Pandora's Daughter

by Iris Johansen

The number-one blockbuster bestselling author delivers her most explosive and compelling novel yet, in which a woman must unlock the secrets of her own mind before she loses her life.

She has a gift of unspeakable power...
He must control her or destroy her...

For as long as she can remember, successful young physician Megan Blair has tried to silence the voices in her head——voices that bring her to the edge of madness and terror. Megan possesses psyhic powers that have been dormant for years, hidden deep in the past she's tried so desperately to forget. But now everything has come to a boiling point——someone is trying to kill her, and others are trying to use her, including the deadly and seductive Neal Grady. Shocking secrets about her life and her mother's death bombard her as she fights to take contril of her heritage and save herself and everything she believes in. Grady holds the key to understanding her future, a future in which Megan's life will never be the same. If she survives to have a future ...

A fast-paced thrill ride, Pandora's Daughter is Iris Johansen as you've never read her before.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Romance, Paranormal, Mystery Thriller

374 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2007

About the author

Iris Johansen is a New York Times bestselling author. She began her writing after her children left home for college. She first achieved success in the early 1980s writing category romances. In 1991, Johansen began writing suspense historical romance novels, starting with the publication of The Wind Dancer. In 1996 Johansen switched genres, turning to crime fiction, with which she has had great success.

She lives in Georgia and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.

IRIS JOHANSEN is The New York Times bestselling author of Night and Day, Hide Away, Shadow Play, Your Next Breath, The Perfect Witness, Live to See Tomorrow, Silencing Eve, Hunting Eve, Taking Eve, Sleep No More, What Doesn't Kill You, Bonnie, Quinn, Eve, Chasing The Night, Eight Days to Live, Blood Game, Deadlock, Dark Summer, Pandora's Daughter, Quicksand, Killer Dreams, On The Run, and more. And with her son, Roy Johansen, she has coauthored Night Watch, The Naked Eye, Sight Unseen, Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder.

http://www.irisjohansen.com

Reviews

[Y · Rating 1 out of 5]

What we have here is a mediocre action/romance with supernatural elements added in that could have resulted in at least an entertaining beach read or something if it weren't for the god-awful dialog that plagues the entire thing.

The situations are frankly kind of silly, and it gets boring when both the good guys and the bad guys have contacts in super high places all the time that allows them constant access to planes and helicopters and other junk, but okay, the book's going for an action/adventure feel and things are just easier that way. Still, the baddie is like every cartoon villain out there, sending out all his incompetent goons to try to dispatch of the good guys first while he sits around in his HQ, maybe stroking a pet cat or going "excellent" from time to time. Meanwhile, the goons all fail. Big surprise.

Personally I couldn't stand any of the characters besides maybe Renata and Harley, but that's mainly because I find most of Johansen's characters to be too boring or one-dimensional, and I'm pretty sure I've already seen all these characters in the two books of hers I've read previously. This is actually something that plagues lots of authors I read, where they just end up reusing the exact same character personalities in every single book, but I find it particularly aggravating here because they're character types I don't like.


Finally, going back to the laughably bad dialog, this had me nearly tearing out my hair in the last book of hers I read, so I decided to keep track of how often Johansen abuses certain words.

Dammit: 58 uses
Bastard: 21 uses
Hell: 22 uses
Damn (it/you, as an adjective (damn arm, damn idea, etc): 40 uses
Screw (you/this/etc.): 6 uses

And those are the only ones I noticed, so it's not actually an accurate count; there were definitely MORE than what I noted in the book.


This is just embarrassing, especially if you're supposed to be some well-known, big-name author. What the hell is her editor doing? Picking their ass while reading the book? So, I don't know, I guess because it's too much effort to indicate that Character A is currently ANGRY!, or AGGRAVATED!, or UPSET in any other way, Johansen constantly peppers their speech with "Dammit" or "Damn you" or something similar to show that the characters aren't happy. Who talks like that? Who says "Bastard" all the time? It's not just in the dialog, sometimes to accentuate things, dammit is thrown into the narration. THE NARRATION. Sure, it's supposed to be some character or another's inner thoughts, but it's like, come ON.

