"PANDORA'S CLOCK Combines exquisite suspense and cardiac arrest action."
-Stephen Coonts

(Review 1 of 3)
Booklist - Mary Frances Wilkens
(Booklist, the magazine the New York Times calls "an acquisitions bible for public and school librarians nationwide," is the review journal of the American Library Association.)
PANDORA'S CLOCK
John J. Nance

Imagine that a man carrying the deadly Ebola virus is aboard an international aircraft that is headed for New York and full of people eager to be home for Christmas. Nance, accomplished pilot, author, and currently aviation consultant for "Good Morning America," brings such a nightmare to life in this unforgettable thriller. Captain James Holland has his hands full trying to get his packed airplane safely home yet he also has to deal with a cocky young copilot and demanding passengers (including a jabbering TV evangelist and an important U.S. ambassador). These obstacles are nothing, however, compared to the pressure he faces when he's forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger dies of a heart attack, and he discovers that every country, including the U.S., is refusing him entry. It seems that the man who died had been exposed to a rare virus strain crafted by the Soviets--an omega strain with a mortality rate of 100 percent. Captain Holland is a sympathetic character; the reader detects his primal fear yet respects his commanding demeanor. A uniquely suspenseful and terrifying story; expect demand due to the book's timely topic and heavy promotion.

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(Review 2 of 3)
Under the Covers
Highly Recommended
PANDORA'S CLOCK
John J. Nance

The speed and ferocity that a new virus can spread, makes it impossible to return to the blissful ignorance one knew before the threat becomes public knowledge. For the two hundred plus passengers and crew seemingly flying on an uneventful trip from Germany to America, they obtain first hand experience as they become unwilling participants in a scenario where only divine intervention can grant them a chance to survive.

Captain James Holland becomes aware that everyone on the plane may have been exposed to a doomsday bug when a passenger collapses from an apparent heart attack and no country will give him clearance to land. By the time he understands the perilous predicament they are all in, the CIA decides to blow up the plane and blame a terrorist group. The only way that annihilation can be avoided is through a rogue intelligence operative and James' own cunning.

As techno-thrillers go, PANDORA'S CLOCK is one of the best. The symbolism of the title is sardonically realistic and appropriate for our shrinking globe. This is a roller coaster ride of horror and thrills that rival classics such as the ANDROMEDA STRAIN.
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner, Associate Editor 10/6/96
(http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/nance_pandora.html)

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(Review 3 of 3)
Publisher's Weekly
PANDORA'S CLOCK
John J. Nance

A motley assemblage of travelers stranded-on plane, train or ship-by natural forces or man-made threat often provides fodder for gripping novels or movies. Nance (BLIND TRUST), well aware of this formula's potential, has concocted a doozy of a plot for his latest thriller.

Shortly after Quantum Airlines Flight 66 departs Frankfurt, Germany, for New York, one of the passengers succumbs to an apparent heart attack. It may be, however, that Professor Ernest Helms was exposed to a doomsday virus just before boarding his flight; if so, more than 200 passengers and crew members could be dead within a matter of hours. Word of this imminent disaster leaks to governments and media organizations around the world, of course, and the jumbo jet is refused landing clearance everywhere. And when the CIA gets involved, its ambitious director schemes to have the plane destroyed by an infamous terrorist group. As the genre goes, so far, so good. But the suspense seldom mounts here, hindered by a surfeit of hyperbole (``What Erickson must be feeling is unfathomable!''), clunky writing and clichs. Though the author manages a few pulse-pounding sequences, his cardboard characters (most of the passengers are little more than props) and lame repartee keep this thriller on mundane terra firma. Still, Nance leaves the runway clear for a sequel, and fans hooked by Flight 66's dilemma can await the takeoff of #67.
First serial to D magazine; major ad/promo; author tour. One-day (Sat.) giveaway at ABA. (Sept.)

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