The Gates of Hell

Matt Drake, Book 3

By: David Leadbeater

Narrated by: Nigel Patterson

Matt Drake, broken by the murder of his loved ones, betrayal, and the threat to his friends, sets out to cancel the blood vendetta imposed by the underworld linchpin, the Blood King. Revenge, terrible and personal, drives Drake in his quest to stop the man who has become his nemesis.

The mercenary Boudreau, now in the hands of his enemies, sits stone-faced and unflinching as Hayden Jaye desperately tries to extract the information she needs to save the lives of hundreds. After several failed attempts, she becomes painfully aware that it's going to take extreme measures to make him talk. Meanwhile, the Blood King finally sets into motion his long-term plan to enter the Gates of Hell and finish something his idol, Captain Cook, could never do: discover the shocking secrets hidden within while launching multiple terrorist attacks and an all-out war against the islands of Hawaii. With nothing more than an ancient map left behind by Captain Cook, Drake and his team must follow the Blood King through a deadly maze in the heart of a volcano. He risks everything to track down the most dangerous man of modern times and help unravel the mysteries surrounding the bones of Odin.

©2012 David Leadbeater (P)2017 Tantor

I have so many things to say about this book...

With a title like "The Gates of Hell," a fairly high bar is set. It's hard for a book to deliver on expectations once the book starts with a phrase like. Still, Leadbeater pulls it off. Another compelling thrill ride that not only continues to deliver on character development but builds on the plot arc spun up in the first two books.

This said, there were some gaps that, if they were addressed, I missed them. The tomb known as the Gates of Hell resides at a location that requires more explanation as to why no one has ever stumbled upon it in the time since the famous pirate Cook did back in his time. It's hard to explain more without treading in the realm of spoilers so I have to leave it there.

The first book touched on the McGuffin of a time travel device reminiscent of the Philadelphia Experiment. When this happens, one has expectations of having said device play a pivotal role in the story. The old adage of storytelling where if the author hangs a gun over the mantel at the beginning of the tale, that damn thing better go off by the end. The pivotal devices in question never actually become functional in any way in books 1 or 2. Worse yet, one of the devices drives the plot forward in this book, only to have the antagonist discard it before heading to the final objective. It's unclear why he needed it to find the Gates of Hell, or why he spent book 1 and 2 killing so many people to get his hands on it.

These glitches fail to diminish from the overall impact of the book for anyone interested in a compelling character-driven adventure/thriller. Thus I still rate the book at 4 stars.

Great action

Good narrator and cast of characters to make the story come alive and continue the series

Same o same o....

Struggled to finish. What was the point of Chasing the Blood King if not to kill him.?