Thursday 4 August 2011 | By: Nicole @ Nicole About TOwn

Review: Map of Bones

Title: Map of Bones (Sigma Series #2)
Author: James Rollins
Genre: Fiction, Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller
Rating: PG
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: May 1st 2006
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 523 pages
Source: Purchased Finished Copy
My Rating: 4*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

The crime is inhumanly cruel with horrific consequences both unthinkable and inevitable. During a service at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, a band of armed intruders dressed in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and terror, ruthlessly gunning down worshippers and clergy alike. The killers haven't come for the church's gold and valuable artwork, but for a priceless treasure secreted within: the preserved bones of the Three Magi who once came to pay homage to a newborn savior. As they flee the carnage they have wrought, they carry a prize that could reshape the world.


The Vatican is in turmoil, and Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri is assigned to lead the investigation. But no ordinary police organization alone can deal with the bizarre theft and massacre, and SIGMA Force -- an elite covert arm of the U.S. Defense Department -- is called in under the command of Grayson Pierce. New to SIGMA, Pierce assembles a crack team of scientific and Special Forces operatives to unravel the mystery of the stolen bones, and together they set out on a twisting trail through a labyrinth of clues and dark revelations that carry them to the sites of the Seven Wonders of the World -- and to the doorstep of the mystical and terrifying Dragon Court.


An ancient, secret fraternity of alchemists and assassins, the master-adepts of the Dragon Court have plans for the sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind in devastating ways that only the maddest of zealots could desire -- and they will let nothing and no one stand in their way. Suddenly Pierce, Verona, and the SIGMA team are the hunted as well as the hunters, forced to use every skill they possess to survive as they follow the bones to the ultimate confrontation between darkness and light -- in a lost place of history where science and religion will unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time.

My Thoughts

So as of now, everyone already knows of my total fangirl love and appreciation of James Rollins and his Sigma Force series.  Oh, you didn't know, well now you do!

This is book number two in the Sigma Force series and it is the first one that I read.  I honestly didn't feel that I was missing anything from the story by not having read book one (which is called Sandstorm by the way).

From the opening moments of the book, the action and suspense doesn't stop.  From the massacre in the cathedral in Cologne, Germany, to the famous lighthouse of Alexandria, James Rollins once again takes the reader on a never-ending trip filled with action, adventure, suspense and drama.  Add to that a healthy dose of History, Science and the ancient art of Alchemy and you have one book you won't be able to put down.

I have said it before and I will say it again, the best part of the Sigma Series is that though Rollins manages to wrap up whatever mystery is the subject of the book, the overall mystery of the series, gets resolved a little at a time.  All in all, it leaves you satisfied at the end of the book, but wanting to get on to the next one to get the next piece of the puzzle.



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