Okay, no, look, the evil bad guys are really nasty business, kidnapping children to sell as sex slaves, having the main character's mother gang raped while everyone laughs, slaughtering numerous people along the way...and the strongest word the goodies use to refer to this human piece of shit is "Bastard"? Or even better, "Scumbag". Oh yeah, that was used quite a few times throughout. And this is a book that doesn't mind using the word "Shit" fairly often, either. See, I don't really enjoy reading books with nothing but f-bombs, but if you're going to have the characters swear anyway, use some more interesting language for crying out loud! NOBODY FUCKING TALKS LIKE HOW THEY DO IN JOHANSEN'S NOVELS.

Outside of constant repetition of words spoken by characters, Johansen really likes having characters "stiffen". Or maybe "tense" sometimes. I counted at least ten uses of "so-and-so stiffened" in the book. Are there seriously no other descriptors that could have been used?

It's not just the overuse of certain words that kill any sense of reality or suspense in these things. Megan, the main character, gets on the phone with above child-seller/rapist, and when she learns that he has someone ELSE killed, she asks "What did he ever do to you?"

What did he ever do to you.

Oh, oh, and he kidnaps someone in a coma, and Megan is all "It could kill him! His immune system can't handle it!" to a guy who had her mother GANG-RAPED.

HE DOESN'T FUCKING CARE. WHAT IS WITH ALL THIS INSIPID DIALOG? There's not a single drop of wit or cleverness to be had in any of it. If you don't want wit, at least make the lines more serious sounding. "What did he ever do to you? Dammit."

*headdesk headdesk headdesk headdesk headdesk headdesk headdesk headdesk*

[Aria Nazari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow...I don't even know how to begin to write all of my frustrations with this book. I guess I'll start with my biggest number one problem. The dialogue. Some of the conversations between the characters were so irrelevant to what was actually going on. I had a hard time seeing the characters as convincing people because they were so bland and the dialogue was unbelievable. The bad guy didn't even sound like a bad guy besides the occasional "bitch" and "whore" that was spewed from his mouth, and what kind of name is Molino? I know that sounds petty but come on Molino? Really? Neal Grady... He was the most unoriginal, boring, predictable character I have come across in a while in the book world. His dialogue didn't fit the "seductive" description I had in my imagination. And of course Megan Blair. The main character. She would have been great if the story was about bipolar disorder. She went from acting like a kid, to a middle aged woman, to a horny teenager filled with lust, and of course the "I can't stand you, but I want you to screw my brains out" cliche was instilled.

My second problem with this poor excuse of a novel is the repetition with words. For an author that has wrote so many books I would expect that would be something one would avoid. I don't know how many times I've read the word "Lord" or "Hell" or "Bastard","Damn", or "Dammit" at least every 10 lines if not less. Can I get some new, more creative words please? Most of the time the words were unnecessary and they were way overused.

This book may sound good based on the description, but save yourself from pulling your teeth and your hair out and pick up a different book.

[CLM · Rating 1 out of 5]

I swore I would never read this author again after Storm Winds,the French Revolution book where the revolutionaries drank the blood of the nuns. Here, as if the one dimensional writing weren't bad enough, there are so many inconsistencies and holes in the plot it would take me too long to list them and I can only conclude the author refuses editorial guidance. However, surely the biggest hole in the plot is why an all-important ledger (sought by bad guys, protected by moderately good guys) is not destroyed if those protecting it know that their enemy, Molino, will use it to kill/destroy them. Also, characters that stop to have sex so often while a sadistic monster (who has already killed heroine's mother and foster-uncle while torturing dozens more) is after them surely deserve to be killed...

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book. There could have been a little more to the ending though. Wasn’t reading it as much as I could have been, but now that I finished it, it turned out to be good. I have several of her other books I plan to read.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read anything by this author, and the only reason I picked this one up was because it was a group read. I didn't even read the book description so it was a big surprise to me that it was paranormal!

