Book Four of the Sigma Force Series
Okay, Belles & Beaus, I can pretty much guarantee you will be getting one of these posts after every book I finish just because I love to share my love of reading. So without further adieu, I give you my opinion on James Rollins’ fourth book of the Sigma Force novel series The Judas Strain.
I recently got into these books within the last year after frequenting the mumsy’s favorite used bookstore. I was chatting with a gentleman there and he had suggested James Rollins after I said that I adored Dan Brown’s novels about Robert Langdon. I decided to dive right on in after doing a little research. I will completely admit that I was hooked after reading the first book entitled Sandstorm.
The Judas Strain is the fourth book in the Sigma Force novel series. To give you an idea of what it’s about without blabbing spoilers, here’s the cover description:
From the depths of the Indian Ocean, a horrific plague has arisen to devastate humankind – unknown, unstoppable… and merely a harbinger of the doom that is to follow.
Operatives of the shadowy covert organization Sigma Force, Dr. Lisa Cummings and Monk Kokkalis search for answers to the bizarre affliction aboard a cruise liner transformed into a makeshift hospital. But a sudden and savage attack by terrorist hijackers turns the mercy ship into a floating bio-weapons lab.
Time is an enemy as a worldwide pandemic grows rapidly out of control. As the seconds tick closer to doomsday, Sigma’s commander, Gray Pierce, must join forces with the beautiful assassin who tried to kill him — following the trail of the most fabled explorer in history into the terrifying heart of an astonishing mystery buried deep in antiquity and in humanity’s genetic code.
Now I know, that tells you a bit about the book but not a lot. So here’s the skinny. James Rollins has taken some history from Marco Polo’s explorations and expanded on things that we don’t know the answers to to create another amazing novel. The previous novel, The Black Order, dealt with WWII Germany and the Nazi eugenics program being continued in the modern day. If you’ve read Dan Brown’s novels following Robert Langdon, then you understand what I’m getting at.
Though Rollins has had to take some liberties, a great deal of this book is focused in history and facts as far as the science part is concerned. He does his research thoroughly for these books and he draws you in with the same characters each book. Certainly there are times when some characters may not show back up, but there’s not always a guarantee all characters will return.
The story obviously follows Gray Pierce along with some of the characters from the previous two books, with a somewhat surprising ending. Truthfully, I was rushing myself through Voyager just so I could get to finish this one. The story has had me hooked, but that’s nothing new for a series that fuses my love of history with fiction in riveting conspiracy like theories.
This book was amazing though and always kept me on my toes, especially with it flipping between all the different story lines. Now, if you’re not a fan of books that do flip-flopping between characters mid-chapter, then I wouldn’t suggest attempting these books. But if you don’t mind it, then by all means I highly recommend checking them out.
This also marks book three in my challenge of reading ten books this year, though I might have to up it at the rate I’m going with books.
If you want to keep up with my progress, feel free to follow me on GoodReads. The link there takes you straight to my profile there!
XOXO,
Trula Marie
