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The Four Legendary Kingdoms
(Jack West Jr #4)
by
The thrilling new novel featuring Jack West, Jr. from the New York Times and #1 international bestselling author!
A RUTHLESS KIDNAPPING
Jack West, Jr. and his family are living happily on their remote farm when Jack is brutally kidnapped and he awakes in an underground cell to find a masked attacker with a knife charging at him.
THE GREAT GAMES
Jack, it seems, has been chos ...more
A RUTHLESS KIDNAPPING
Jack West, Jr. and his family are living happily on their remote farm when Jack is brutally kidnapped and he awakes in an underground cell to find a masked attacker with a knife charging at him.
THE GREAT GAMES
Jack, it seems, has been chos ...more
Get A Copy
Kindle Edition, 448 pages
Published
May 2nd 2017
by Gallery Books
(first published October 8th 2016)
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Popular Answered Questions
Wdmoor
No. I just read it and it works as a stand-alone book.
Jeff Correll
I got mine from England, Amazon.UK, quite awhile ago.
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of The Four Legendary Kingdoms (Jack West, Jr. Book 4)

Oct 19, 2016
K.
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adventure,
setting-asia,
australian,
poc-narrator,
own-it-hard-copy,
setting-australia,
2016,
audience-adult,
2021
Trigger warnings: violence, death, gore, blood, explosions, gun violence, seriously y'all there is a LOT of violence in this even by Matthew Reilly's standards.
12/1/2021
On reread, I'm bumping this down to 3 stars. Yes, there's tons of action and I liked that it's a (view spoiler) . But there's so much action that I felt like there were mountains of things that were never sufficiently explained. The characters felt slightly cardboard cutout-y at times, and ...more
12/1/2021
On reread, I'm bumping this down to 3 stars. Yes, there's tons of action and I liked that it's a (view spoiler) . But there's so much action that I felt like there were mountains of things that were never sufficiently explained. The characters felt slightly cardboard cutout-y at times, and ...more

**Re-read 09/20**
The benefit of forgetting details of books I've read is that I can re-read something like this and still be on the edge of my seat. It's so intense!
You can definitely feel the time between books, so it's good that it's set many years after the conclusion of The Five Greatest Warriors. The vibe is a little different, and it feels very much like a book written with the fans in mind - there's less history-chasing, and we're fixed in one spot rather than galavanting around the world ...more
The benefit of forgetting details of books I've read is that I can re-read something like this and still be on the edge of my seat. It's so intense!
You can definitely feel the time between books, so it's good that it's set many years after the conclusion of The Five Greatest Warriors. The vibe is a little different, and it feels very much like a book written with the fans in mind - there's less history-chasing, and we're fixed in one spot rather than galavanting around the world ...more

Well, I wanted to like this as much as the other ones, but it kinda devolved into a Buck Rogers scenario full of Lensman tropes and Galaxy-colliding proportions. Not that this kind of thing can't be fun if done right, and I was perfectly prepared to roll with it, but Jack West Jr. gets kidnapped ten years after the previous books to perform for insane royals who style themselves Hades? For the SAKE of being the grand hero that saves the universe?
Um.
Trials of Hercules? With a 30's SF bent? With.. ...more
Um.
Trials of Hercules? With a 30's SF bent? With.. ...more

Nope I just can't do it.
...more

Apr 05, 2019
Rob
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
serial-thrillers,
aussie-authors
Book 4 in the Jack West series.
This reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games but with middle aged men instead of teenagers. The only way to survive these games is to kill all the other combatants before they kill you.
One minute Jack West is looking through a telescope at Pine Gap the next he is fighting for his life against, of all things, a Minotaur.
Jack has been abducted from Pine Gap and now finds himself in the Underworld as a combatant in the games. The very games that Hercules fought in many ...more
This reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games but with middle aged men instead of teenagers. The only way to survive these games is to kill all the other combatants before they kill you.
One minute Jack West is looking through a telescope at Pine Gap the next he is fighting for his life against, of all things, a Minotaur.
Jack has been abducted from Pine Gap and now finds himself in the Underworld as a combatant in the games. The very games that Hercules fought in many ...more

Second Read:
This time I listened to the audiobook, and it was so enjoyable! Time to finally read the sequel :D
First Read:
Oh. My. Giddy Aunt.
This time I listened to the audiobook, and it was so enjoyable! Time to finally read the sequel :D
First Read:
Oh. My. Giddy Aunt.