I wasn't sure what bookshelf to put this one, because it had elements from both romantic suspense and paranormal romance. The basic premise of the story is that there are people in the world who have other abilities that are not "normal". Some are empathic, can read minds, some can hear echos of things that happened etc...

Megan grew up hearing voices, and one night she is with her mom (who told her she might have a mental disorder) and her mom is murdered. A man named Grady did something to her so she could forget. The book fast forwards to the present, Megan is now an adult and a doctor in a hospital. She seems to react more emotionally than the other docs do, and she's not sure why. Then someone tries to kill her, and her past comes back to haunt her with Grady at the forefront. She begins to unravel the secrets of what she is, and what her population of people hide from the world.

The book was very fast paced, by the time I went to put it down the first time I was already half-way through. I liked Grady, he was an interesting mix of bad guy/good guy. Megan was a very strong female lead who I liked from the beginning of the book.

I am interested in reading more books by this author.

[Alicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled to finish this book, as it was predictable, and the characters were poorly executed. Dialogue made me cringe and really, Johansen needs to try a little variety when it comes to swear words or leave em out because seeing "damn" or "dammit" at least once on every page was pathetic.

I've enjoyed Johansen's novels in the past, especially the Eve Duncan ones and have grown attached to Galen, Sarah, and the other supporting characters. Unfortunately, Meghan and Blair were cookie-cutter, and the very unoriginal idea of stubbornness, then sexual attraction to the man/protector, his blatant desire and her eventual giving in...gah. I wanted to cringe. It's like the author couldn't be bothered to come up with a new story, took a previous one, replaced the names, locations and published it.

My mind came up with so many possibilities in directions for the story to turn and still, same ole same ole and I was left annoyed.

In browsing the author's site it looks like Meghan is in the next Eve Duncan book, Quicksand, and hopefully her character is expanded on and given a little bit of life.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm back. OCD has a tight grip on my reading choices. I try to remind myself that I "only" have fifteen IJ books left to read, if that. (It's complicated, and no way in hell am I going to explain everything.)

If you read a lot of my reviews, you know, for the most part, why I hate Johansen's writing, but to sum it up: she uses the same phrases over and over again; her women are all the same; her men are all the same; a lot of the sex is bordering on rape; everyone talks with the exact same dialect, even though her characters are spread out all across the country, and indeed, the planet; she doesn't know how to write children realistically; and every character is ludicrously "gifted" in some way, to the extent that you're left wondering if there are any average people in IJ's world. The more of them I read, the more reasons I find to dislike them.

That's not to say IJ is completely talentless. She is actually quite good at building tension, and occasionally, there will be a line that makes me chuckle. And I can't write off (hee) someone who's written multiple bestsellers. She seems to genuinely enjoy writing.

That said, I'm not going to lie and say I adore her books or think they're well-written. I don't. That's my opinion, and I'm not going to try to change anyone's mind. But I needed to vent somewhere.

"Pandora's Daughter" appears to be one of IJ's better known books, at least outside her Eve Duncan series. It tells the story of a woman, Megan Blair, who grew up hearing "voices," which her late mother told her was just a phase. However, it turns out that her mother had psychic powers, which she has, unfortunately, passed down to her daughter. Both Megan and her mother are Listeners, which means that, when in a location where something bad happened, they can hear the voices of those who were involved in those tragedies. They may also be "Pandoras"--people who can awaken others' latent psychic abilities. Unfortunately, this gift is often a curse rather than a blessing, as ordinary people usually can't handle such powers, and commit suicide.

Enter Neal Grady, a "Controller"--someone who can greatly influence people to do something or feel a certain way--who promised to Megan's mother to do everything in his power to suppress Megan's "gift," which Neal does by essentially "brainwashing" Megan into believing that her mother died under circumstances unrelated to psychic powers, or even that such powers exist. Now, however, he's going to need Megan's help in order to find and kill the big bad of the story, so he's willing to return her "gift" to her. He outright says that he's using her for his own ends, but that's pretty typical of IJ's men.

