I can not tell you how excited I was to get approved for this ARC. Seriously I squealed, loudly and threw in a happy dance. Why was I so excited? I was so excited because I freakin love this series, Sigma Force is one of my absolute favorites. James Rollins is amazing when it comes to weaving a mystery that ties together history and science in an action packed, intelligent, and suspenseful story. I, for one, greatly appreciate all the research Mr. Rollins does for each of his stories, with the fiction so close to the non-fiction, it really makes the whole thing seem so real. The characters are so real to me, through the previous twelve books I have come to know each of the characters and I love them. I have been TeamSeichan from the beginning and this is a very heavy Gray/Seichan book but for a damn good reason. It's a very emotional book for them, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Kat and Monk go out into the field together for their own little adventure, Kowalski and Maria are still together, although Maria is mentioned in the book she isn't actually in it.
There was a biological attack on the Hawaiian Islands, in the form of huge wasps. I know it sounds like a cheesy B-rated Sy-Fy channel movie but believe me it's so much better. Gray, Seichand, Kowalski, a local fireman named Palu, a entomologist Ken Matsui, and a Japanese Intelligence agent Aiko handle things on the front lines trying to stop and eliminate the threat of world domination by way of these insects and the madman behind it all. While Kat, Monk, the Librarian of Congress Elena Delgado, and the entomologist for the National Zoo Sam Bennett tackle how these prehistoric insects came to be and how it connects to James Smithson the founder of the Smithsonian and a giant chunk of amber that went missing during WWII. I'm not going to say to much on the actual story because I don't want to give to much away and the blurb for this book is actually really good.
Off the coast of Brazil, a team of scientists discovers a horror like no other, an island where all life has been eradicated, consumed and possessed by a species beyond imagination. Before they can report their discovery, a mysterious agency attacks the group, killing them all, save one, an entomologist, an expert on venomous creatures, Professor Ken Matsui from Cornell University.
Strangest of all, this inexplicable threat traces back to a terrifying secret buried a century ago beneath the National Mall: a cache of bones preserved in amber. The artifact was hidden away by a cabal of scientists—led by Alexander Graham Bell—to protect humankind. But they dared not destroy it, for the object also holds an astonishing promise for the future: the very secret of life after death.
Yet, nothing stays buried forever. An ancient horror—dormant in the marrow of those preserved bones—is free once more, nursed and developed into a weapon of incalculable strength and malignancy, ready to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world.
To stop its spread, Commander Grayson Pierce of Sigma Force must survive a direct attack on the island of Maui. To be there first has always been the core mission of Sigma Force, a covert team forged to be America’s front line against emerging threats. But this time, even Sigma may not be able to decipher this deadly mystery, one that traces back to the founding of the Smithsonian Institution.
With each new discovery, the menace they hunt is changing, growing, spreading—adapting and surviving every attempt to stop it from reconquering a world it once ruled. And each transformation makes it stronger . . . and smarter.
Running out of time and options, Commander Grayson Pierce will be forced to make an impossible choice. To eradicate this extinction-level threat and expose those involved, he will have to join forces with Sigma’s greatest enemy—the newly resurrected Guild—even it if means sacrificing one of his own.
Okay, I'll say it, Rollins is so much better than Crichton. Don't get me wrong Michael Crichton is in my top 15, Eaters of the Dead is one of my favorites and Sphere is creepy as hell, but the way Rollins adds all the intense action on top of the scientific and historic mystery just makes it all so heart-poundingly good. The way he comes at the mystery from two different paths makes a thrill ride; intelligent, emotional, daring and an inventive storyline and it all leads up to an explosive and heart stopping conculsion. I absolutely love his writing his active setting, his character development, his plot twists, I especially love at the back of the book where he reveals just how much of the book is truth and what's fiction. I can not wax poetically enough about this book or the series.
Sigma Force #14, Another hair raising, death defying, action packed, FANTASTIC read from James Rollins. If you haven't read the entire series yet I really recommend it, it's history, science, religion, and action adventure all rolled into one. Another nice thing, IMO, is I don't think you have to read the others to enjoy and follow this one. There are a few things references to a certain person in a past book but nothing to major, and the major characters are all established and there are quite a few characters to keep track of fortunately they are split into two groups, sometimes three, and with the third person POV you follow everyone, and in this books case you even follow the evolution of an AI.
