Wednesday 1 June 2011 | By: Nicole @ Nicole About TOwn

Review: The Devil Colony

The Devil Colony
Title: The Devil Colony (Sigma Series #7)
Author: James Rollins
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Fiction
Age Restriction: PG
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: June 21, 2011
Source: NetGalley on behalf of William Morrow an imprint of Harper Collins
My Rating: 5*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

Deep in the Rocky Mountains, a gruesome discovery — hundreds of mummified bodies — stir international attention and fervent controversy. Despite doubts to the bodies’ origins, the local Native American Heritage Commission lays claim to the prehistoric remains, along with the strange artifacts found in the same cavern: gold plates inscribed with an unfathomable script.


During a riot at the dig site, an anthropologist dies horribly: burned to ash in a fiery explosion in plain view of television cameras. All evidence points to a radical group of Native Americans, including one agitator, a teenage firebrand who escapes with a vital clue to the murder and calls on the one person who might help: her uncle, Painter Crowe, director of Sigma Force.


To protect his niece and uncover the truth, Painter will ignite a war across the nation’s most powerful intelligence agencies. Yet, an even greater threat looms as events in the Rocky Mountains have set in motion a frightening chain reaction, a geological meltdown that threatens the entire western half of the U.S.


From the volcanic peaks of Iceland to the blistering deserts of the American Southwest, from the gold vaults of Fort Knox to the bubbling geysers of Yellowstone, Painter Crowe joins forces with Commander Gray Pierce to penetrate the shadowy heart of a dark cabal, one that has been manipulating American history since the founding of the thirteen colonies.


But can he discover the truth — one that could topple governments — before it destroys all he holds dear?

My Thoughts

Let me just start off by saying that I love books by James Rollins.  Specifically, I love the books in his Sigma Series.  Having said that, I think that this book is one of the best in his Sigma Series.  Over the course of the series, you are introduced to characters who have pretty much reappeared throughout every one of the seven books.  What I especially love, is that no one character is the main focus of the novel where he/she single-handedly solves the worlds problems and holds off the evil foe.  Each of the main character's in this series has their specialty and individual talents and they use them to form one hell of a team.

In the Devil Colony, James Rollins brings the Sigma team back to their home turf and as such the majority of the action takes place in the U.S.  In this novel, we get more of a look into the shadowy organization that has been a thorn in the side of Sigma and the U.S. intelligence community.  At the same time, Rollins provides a bit of history lesson on the founding of the U.S and ties a 200-year-old mystery to events happening in books modern setting.

There is plenty of action, and intrigue, and the suspense is enough to keep you flipping from page to page to see how it all plays out.  Plus, I love all the various explanations and lessons that happen in the course of the story unravelling.  As someone who works with engineers and physicists on a daily basis, I wish they would explain things as clearly to me as it's done in the book.  The concepts are fairly advanced, but the way they are explained makes them relatively easy to understand on a fundamental level.

One thing I was very pleased with is that the characters continue to develop and show hidden depths with each book in the series.  The way that Rollins' describes them and the situations that they are in, had me imagining that I was there as well watching everything unfold as it was happening.  I have yet to come across another series or author that combines action, adventure, suspense, mystery, history, and various other scientific concepts and principles in such a way that they are not leaving the reader either out of their depth or feeling like the author has dumbed down the concepts for them to understand.

All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a well thought out book with plenty of suspense and intrigue.

*This is number 7 in the Sigma Series of books.  While you can probably read them out-of-order, I wouldn't recommend it as there is a natural progression in both character development and overall series plot.*



Disclosure: This review was done after reading an uncorrected ARC copy courtesy of NetGalley and William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins. My priority is to you, and I honour that commitment by being honest! I don't do reviews for payment, nor do I guarantee favourable reviews for any book/galley/ARC sent to me for review.


I promise to stay truthful with you and all opinions represented here are my own. If you are uncertain what this all means, I urge you to read my Review Policy for further clarification. You can also contact me at contact@nicoleabouttown.com.

4 comments:

James Rollins said...

Thanks, Nicole! You are very generous and kind. I may have this review bronzed and hung in my library!

maldivianbookreviewer said...

Great review.
I am a bit behind on the series. I too LOVE the Sigma series!

Nicole said...

Thanks. Considering I only started reading the series in August 2010, I am not doing too bad :)

Nicole said...

You are most welcome. It's a great series and a great book.

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