But we get something... "special" in Neal Grady. Now, IJ loves her December-May romances. But in this case, she goes one step further. Neal, who is 10 years older than Megan, admits not just to himself (and the reader), but to her that he's wanted her sexually ever since she was fifteen. The fact that she mentions that she was "mature for her age" at that time makes this more creepy, not less, because that's exactly what pedophiles say to justify "dating" children. Johansen, a fifteen-year-old isn't even legal in any state in the U.S. And no, I'm not going to give Neal a medal for waiting until Megan was in her late twenties to screw her, especially when he tells her, "I had to keep telling myself that you were no Lolita and I'd be sorry as hell if I seduced you."

Now, this is the same author who thinks Bathsheba was a "bimbo" who took baths on rooftops (the Bible says nothing about her bathing on a rooftop; DAVID was on a rooftop, so he could have easily seen her bathing), but she has sorely misinterpreted "Lolita." Dolores didn't ENJOY being raped by Humbert. I guess he's saying that, unlike Dolores, Megan wasn't trying to seduce him? So if she was, it would have been okay? Never mind that Lolita's behavior can hardly be called "seduction" when she barely knows what she's doing? Lolita was a VICTIM, Neal.

But it doesn't matter, because even though Neal waits until Megan is legal to initiate sexy times, he has no more respect for her boundaries than any other male in IJ's books. When she puts up a feeble resistance, he refuses to take no for an answer because he knows she wants it. At one point, he tells her he'll leave her alone, then immediately changes his mind and begins to fondle her throat. I'm not kidding.

Ladies, if you want this kind of dynamic with a man, find someone who's into BDSM and will discuss your boundaries and limits, and you can do a little roleplay. Don't date anyone who treats you this way for real. Especially if he can control your mind and is constantly reminding you that he's choosing not to do it, but he could do it if he wanted to, and he really wants to because he's a selfish SOB. Take him at his word and dump him.

There's another character, Renata Wilger, who's thrown into the novel about halfway through. Like Megan, she had the potential to be interesting, but she's just another Strong Female Character that IJ seems to like so much. It's laughable that IJ attempts to portray her as being different from Megan, because they're exactly the same. Oh, Renata may be a little crabbier, and a little more willing to use people, but both women are stubborn and refuse to take help from anyone, because God forbid you actually behave like a normal human being. At one point, Megan tells Renata she needs to grow up and accept that Megan is going to pity her. Ha! Can you imagine ANY of IJ's heroines taking pity any better than Renata does? But I guess it's okay because Megan's older...or something.

Another annoying thing that Megan does is insist that Neal throw everything he can at her so she can "master" her power and not "be a cripple." This book was published in 2007. Can we say "insensitive"? Although this isn't IJ's first flirt with ableism. In general, people with disabilities are either "special" or objects of pity in IJ's books. She does lean more toward the "special" side, especially with mental disorders and intellectual disabilities. In fact, most of her heroines would qualify for depression or PTSD, but there's often the faint implication that only weak people "let" their disabilities take over their lives, as if all you need is a positive attitude and everything will work out. She also throws around "insanity" and "madness" to refer to evil or unfortunate people (but of course, her heroines are never "crazy").

Her villains are nothing special. The big bad had a son whom he loved, but again, it's not enough to make him interesting. Just like the bad guy in the Taking/Hunting/Silencing Eve trilogy that was published a decade later, he has "conversations" with his dead son. His evilness was so over the top that I practically groaned aloud whenever the narrative switched to him. Honestly, you could line all of IJ's villains side by side, and I couldn't tell you who was who or what book they were from; they're all that identical. And of COURSE he's a pedophile, too. Look, I know pedophiles exist, but this schtick has gotten so predictable. Give it a rest. Trust me, Iris Jo, your villains are horrible enough.

The concept of the Ledger wasn't terribly interesting to me, but I was interested in the individuals from the Devanez family and their psychic gifts. None of the "gifts" that were elaborated upon in this book were terribly interesting to me. "Finders" are like bloodhounds--they can find someone as long as they have an object that belonged to them. I guess I'm supposed to find it interesting because it's paranormal, but I prefer things like talking to animals, predicting the future, even mind control. See, psychic abilities in fiction are supposed to be relatable to the rest of us. They're supposed to ask and maybe answer questions about humanity and philosophy and ethics. Like, is controlling someone's thoughts ever morally justified? If you can hear the thoughts of animals, what does that say about sentience? About the use of animals for food and clothing products? Does the existence of a readable future--even a highly unlikely one--cancel out free will?