This may just have been my favourite of the series so far. I love time skips and I love crossovers, and this has both. It features Scarecrow, a character from Reilly’s other series which I have not yet read. Nevertheless I enjoyed the crossover.
I should also mention this book involves a ‘fight to the death, last man standing contest’. This is basically my favourite trope ever. Any book that has that as a plot I will pick up. It was exciting to see Jack West Jr thrown into that type of situation ...more
I should also mention this book involves a ‘fight to the death, last man standing contest’. This is basically my favourite trope ever. Any book that has that as a plot I will pick up. It was exciting to see Jack West Jr thrown into that type of situation ...more

I guess this is what happens when you are a mood reader - you buy a book in a favorite series by your favorite author and leave it on your bookshelf for two years without even trying to read. And then finally when you start it, you finish it in a single sitting and wonder, what the hell you were doing not reading it till now... That’s exactly what happened here my friends. This book is as amazing as the previous installments of Jack West Jr’s adventures and I’m so sad that I waited this long to
...more

6/13/17 ~ So enjoyable, definitely look forward to more from this series.
Certainly wasn't expecting that. Ok, ready for more!! Is it time for the next book yet?! ...more
Certainly wasn't expecting that. Ok, ready for more!! Is it time for the next book yet?! ...more

The Four Legendary Kingdoms is by far the most new reader friendly in the series (Seven Ancient Wonders, the first book in the Jack West Jr. series aside). The book follows on from the events of The Five Greatest Warriors many years after conclusion of that book and feels like it breathes new life into the series. The characters, new and old, are engaging and each adds the overall dynamic of the story.
Hades is a great location for this book. Not only does it allow for a hint of the supernatural ...more
Hades is a great location for this book. Not only does it allow for a hint of the supernatural ...more

This was another cracking read in the Jack West Junior Series, we've had to wait seven years for this but it was well worth the wait! Like all books in this series there is plenty of action which moves along at a cracking pace and is supported by a strong historical backdrop. As usual in these books Jack had to step in to save the world from disaster but in this case it was voluntary. If you are a Matthew Reilly fan you will see a character from one of his other series appear. The good news is t
...more

Loved every minute of it. I physically had to force myself to put the book down so I didn't finish it on the first night.
It has everything I love about Matthew Reilly's writing and more. Very happy reader here! ...more
It has everything I love about Matthew Reilly's writing and more. Very happy reader here! ...more

Feb 12, 2017
Keri
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
suspense-action,
2017-read
Best Jack West book yet and my book BF Scarecrow was there! What was not to love...John Woo couldn't have done a better job of coming up with these over the top action sequences. Very, very good. I hope it isn't that long before we see another book in the series.
...more

Wow! Absolutely amazing. Without giving anything away, lets just say, I had to stop reading and sit there mouth agape on more than one occasion. Just to process what i was reading.
Love the concept, reminded me of Contest, but on a larger scale. I read Contest at least once a year.
The hardest thing for me was not being able to share with anyone, having read it within 2 days of coming out.
I'm going to read this book again very soon. Slowly and savour every encounter.
And this is why Matthew Reill ...more
Love the concept, reminded me of Contest, but on a larger scale. I read Contest at least once a year.
The hardest thing for me was not being able to share with anyone, having read it within 2 days of coming out.
I'm going to read this book again very soon. Slowly and savour every encounter.
And this is why Matthew Reill ...more

Oct 20, 2016
Karina
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2016-books,
2018-books
Well this is a first.
I legitimately felt giddy while reading this. Giddy. I only get this excited when squealing over smoochy kitties.
But this, THIS, was everything.
Myths, action, heroes, legends, death, more death, friends, enemies, even more death.
Well, compared to his other books the death count isn't actually that high. He didn't George RR Martin us :'-)
If you are reading this I don't think you need to be told to read Reilly's books, but I'm going to anyway. READ THE THINGS! ...more
I legitimately felt giddy while reading this. Giddy. I only get this excited when squealing over smoochy kitties.
But this, THIS, was everything.
Myths, action, heroes, legends, death, more death, friends, enemies, even more death.
Well, compared to his other books the death count isn't actually that high. He didn't George RR Martin us :'-)
If you are reading this I don't think you need to be told to read Reilly's books, but I'm going to anyway. READ THE THINGS! ...more

This fourth book in the series of Jack West Jr. was awesome, and well worth the wait, since it took Reilly 6 years to write this one. As always, with any fast paced, action packed thriller, I've plowed through it like there was no tomorrow. God, I really hope it doesn't take Reilly another 6 years to write the next one.
Jack, Lily, Alby, Sky Monster, and Jack's dogs are kidnapped. Yeah, I did a double take too when I heard the dogs were taken hostage, but I realized later on that with all the ch ...more
Jack, Lily, Alby, Sky Monster, and Jack's dogs are kidnapped. Yeah, I did a double take too when I heard the dogs were taken hostage, but I realized later on that with all the ch ...more

Jack West Jr and Scarecrow finally meet. However, we've seem to throw out the Indiana Jonesy parts of the book and turned this into an action movie on speed like the Scarecrow books. Jack gets kidnapped and wakes up in the middle of same ancient games to the death. Yes, Reilly does tie in these modern games into Hercules's 12 labors and Gilgamesh's epic, but it feels like we're missing some of that search for ancient artifacts aspect. The end of the book definitely just felt like it was just lay
...more

