Pandora Drive
Tim Waggoner
ISBN: 0-8439-5625-9
 Paperback
Leisure Books

Tim Waggoner's “Pandora’s Drive” is a wild ride. The author explores the nature of human souls in this gritty, intense novel. Damara has the ability to make your dreams come true, but human nature being what it is, not all of our dreams are positive.

Damara’s ability acts not only on her but on those around her. She can’t suppress it for too long, or the energy builds up and the dreams of those in her lives start happening, in spades. Her childhood is troubled as the ability destroys both her brother and father, but she suppresses it. She lives her life behind closed doors, afraid that stepping out into the world will unleash the demon she confines.

Without her consent, often without her knowledge, Damamra's fantasies begin to occur. The energy she carries reaches out to affect the lives of the people near her. No matter how fantastic, things happen; often with dire consequences. Two close family members are pulled into nightmare landscapes, disappearing. Damara must not allow herself to dream, and she must stay away from others.

Her childhood friend and love, which awakens hopes and desires any normal woman would have. Unfortunately, Damara is not able to suppress her ability, and the power manifests in the lives of those on Pandora Drive. People begin to die.

Her brother, or what's left of him, tries to warn her, and then stop her, but he's too late. As her ability breaks free, her neighbors are empowered. Kenneth is an evil, perverted man who gains his darkest dream. Emma, his equally despicable wife, has a hand that ends in large, razor-sharp garden shears, which she uses to butcher her enemies. They kill their neighbors without remorse and face off against one another to win dominance over this new reality. Emma kidnaps a young girl and drags her to a deserted entertainment park as part of a re-programming effort. Kenneth goes after them.

Imagine the world made over in the image of demented souls. Damara must stop them.

This novel is well written, with graphic descriptions. The writing is crisp and the emotions are real. The plotting is solid.

The author delves into the perversions of the neighbor at length, robbing the book of momentum. The character of Damara is a good one but the other characters, save for the evil neighbor and his wife, are not explored enough to make us care about them. Although "Pandora Drive” has loads of dark imagery and a well defined premise, the conclusion isn't as strong as the rest of the book.
What will happen to Damara? How will she explain a fully grown man appearing out of nowhere, without any means to support himself? How will the man establish his identity, when he is nothing but an enhanced memory of a human Damara once knew?

With these and other questions unaddressed, Pandora Drive leaves the reader hanging. There are a few other places throughout the book where the author skims over logic to continue with his tale. How will Autumn, the young kidnapping victim, survive? Kenneth killed her mother, and she has been dragged through hell.

Pandora Drive is a spooky, thought-provoking read but it loses too much through slow pacing and lack of internal logic to make it an outstanding book. Yet the author has a good way with words, making you want to finish this story. I would give Pandora Drive a three out of a possible five stars, and I'll be keeping an eye out for other work by Mr. Waggoner.