Jon Land is a prolific, bestselling author and has released a handful of novels over the past few months. First, there was his collaboration with author Heather Graham, THE RISING, purported to be the start of a new series. He then co-authored the inspirational, nonfiction work NO SURRENDER with former Navy SEAL Patrick Bisher.

Land’s latest is DARK LIGHT: DAWN, an ambitious novel that deftly crosses the lines between supernatural, science fiction, fantasy and a pure adrenaline-fueled thriller. He is firmly in Steve Berry, James Rollins and Preston & Child territory with this new release. The setup is great: the threat of a global pandemic of biblical proportions set to wipe out much of mankind. We have a traditional battle between good and evil; an ancient rock with immeasurable power; and one man who will have the opportunity to rise up and face this new threat head on while the entire time fighting his own inner battle that may cost him his soul.

"DARK LIGHT: DAWN jumps between past and present, all the while highlighting important moments and giving historical context to all that is happening. Things move at a lightning pace, which will keep you huffing and puffing to keep up with the fluid narrative."

With a plot like this, what fan of any of the aforementioned genres wouldn't want to dive right in? Things began 65 million years ago. An asteroid crashed into the Earth leaving behind mass destruction and, well beneath the Earth's surface, a dark light. The central figure of the novel is Navy SEAL Max Younger, who has the uncanny ability to survive any skirmish in which he finds himself. He is the son of Ben Younger, who is stricken with cancer and is not as successful in overcoming adversity. Ben's business partner is an obsessive sort named Dale Denton, who has been conducting some unnatural side projects that has put him in bed with some very dangerous people.

Back to Max. To his Navy comrades he was known as Max Borgia, not revealing his Younger namesake. As such, Max was donned with the nickname “Pope” after the infamous Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI. If Max is the hero of this story, then we need a villain. That role is ably filled by the evil Mohammed al-Qadir, a man who feels he was personally chosen by God to lead the new Islamic Front. This mission can only be successful with the complete obliteration of every other religious sect, all of whom worship false gods and not al-Qadir's one true god.

Al-Qadir seeks to bring about the End of Days, and to do that, he must obtain the same object that Dale is seeking. Dale and Ben, co-owners of WET (Western Energy Technologies), have traversed the globe on various missions and at one point find themselves in a part of Mexico known as the Land of the Devil. Could this area hold the object Dale seeks? If found, will it provide them with the ultimate energy source they have always sought, or might it be something more sinister?

Max, now removed from his days as a SEAL, is on his own mission. He has known for a while that Ben was not his real father, and the strange birthmark on his hand had to signify something important. He will find himself crossing paths with a woman from his past who he knows very well. Dr. Victoria Tanoury works with the World Health Organization and has become aware of a growing pandemic that modern medicine cannot overcome. Max has known Victoria since they were both youths as her surname was once Denton and their fathers are business partners.

DARK LIGHT: DAWN jumps between past and present, all the while highlighting important moments and giving historical context to all that is happening. Things move at a lightning pace, which will keep you huffing and puffing to keep up with the fluid narrative. All along the way, readers will have the opportunity to watch Max as he deals with turmoil both internal and external. He is a character torn between love and hate, good and evil, and the untold secrets of his origin and the destiny he must fulfill. The question remains: Which side will Max be on when he awakens to the truth behind this unknown destiny? Events speed towards a cataclysmic finale that will involve the much sought-after rock, a particle accelerator of amazing magnitude and the prophecy that was laid out for all mankind.

Fabrizio Boccardi is listed as the book’s “creator” and had been linked with Land on two prior novels in the Tyrant series: THE SEVEN SINS and BLACK SCORPION. It was during their work on those books that Boccardi came up with the idea about a story involving God, the devil, the anti-Christ, and the whole nature of good versus evil. I think it is safe to say that with DARK LIGHT: DAWN, Land has hit on all of those subjects and more. The very last chapter gives a nice glimpse into a potential next story --- that is, if the Earth and mankind are ready for it.