Instead, we get psychic powers that only exist to cause drama. Sure, Megan's abilities have a few practical uses, but mostly they just cause her a lot of pain.

And yet...I don't know what exactly, but there was something about "Pandora's Daughter" that made it stand out a bit among her other novels. Maybe it's because it didn't try to hide the fact that it was a paranormal novel. Maybe it's because I didn't have to deal with Eve Duncan or her insufferable daughter, Jane. Maybe it's that I'd heard of the book before and knew about positive reviews for it. Maybe it was the sex scenes, of which there were more than usual (and which I enjoy when I can ignore the fact that the male is a POS).

In any case, it's rare for me to give an IJ novel more than two stars, but there you go. I actually...kind of liked it. I just wish I could put my finger on why.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has been the worst book I've read in ages. I'd feel like a parrot to repeat the flaws that have already been pointed out by by the other well-written reviews. In fact, it would be even furiously trite to say that yes, this book is even worse than the Twilight series. However, in the bizarrely accepted universal language of Pandora's Daughter's characters, dammit, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna compare the two.

1. The protagonist is named Megan Blair. At least Bella Swan's name was ironic.

2. Maybe because Robert Pattinson was already established as what Edward was supposed to look like, or maybe because I've been seeing Hannibal, but I imagine Neal Grady to look like Mads Mikkelsen. Who else can twist their lips as obsessive as Neal Grady?

3. Why does Megan call her lover Grady? That's what you would call your hybrid nemesis/high school principal. I can believe a thousand-year-old vampire/teenager over the Megan and Neal Grady loveline.

4. Johansen had the potential to make Renata an Alice Cullen, or someone who would be more considerate and more heartwarming and relevant to Megan's "talent" than the creepy Neal Grady. But no, Renata's storyline was unnecessarily complicated by both being the hardheaded trained assassin with no feelings and the hardheaded trained assassin with no feelings that's also boring.

5. Dammit, you guys. You have superpowers and you're cowering away from thugs. I know that this is new to you, Megan, but make us believe that you're more than an angry shit talker. At least put up a fight. (Denying Neal Grady's boner shouldn't count.)

6. Please don't let this book be a sequel. New Moon, I can say with confidence, was an improvement. There dare not be a honeymoon for Megan and Neal Grady.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen was my February commute audiobook. Megan Blair is a doctor who hears voices. These voices are actually part of a psychic power that she only just learned she has. This comes at a time that someone is trying to kill her, and she must learn to accept and prevail, or risk losing her life.

The premise of the book sounds exciting and interesting, but it fell flat. The plot progresses really slowly, and the characters are just annoying.

Megan is supposed to be a doctor in her late twenties. But she alternates being seeming like a child and a middle-aged woman. I had to keep reminding myself of who she was supposed to be. The further into the story I got, the less I could stand her.

The other characters are very cut and dry, with a huge dose of annoying. There is a very evil villian, and a not-so-nice good guy. Everyone is just simply unbelievable. The only exception being Harley, who provides comic relief while actually coming across as real.

Overall, I couldn't wait for the story to end. Several times, I debated just stopping. I didn't really care to find out how it ended.

A word of advice, there is a lot of profanity and sex. Neither element added anything to the story, and it is really distracting.

The narration was very well done. Each character had a slightly different voice, and they were easily distinguishable. Conversations on the phone had an element that sounded like they were actually conducted through a phone, and were great additions. I was impressed with the narration, just not the actual story.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In another one of Iris Johansen's stand-alone thrillers, she took us on another hair-rising adventure of its own kind. For Dr. Megan Blair, she'd been hearing voices in her head. She tried to silence those dormant psychic powers for years, when it drove her insane and out of her mind. She couldn't forget the past, when she learned about her mother's death and trying to save her heritage. People were out to kill her, use her and also seduce her, including Neil Grady, who held the key to her future... if she was to have one. But little did she know at what cost would it be in the end to discover the truth behind her powers.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really tried with this book, but if I can't even pay attention to an audiobook when I'm stuck in a car with nothing else to do, I have to admit defeat.

[Ashlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Iris Johansen books. Yeah, a few sound similar and have similar ideas, but that's what I like about her books.
This novel was amazing. Johansen has a way with words that just keeps me wanting to read more.
I recommend any of Johansen's books they are all amazing!

[Johanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

[AUDIO BOOK REVIEW]
I liked the idea of the plot and the subject matter (re: paranormal) but felt like the story lacked suspense and overdid it with the histrionics.

Several times the author went out of the way to have a character explain things that I just didn't need to know in order to enjoy the story. The expositionary dialog felt awkward (no one ever explains themselves like the last scene of a Scooby-Doo episode). To boot, the melodramatic adverbs and theatrical blocking actually pulled me out of the story at times because it pushed my suspended belief beyond the breaking point.

I wonder if the audio book made some of this worse? It was read like a cross between a Shakespearan tragedy and a Mexican telenovela. In addition, word-choices like "jerkily" sound harsh to the ear and bring attention to themselves at the cost to the story-telling.

Perhaps the paperback is good for beach-reading, when you can scan the story and take naps at will without fear of losing the plot? Just a thought.

[Ahmed Ismail · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't have the time to go into details but, word to the wise, don't waste your time or money on this book. Total letdown.

[Pam M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Books about strong, extraordinary women--that's usually my shtick. But this one fell flat, did not fully showcase the main character's strength, and did not sustain the momentum it generated in the beginning. For those reasons, I'm giving it a 2. This is my first time reading this author, and most probably, my last.

(I better read something good soon. I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of 2's and 3's lately).

[Nicole Raney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow is all I have to say...stayed up all night to finish this one!

[Gayle Kuhnle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supernatural powers… murder… human trafficking… up down all around… fabulous story

[Stacey Borne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read..kept me reading until the end.

[Devin King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pandora's daughter

Personal response
When I was reading this book, I was bored During the prologue. The first chapter had a few hooks that made me want to read until the end and find out what happened.

Plot
This book starts out in the woods outside of Colorado, then Pandora moves into the city. During her time in the city she goes to nursing school and graduated top of her class. She stays there for many years until she is taken overseas to Germany and to a French circus. At the French circus she goes to a carnie’s trailer who has been murdered, and she is able to see exactly what happened. She is able to witness firsthand everything that is said and done before, during, and after the murder. Because of this, she is wanted by very bad people. Eventually, she is found and dragged into a house in the mountains of Colorado that is very hard to access. She stays there until Neil Grady tries to rescue her.

Characterization
For a long time Megan Blair has been trying to get the voices out of her head, but she simply cannot until her mom dies. When her mom dies she has help silencing the voices from Neil Grady. He silenced the voices even though she didn't know who he was or even that he was silencing them. Many years later when he meets her at the zoo and without her even knowing he was there, he temporarily released the voices in her head.

Setting
In the early 20th century Meghan Blair was in the woods with her mom having a picnic. After the picnic Megan's mom was murdered, and she had to move into the city with someone she thought was her uncle.They also went to Germany and France. While they were there, she learned more about what she was capable of. She entered a carnis trailer who was tortured and murdered, even after the fact she was able to watch the whole thing. Even though it physically and mentally drained her for multiple days. She was able to see and hear things she could only have heard if she had been there. This drove her to work hard and try to solve the case of what happened to the book. While she was working. she was captured and taken to a house in the mountains of colorado until she managed to get help and escape.

Recommendation
Due to some of the explicit content of the book, I recommend this book for people 12 and up male or female. I also feel that some kids will not understand what is going on until it is explained to them. Some of the book can only be understood by people who have a little knowledge of supernatural occurrences.

