Staff Book Review

The Judas Strain by James Rollins

Just now out in paperback, Rollins offers a new thriller featuring the American military-scientific task group known as Sigma Force, who their combined expertese in both arenas to counter global threats. In this new and exciting adventure, Sigma is engaged in a race with their opposite number, a criminal terrorist syndicate called the Guild, to track down the source of a virulent viral outbreak that coulkd wipe out humanity if left unchecked. The secret to the source of the plague may lie in the lost journals of Marco Polo, the famous Venetian explorer who visited China many centuries ago and apparently encountered the disease in the islands of what is now Indonesia. And while Sigma is interested only in tracing and eliminating the virus, the Guild would like nothing more than to crack its secrets and make it a weapon of mass destruction. The hunt for the virus leads from Venice and Rome, to Istanbul, and to the darkest jungles of Southeast Asia, with puzzles that must be solved and deadly traps that must be evaded.

As in previous Sigma Force novels, including Sandstorm and Map of Bones, the action is relentless, the characters engaging, and the end result a photo finish that keeps one on one's toes. With the Guild, one gets a formidable enemy for Sigma, a group that is their dark mirror image, grim and ruthless without getting hokey and predictable (i.e., a bizarre plot to either destroy or rule the world). Read this one and others in the series if you enjoy good international adventure and action.

Book Review by Dave Folland at Cranesbill Books

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