms is published by Orion and is available now. Highly recommended.
* It would be well worth your while reading the rest of Matthew Reilly’s back catalogue as well while you’re at it. Trust me.
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