[Amy Lignor · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most entertaining writers is back. Looking forward to a novel by Ms. Johansen, to me, is a lot like awaiting the next J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts tome. Engaging, fast-paced…the woman knows what she has to do to bring a reader in for the ride.

The plot: For as long as Megan Blair can remember, she has tried with all her might to silence the voices that scream inside her head. She’s toiled since childhood to ignore the strange pictures that rise up inside her mind, like demons coming forth from the grave to silence her forever.

As Megan grew into an adult, she turned towards medicine and became a talented, soft-hearted physician. The voices grew dormant over time and Megan concentrated on saving the sick and wounded. Her only problem? Being a little too emotionally involved with her patients.

Her home-life is shared with her uncle. After her mother’s strange death, her uncle appeared to raise her and care for her. A great man and a great character. (We should all have relatives like this guy). The only unfortunate part is that he holds a secret within him that could make Megan’s security fall apart. One night, coming home from work, she is run off the road by a stranger. In a millisecond, a mysterious, sensual man named Neal Grady arrives at her front door…a man she remembers quite clearly from her past. A man, that no matter what Megan does, can read her every thought and emotion the minute she’s having them.

Grady unleashes the secrets of her past and Megan is thrown into a macabre mystery that harkens back to a family who died hundreds of years before. She must use her incredible gifts to help Grady hunt down a log; a book that lists all of the people like her…before the vile man who killed her mother can find the book and use it to destroy not only Megan, but the rest of the "freaks" on the list. A wonderful adventure from start to finish. The chemistry between Grady and Megan is blissful and the character of Harley has to be one of the most charming men Johansen ever created. Enjoy!

[Tabi34 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title intrigued me - Pandora's Daughter; I thought it would be about a woman with ties to the Greek myth. Then I read the back cover and there was danger and mystery. I had to read it. It turned out to be one of the slowest reads I've had done. It took me weeks to plow through the story.

A woman, Megan, sees her mother killed when she is a teenager. Years later she is nearly run off the road in an attempt to kill her. Her past is revealed to her and she and Neal Grady go on a quest to find the Ledger which has the names of all the family members who have psychic abilities, while she is hunting Molino, the man who had her mother killed.

The mystery would have been good if there was a definite through-line, but with the secondary mystery of the Ledger it mudded the story. Then the author introduces a third and fourth character that I felt further water down the story. Stick with one strong story line with a second sub-plot and it would've made a better read.

If that wasn't bad enough, the author throws in a sexual element that I thought could've been left out all together. If the author is going to say Megan has highly sensual characteristics -then exploit this facet or leave it out. They fell to the floor and then the next thing we read is that they are talking about how spent they are. I don't think it was necessary for the overall story.

I finished the book because, well, I bought it. But I was disappointed.

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was an ok read.

I have read many novels by Iris Johansen, particularly in the Eve Duncan Series, and all the novels have similar plot consisting of a talented, independent, not to forget beautiful and strong female lead who'll have no trouble at all in confronting the obstacles as and when they arose. There will be a male lead that will not be conventionally handsome, but on the whole will cast a magnetic effect on those around him. There will be another male lead that will support our main character, be truly heroic and in general a do-gooder. Not to forget both these guys will be lethal to the core.

The villain will always be the scum on the Earth and in general wants to kill the heroine for one thing or another. And did I forget to mention he's your average looking guy who could be anyone you pass in the street? No, well then I have now.. :)

The hero will zoom in to save the day and heroine as well. Hero will go on run with heroine and there he’ll develop romantic feelings for the heroine who is most probably interested in the physical aspect of love only. Hero will pursue her relentlessly, kill her dragon (the villain) for her, and then make her realize that she loves him too, by distancing himself from her. Well that about sums it up.

But despite this predictable plot, I kind of enjoy reading the Eve Duncan series, and have read 9 – 10 novels in the same. And will continue to read further.

[Meigan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely hated it. I used to really like Iris Johansen, took quite a long break from reading her books, and this was the first one I purchased when I decided to read her again. The plot sounded interesting, although I normally don't "do" books with paranormal/psychic aspects. I just couldn't get into it at all. The dialogue was extremely stiff, and the word "Lord" was used over and over again, which I didn't understand. Made me shake my head and say "Oh Lord, I need to put this down...", which eventually I did after about 150 pages.

