The Malice Box

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 10 SEP. 2007

Owing an obvious debt to Dan Brown's megablockbuster The Da Vinci Code, Langfield's ambitious debut incorporates elements of supernatural mystery, Dante-esque journey and apocalyptic thriller, but the pieces fail to come together into a satisfying whole. With a powerful alchemical weapon primed to detonate in a week's time, Robert Reckliss must unlock seven puzzles and find seven keys hidden around Manhattan before the "Malice Box" unleashes some unspecified evil on the inhabitants of New York City. Standing in his way is the Brotherhood of Iwnw (pronounced yoonu), otherworldly "scavengers of the soul" bent on remaking civilization with themselves as overlords. Two-dimensional characters, contrived situations and a mishmash of plot-threads a potentially world-altering discovery involving a recovered document written by Isaac Newton, secret societies, gateways between worlds, America's war against terrorism, Christian and Islamic mysticism, ley lines make this one of the weaker contenders in the crowded religious thriller field.