Black Order: A Sigma Force Novel

If you love science and global spy craft you will love this book! I couldn't put it down. It explained so much!

The 3rd book of the series didn’t disappoint. Spanning the globe to solve a present danger from the past is just what I needed over a snowy weekend.

Another one of James Rollins home run hits! Loved the trick ending, didn't see that one coming. Once again I am educated, informed, enlightened and entertained. What a ride!

This is the fourth Rollins book (and third Sigma Force) I’ve read and like all the others, it was a great read. He includes just the right amount of science, action, and interesting characters. Some of the science is pushing believability, but it is all based on the latest findings then added to a rip-roaring fictional tale.If you’re reading reviews of book 3, you have presumably read books one and two. If you liked them, you’ll like this.

Black Order is another solid entry into the Sigma series. These have been my first reads from James Rollins and from what I've seen so far his books are very similar to Clive Cussler, another of my favorite writers. There's a cold opening of some event happening long in the past (Here it's a scene in Poland during the German invasion of WWII) which eventually ties into the villain's nefarious scheme in the present. The main story involves the heroes going from one deathtrap to the next, thwarting enemy assassins left and right until saving the day at the very last possible moment. Sure it's a little over the top, but it's darn entertaining!I won't go into plot details here to avoid spoilers, but if you liked the previous book, you'll enjoy this. What I'm pleased about so far in this series is the characters seem to be evolving with each book. My biggest complaint about Cussler and other similar authors are the characters seem to be stuck in stasis - they never change in age or appearance, never seem to get married, have children, or have any relationships that last outside of a single book. Whenever a new character comes in I just can't get excited because I know I'll likely never see them in the series again. Here I was happy to see the return of Monk and Kat and their advancing story. Also very happy to see Painter Crowe back in the field after it looked like he'd been benched in the last book. New character Lisa Cummings is an interesting addition and looking at the synopsis of the next book, looks like she'll be joining the Sigma team. So far this series has been a blast!

I'm a huge fan of rhis series and this ine was quite good. The author blends fiction and history so well that sometimes makes you question if it real or not, did it happen truly?

Very good read in my opinion...really liked the historical background and the scientific information and debate about "the question of intelligent design versus evolution". Brilliant and well-done!

I've been reading James Rollins since I picked up The Devil Colony at Target. I have been looking forward to reading each of his Sigma novels with anticipation before buying it. I have been reading each in the order they were written after reading The doomsday Key, The Devil Colony and Bloodline last summer This latest, Black Order, is a slam dunk. I loved everything about it from start to finish.Im happy that Rollins has brought back Painter Crowe in a more significant roll. I've been fond of him since Sandstorm. And in his second outing, I feel that I know Gray Pierce better than I did. How wonderful that these individuals have become like friends and I see their characters deepen and grow from book to book. He introduces a new character in this book that has become a favorite. I really hope we get to see her again!While SIGMA Force stories have appeared before, Rollins has greatly developed the basis of this series, and the result is characters that have some claim for personality and glimmers of original plotting. In a genre that isn't particularly noted for novelty and depth of plot, this is a welcome change. If you have enjoyed Rollin's stories before you will like this new work even better.Several related subplots make up the story. Commander Gray Pierce is in Copenhagen following an auction of rare books that involves some surprise bidders. Attempted murder and arson make what he thought was an easy assignment that he could use as an excuse to have a lover's tryst into a frantic chase that comes very close to nipping him in the bud. Meanwhile, a continent or so away, an isolated Tibetan monastery goes insane, trapping Lisa Cummings, a young doctor studying survival in the severe heights of Mt. Everest. Also hidden in the monastery is Painter Crowe, Director of SIGMA Force. The two join in their own flight from merciless hunters.Deep in the mountains is hidden the castle Granitschloss, the ultimate retreat of Heinrich Himmler. Nazi experiments interrupted by the end of the war are still carried on there. An arcane technology is being used to create the super race of which Hitler dreamed. But the current residents may be heirs of the Nazi's but they are no longer the monsters of the Third Reich. Gray Pierce and Painter Crowe piece together the truth, that there is an even more secret organization that intends to use the deadly technology hidden at the castle to forward their own goals of world conquest.Rollins keeps up a good pace, and the suspense builds as Crowe struggles against a deadly condition that is dissolving his body from within even as he tried to put an end to the threats. The story mixes neo-Nazis with not quite Nazi's, secret rays and genetic manipulation, and occult runes with Darwin's bible. Some of the plot is standard thriller fare, but there are just the right number of twists to keep the story fresh. I hope Rollins can keep this up in future volumes, because I'll be buying them.

Evitez de le lire si vous n'avez pas trop de temps : l'auteur nous tient en haleine jusqu'au bout ! Mais qui en doutait ? C'est sombre, instructif, curieux et plein d'actions. On ne s'ennuie pas une seconde.

James Rollins stößt mit seinem aktuellen Roman in eine Nische vor, die bislang den Erfolgsautoren Clive Cussler, Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child vorenthalten blieb: den des Hightech-Thrillers.Was Rollins dabei so besonders macht, ist seine Verknüpfung von revolutionären wissenschaftlichen Ideen mit rasanter Action, wobei er sich zum Unterschied von o.g. Autoren jedoch auf das Wesentliche konzentriert. In vorliegendem Roman greift er auf eine mysteriöse Hinterlassenschaft von Nazi-Wissenschaftlern zurück, die heutzutagte von einem mächtigen Verschwörerkreis benutzt wird, um seine Vorstellung einer elitären, "arisch reinen" Gesellschaft durchzusetzen.Gegen diese Verschwörer kämpfen die Spezialagenten der SIGMA-Force, einer USA-Elitetruppe, deren Aufgabe es ist, den internationalen HiTech-Terrorismus zu bekämpfen, wobei in diesem Fall der Feind lange Zeit die Oberhand behält..Der Thriller garantiert Spannung von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite, allerdings sei davor gewarnt, manche historischen Hintergünde der Handlung ohne weitere Dokumentation bedenkenlos zu übernehmen. Der Mythos einer überlegenen Geheimwissenschaft der Nazis wurde lange Zeit von bestimmten Kreisen dazu benutzt, die selbstverschuldete historische Niederlage Deutschlands im 2. Weltkrieg in einem etwas milderen Licht erscheinen zu lassen.