The problem I had was the dialogue. Everyone, including the bad guys, talked like they were well educated which maybe they were, who knows? I prefer my bad guys to use profanity and talk "bad". I wouldn't really be frightened of a bad guy who starts off with "Perhaps...". Extremely formal and stiff dialogue. This will probably be my last book by this author, I think I've just switched tastes in books. I'm looking for more gritty, scare-your-socks-off type things. And thugs and killers who use immoderate language (o:

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My aunt sent me bags of beautiful, well-kept hardcover books and this was one of the many. I was looking for something light and I got it. Far more erotically charged than I was expecting, I really enjoyed getting to know the main players who, for the most part, had some kind of psychic ability (or wanted to kill those with psychic abilities). It was gritty at times and very descriptive.

However...the author wrote "Dammit" into her characters' dialogue far too often, I guess to show frustration. I think there are better literary ways to show emotion. In addition, I read "He made a face" or "She made a face" too many times. What were these faces that were being made? With all the time she took to explain sex and torture, i wish she had taken a little more time to explain the personal side of things.

[Voracious_reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen--

Boring.

I almost don't want to be bothered with writing a review because I feel like I've already wasted far too much time on this book. Basically, it's about a fifteen-year old who grows up only to discover she has psychic powers and that her mother was killed for her own psychic powers. There's plenty of gratuitous sex, violence, violence and sex together, torture, poorly crafted two-dimensional characters, unnecessary characters whose purpose still evade me, crappy internal dialogue attributed to a middle-aged woman that would have been more appropriate for an over-sexed fifteen-year-old girl. It was very disappointing. It had been recommended to me by a friend who usually makes terrific recommendations.

[Dhen Dhen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had some really good potential...but failed to materialize them.

Johansen was able to set up ideas involving the psychic faculty of humans. She's able to introduce not-so superhuman powers but I still considered cool. But the thing is they were not expounded that much. Especially Megan's.

Despite being the main character, Megan's Listening is almost useless. I'm convinced that the author forgot all about her ability.

What's funny is Megan's squad are all Freaks(people with the psychic abilities) and Molino(the villain) can single handedly subdue them. I could think of a bunch of ways where a Listener, Controller, Healer, and especially a Finder could take advantage of a Non-freak.

Nevertheless, it was a good thriller.

[Minah · Rating 2 out of 5]

WHY IS SHE #1 NYTIMES BESTSELLER?????

this book was POORLY written. seriously.... it sounded as if a middle school kid wrote it for some thriller contest.

the story itself was good. but really.. the writing style. CHEESY AND IMMATURE. it was so cheesy that i LITERALLY felt like gagging while eating and reading. and it was so immature that i felt like i was getting dumber and dumber.

im sorry.. but please.. don't read this book unless you are in high school. (middle school writing level but there are some provocative things that little kids should not read)

[Jane (PS) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook
A melodramatic suspense with a heroine, Megan Blair, who says one thing, then immediately changes her mind (she needs to learn to think before she speaks) and a carbon-copy hero, Neal Grady, who was thrown in simply as a love interest... Oh, and the author added in some physic talents to tempt PNR fans to pick up the book...

(In the author's defence, the narrator exacerbated the melodrama...)

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely the WORST book I have read in years! Stilted, adolescent writing that reads like a 10 yo's idea of what sexuality/passion is like. The main characters lust for the man controlling her mind sounds a lot like "grooming". You know, that thing older men do when they start to prey on young girls for sex. Seriously, it reads like a bad dime store novel - buyer beware.

[Elif · Rating 4 out of 5]

megan bi dinleyici insanların acılarını duyabiliyor.annesi bir pandora.dokunduğu kişinin yeteneğini meydana çıkarıyo.bu ndenle de cinayete kurban gidiyo.megan annesinin katilini ararken pandora olup olmadığını da bulmaya çalışıyor.degisikti.