James Rollins - Action-adventure Novels - SIGMA Force Series

SIGMA Force Series

The SIGMA Force is a fictional division of the U. S. DARPA program. James Rollins has developed unique characters operating in an official top-secret capacity. The chief operatives in SIGMA combine highly-trained military skills with specialist scientific knowledge. The Force's purpose is to investigate and to secure sensitive information that could be a threat to the United States. It is a combination of Counter-terrorism, research, and covert operations. Following the first book, Sandstorm, the SIGMA Force headquarters moves into the sub-basement of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.. Rollins mixes science, religion, and theory throughout the Sigma Force series, creating stories involving a covert, well-equipped group of United States "black ops" scientist/soldiers. These novels are intended to be read in chronological order.

The first book of the SIGMA Force series, Sandstorm, published in 2004, starts with Commander Painter Crowe and Cassandra Sanchez attempting to thwart a computer hacker who is putting the United States into danger. Meanwhile in the British Museum, a private museum is destroyed. The cause can not be explained. DARPA director, Vice Admiral Anthony Rector instructs SIGMA to send a small team to investigate. Their quest takes them into the Arabian desert, through a nightmarish world of mysticism and legend, to a long-buried threat that may bring about the end of the balance of power. This novel introduces SIGMA Force and, also, a mysterious opposing group, referred to as the Guild, who appear in some of Rollins' future SIGMA novels. The main character, Painter Crowe, is intelligent, fearless, resourceful and romantic. In this story, Crowe battles not only with the Guild but also his former SIGMA partner and potential love interest, Cassandra Sanchez. Cassandra is acting under the orders of the Guild. Crowe's mission is to locate the lost city of Ubar with the multi-millionaire Lady Kara Kensington and her adoptive sister, Safia Al-Mazz. At Ubar, Crowe's team, chased by Cassandra, finds a lake of anti-matter which could provide unlimited power. In spite of being forced to cooperate with Cassandra because she holds Safia's life in the balance, Painter defeats the Guild. Ubar collapses into the lake. Later, using a clue he got from Cassandra, she refers to "The Minister", and salvaging her laptop, Crowe realises that DARPA director, Admiral Tony "The Tiger" Rector, is part of the echelon that run the Guild. Rector commits suicide before he can be arrested and Doctor Sean McKnight, the Director of SIGMA, is selected to replace him. Painter Crowe is promoted into the position of the director of SIGMA.

The magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ child; their bones may bring destruction to the world, if they are allowed to remain in the hands of the thieves who stole them, for these bones may not be bones at all. They may be something much more terrible and deadly, as Map of Bones, his second SIGMA Force novel published in 2005, suggests.

In Black Order, published June 2006, SIGMA Force team members risk their lives to get to the heart of one of humankind's greatest mysteries: the origins of life itself.

James' next novel was The Judas Strain, published July 2007. The members of SIGMA Force seek to prevent an outbreak that could threaten the entire planet. It is based on the Hindu temple complex of Angkor Wat. The book also marks the apparent death of Dr. Monk Kokkalis and the introduction to Sigma Force of the character Joe Kowalski, who appeared in Ice Hunt. He acts as Gray Pierce's sidekick in this and following stories. Gray's parents are captured and held hostage by sadistic Guild operative, Annishen, and Amen Nasser.

The fifth SIGMA Force novel is The Last Oracle published 2008. It involves an ambitious, young Russian politician's desire to use autistic savant children to develop a new world order. James weaves an exquisite plot linking the Greek Oracle of Delphi, the toxic ruins of Russia, the Roma people (gypsies who fled India in the 11th century), and the ancient Harappan culture of India into a tense, modern-day thriller. It is revealed that Monk did not die as understood previously in The Judas Strain, but was, for reasons central to the plot of this book, picked up by a Russian sub and ended up in the hands of the bad guys with amnesia due to experiments done on him. He is rescued by three of the children and together they escape and attempt to thwart the plot. With help from Gray and the Gypsies, he and the children succeed although he still has possibly permanent amnesia due to the brain surgery experiments. If the plans hadn't been stopped, many world-leaders would have been killed due to radiation exposure at Chernobyl and millions of people would have died worldwide due to radiation being flooded into the world from the highly-radioactive Lake Karachay.

The sixth book in the Sigma Force series, The Doomsday Key, published June 2009, starts with three murders on three different continents. Each shares a puzzling, hideous disfigurement but, otherwise, no other obvious connection. A clue links the father of one victim, an influential U. S. senator, with a Norwegian corporation. Painter Crowe takes part of the team to Oslo, whilst an unexpected phonecall from a traumatised Rachel Verona has Grayson rushing to Rome. From the Colosseum, Gray goes to the Lake District in England, drives to Aberdaron at the end of the Lleyn Peninsular, and by boat to Bardsey Island in Wales. He ends up in a high-security prison in France. Painter and his team fly over the Arctic Circle to land in Spitzbergen, the largest island in Svalbard. Ultimately, it is revealed that the characters are dealing with an ancient, fungal parasite that was discovered and used first by the Egyptians and then, later, by eleventh century ancient Celts and Druids as a bioweapon. Had it been used in an attempt at genocide? Viatus International has been infiltrated by the Guild. Together, and with the assistance of Senator Sebastian Gorman, they have put a major part of the U. S. population at risk of contracting an appalling fatal plague. Firstly, by obtaining the fungus, and secondly, by combining it with genetically modified corn. A counter-agent must be found. Ultimately, an ancient embalming compound is revealed to be the cure. A surprise twist at the end indicates that the SIGMA team may have been traveling with a senior member of the Guild. Director Painter Crowe plays a major role in this book.

In the seventh in the series, The Devil Colony, published June 2011, Sigma Force deals with a mysterious nanotechnology that may have been mastered by an ancient Native American tribe. It is suggested that they may be possibly descended from Manasseh, a lost tribe of Israel. The team attempt to track down a lost map, journeying to Fort Knox, and the grave of Meriwether Lewis. Rollins refers to secret codes used by Thomas Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis. A coded message from Lewis leads Painter Crowe to John Trumbull's painting depicting the presentation of the Declaration of Independence. "The Skeleton Key", a short story, featuring Seichan in Paris prior to the The Devil Colony, has an explanation of how she is involved in the story.

The eighth novel, Bloodline, published June 2012, has Sigma Force following up the information gained by Painter Crowe in the previous novel. The President's daughter is kidnapped by mysterious doctors who seek her baby. President Gant's family is revealed to be a driving force behind the Guild, with their bloodline stretching back for centuries. The novel deals with the quest for immortality and with nanotechnology and microengineering. "Tracker" is a short story introducing Tucker Wayne and Kane, who are featured in Bloodline.