Black Order: A Sigma Novel (Sigma Force Novels)
by James Rollins
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Book Summary Information
Author: James RollinsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-05-29
ISBN: 0060765372
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Harper
Book Reviews of Black Order: A Sigma Novel (Sigma Force Novels)
Book Review: Amazing thrill-ride
Summary: 5 Stars
A truly good techno-thriller requires three things to be a good book as well: interesting, compelling characters; an author who not only knows his science but knows how to communicate it effectively, clearly, simply, and interestingly; and, finally, the same things any other thriller needs: tight writing, good pacing, and a complex, fascinating plot. It's easy enough to find a techno-thriller that does one of these, and not too hard to find one that does two of them, but very difficult to find one that does all three well.
Characters can make or break a story for me, and characters often get short shrift in techno-thrillers. Not so in Black Order. I've never read any of James Rollins's other Sigma Force books, and in fact didn't realize until I began reading this book that it was part of such a series. Ordinarily this would mean I'd find myself following along with a pack of unfamiliar characters, wondering why I should care about characters I'd barely met. (The other extreme is the author who fully re-introduces his recurring characters with every book, thus frustrating his repeated readers.) I was frankly amazed at Rollins' exceptional ability to draw a fully-realized and fascinating character with just a few strokes of the pen. It took only the briefest in media res introductions to make me care about, relate to, and understand the characters. I'm not sure I've ever seen such an economical yet effective re-introduction before.
I am least qualified to judge the science of the book, a fascinating blend of physics, biology, and more. However, I can say that Rollins continually explained things well enough that I felt I was following along, certainly well enough to at least follow the plot.
The writing is extremely good. It's lean, spare, and economical in all the right ways. Scenes are detailed enough to be easy to visualize, but drawn in so quickly and easily that detail never interferes with the pace. In fact, pace is something else Rollins has a real knack for. The book follows various parallel plot threads that continue in separate locations with separate characters throughout the book, finally drawing them together in a taught weave at the end. Rollins skillfully uses the parallel structure to enhance the pacing, allowing separate plotlines to feed into each other's tension and uncertainty. Pacing is another place where a thriller needs to be very carefully written, and Black Order could serve as a template for skillful pacing. Repeatedly I found myself saying "just another half-hour" with regard to other things I needed to do--like, oh, say, meals--because I was so wrapped up in the events of the book.
Summary of Black Order: A Sigma Novel (Sigma Force Novels)
A sinister fire in a Copenhagen bookstore ignites a relentless hunt across four continents. Arson and murder reveal an insidious plot to steal a Bible that once belonged to Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory. And Commander Gray Pierce dives headlong into a mystery that dates back to Nazi Germany . . . and to horrific experiments performed in a now-abandoned laboratory buried in a hollowed-out mountain in Poland.
A continent away, madness ravages a remote monastery high in Nepal, as Buddhist monks turn to cannibalism and torture. Lisa Cummings, a young American doctor investigating the atrocity, is suddenly a target of a brutal assassin working for clandestine forces that want the affair buried at any cost. Lisa's only ally is a hidden pilgrim, Painter Crowe -- director of SIGMA Force, an elite command of American scientists and Special Forces operatives -- who is already showing signs of the baffling malady that destroyed the minds of the monks.
Now it is up to Gray Pierce to save both Painter and Lisa -- and a world in jeopardy -- as SIGMA Force races to expose a century-old plot that threatens to destroy the current world order . . . and alter the destiny of humankind forever.
Combining the historic scope of The Da Vinci Code with the relentless thrills of today's best action novels, James Rollins's Black Order is a classic adventure -- an ingenious and breathtaking tour de force that explodes with revelations . . . while offering a startling new view of our place in the grand scheme of existence.
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