Basically, this is Contest meets 7AW. Maybe his next book — allegedly time-travel related — will be better?
Most of the time, I love Matthew Reilly novels. I've been a fan since 2010/11. Unfortunately this completely missed the mark. The female characters, as another reviewer said, were all reduced to lamps. The plot devices felt cheap, and the infodumpiness was just too much, even for me.
I get he wants to set up the next three books, but what happened to easing the reader in like he did with 7AW ...more
Most of the time, I love Matthew Reilly novels. I've been a fan since 2010/11. Unfortunately this completely missed the mark. The female characters, as another reviewer said, were all reduced to lamps. The plot devices felt cheap, and the infodumpiness was just too much, even for me.
I get he wants to set up the next three books, but what happened to easing the reader in like he did with 7AW ...more

I've been eagerly awaiting this book and even subjected myself to a horrific 48 hours without a book to read because I'd finished my previous book and didn't want to start another knowing that my preorder of The Four Legendary Kingdoms was just around the corner.
This feels slightly different to the other Jack West books but is exactly what you would expect it to be. Loads of action, almost certain death on a regular basis, loathsome evil doers and a cameo appearance by Homer Simpson.
Jack's bac ...more
This feels slightly different to the other Jack West books but is exactly what you would expect it to be. Loads of action, almost certain death on a regular basis, loathsome evil doers and a cameo appearance by Homer Simpson.
Jack's bac ...more

Always love Mr Reillys books. This was no exception. Plenty of action, crazy plot lines and backstory and loveable characters. The Jack West novels are a little over the top sometimes but that's what you expect when reading this series. Hopefully the next book comes out soon!!
...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Nov 15, 2019
Josen
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
book-club,
2019-library
In this fourth installment of Jack West Jr, he wakes up to find he was kidnapped and will be forced to participate in The Great Games. These games are interpreted to mimic the 12 Labours of Hercules. So of course, it only makes sense that the one hosting these games is none other than Lord Hades. Well, not the actual Hades but the current human version leading the Kingdom of the Underworld. There are also representing Lords from the Kingdom of Land, Kingdom of Sea and Kingdom of Sky (hence the t
...more

I preferred this book when it began rather than when it ended. Starting as it did, the tension was ratcheted up to unbelievable levels, and we were dragged along for the ride. The action started on the very first page, and very quickly I couldn't put this book down. Sadly, on the way to the climax, the way was a lost a little bit, and it became incredibly formulaic, which also means there was no tension, since resolutions were a foregone conclusion. Also, on the topic of resolutions, having more
...more

Sep 16, 2017
storytime-reviews
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy-sci-fi,
mystery-thriller
There’s a lot I love about Matthew Reilly. From the thrilling fights, to the adventurous escapes and entertaining characters, but it’s the interweaving of ancient history throughout the Jack West Jr series that I really enjoy. That shouldn’t come as a surprise given that my major is ancient history, and the strong Greek/Roman mythical elements throughout this installment were therefore very much enjoyed by me.
From the beginning, the mythological references were obvious, from the minotaurs, to H ...more
From the beginning, the mythological references were obvious, from the minotaurs, to H ...more

*Genre* Action, Adventure
*Rating* 4.0
*Thoughts*
The Four Legendary Kingdoms is the fourth installment in author Matthew Reilly's Jack West Jr series. This is a series that you should definitely be prepared to throw out all preconceived notions, and just enjoy the freaking ride. The author tends to go all in with over the top action, adventure, shocking twists and turns, and lots of bloodshed. Right out of the gate, Jack, who has been retired and off the grid for years now, is kidnapped along with ...more
*Rating* 4.0
*Thoughts*
The Four Legendary Kingdoms is the fourth installment in author Matthew Reilly's Jack West Jr series. This is a series that you should definitely be prepared to throw out all preconceived notions, and just enjoy the freaking ride. The author tends to go all in with over the top action, adventure, shocking twists and turns, and lots of bloodshed. Right out of the gate, Jack, who has been retired and off the grid for years now, is kidnapped along with ...more

Throw Jack Reacher into the "Hunger Games" and you'll have a fair idea of where this book sits.
...more

The wait for a new Jack West book has been an agonising one. On the plus side, in the space between the Five Greatest Warriors and the Four Legendary Kingdoms, Matthew Reilly pumped out a number of books, some of his most inspired and creative novels yet. That being said, returning to Jack West was a brilliant idea, as the Four Legendary Kingdoms is awesome.
Jack West has always been one of Reilly’s best protagonists. You always know when you pick up a Jack West novel that it’s going to be an ep ...more
Jack West has always been one of Reilly’s best protagonists. You always know when you pick up a Jack West novel that it’s going to be an ep ...more
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Born in Sydney in 1974, Matthew Reilly was not always a big fan of reading. It was only after he read To Kill A Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies in Year 10 that he realised reading could transport you to another world. Following this revelation, Matthew soon began creating stories of his own and set about writing his first novel, Contest, at the age of 19 while still at university studying law.
Fo ...more
Fo ...more
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Jack West Jr
(6 books)
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“Lily just stared down in horror at Jack and Alby as they took off for the maze, fleeing from the advancing snake-headed warrior. THE”
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“when are going”
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