Sigma Force

An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum and the race begins to determine how it happened, why it happened, and what it means. Lady Kara Kensington's family paid a high price in money and blood to found the gallery that now lies in ruins. Her search for answers leads Kara and her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery's curator, into a world they never dreamed existed. Evidence exposed by the tragedy suggests that Ubar, a lost city buried beneath the Arabian desert, is more than mere legend...and that something astonishing is waiting there. The two extraordinary women and their guide, Omaha Dunn, are not the only ones being drawn to the desert. Former U.S. Navy SEAL Painter Crowe, a covert government operative and head of an elite counter-espionage team, is hunting down a dangerous turncoat and the trail is pointing him toward Ubar. What is hidden below the sand is more than a valuable relic of ancient history. It is an ageless power that lives and breathes. Many lives have already been destroyed by ruthless agencies dedicated to guarding its mysteries and harnessing its might. The end may be at hand for Kara, Safia, Crowe, and all of the interlopers who wish to expose its mysteries, as it prepares to unleash the most terrible storm of all... Performed by John Meagher.

During a crowded service at a cathedral in Germany, armed intruders in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and destruction. But the killers have not come for gold; they seek a more valuable prize: the bones of the Magi who once paid homage to a newborn savior . . . a treasure that could reshape the world. With the Vatican in turmoil, SIGMA Force leaps into action. An elite team of scientific and Special Forces operatives under the command of Grayson Pierce and accompanied by Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri, they are pursuing a deadly mystery that weaves through sites of the Seven Wonders of the World and ends at the doorstep of an ancient, mystical, and terrifying secret order. For there are those with dark plans for the stolen sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind . . . when science and religion unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time.

A sinister fire in a Copenhagen bookstore ignites a relentless hunt across four continents. Arson and murder reveal an insidious plot to steal a Bible that once belonged to Charles Darwin. And Commander Gray Pierce dives headlong into a mystery that dates back to Nazi Germany...and to horrific experiments performed in a now-abandoned laboratory in Poland. A continent away, madness ravages a remote monastery in Nepal, as Buddhist monks turn to cannibalism and torture. Lisa Cummings, an American doctor investigating the atrocity, is suddenly a target of a brutal assassin. And Lisa's only ally is Painter Crowe, director of SIGMA Force, who already shows signs of the baffling malady. Now it is up to Gray Pierce to save them both as SIGMA Force races to expose a century-old plot that threatens to destroy the current world order . . . and alter the destiny of humankind forever.

ju·das strain, n. A scientific term for an organism that drives an entire species to extinction New York Times bestselling author James Rollins returns with a terrifying story of an ancient menace reborn to plague the modern world . . . and of an impossible hope that lies hidden in the most shocking place imaginable: within the language of angels. From the depths of the Indian Ocean, a horrific plague has arisen to devastate humankind-a disease that's unknown, unstoppable . . . and deadly. But it is merely a harbinger of the doom that is to follow. Aboard a cruise liner transformed into a makeshift hospital, Dr. Lisa Cummings and Monk Kokkalis-operatives of SIGMA Force-search for answers to the bizarre affliction. But there are others with far less altruistic intentions. In a savage and sudden coup, terrorists hijack the vessel, turning a mercy ship into a floating bio-weapons lab. A world away, SIGMA's Commander Gray Pierce thwarts the murderous schemes of a beautiful would-be killer who holds the first clue to the discovery of a possible cure. Pierce joins forces with the woman who wanted him dead, and together they embark upon an astonishing quest following the trail of the most fabled explorer in history: Marco Polo. But time is an enemy as a worldwide pandemic grows rapidly out of control. As a relentless madman dogs their every step, Gray and his unlikely ally are being pulled into an astonishing mystery buried deep in antiquity and in humanity's genetic code. And as the seconds tick closer to doomsday, Gray Pierce will realize he can truly trust no one, for any one of them could be . . . a Judas.

In Washington D.C., a homeless man dies in Commander Gray Pierce's arms, shot by an assassin's bullet. But the death leaves behind a greater mystery: a bloody coin found clutched in the dead man's hand, an ancient relic that traces back to the Greek Oracle of Delphi. As ruthless hunters search for the stolen artifact, Pierce discovers the coin is the key to unlocking a plot that threatens the very foundation of humanity. For an international think-tank of scientists has discovered a way to bioengineer autistic children who show savant talents into something far greater and far more frightening-all in hopes of creating a world prophet for the new millennium, one to be manipulated to create a new era of global peace . . . a peace on their own terms. From ancient Greek temples to glittering mausoleums, from the slums of India to the radioactive ruins of Russia, two men must race against time to solve a mystery that dates back to the first famous oracle of history-the Greek Oracle of Delphi. But one question remains: will the past be enough to save the future?

At Princeton University, a famed geneticist dies inside a biohazard lab. In Rome, a Vatican archaeologist is found dead in St. Peter's Basilica. In Africa, a U.S. senator's son is slain outside a Red Cross camp. The three murders on three continents bear a horrifying connection: all the victims are marked by a Druidic pagan cross burned into their flesh. The bizarre murders thrust Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force into a race against time to solve a riddle going back centuries, to a ghastly crime against humanity hidden within a cryptic medieval codex. Aided by two women from his past,-one his ex-lover, the other his new partner-Gray must piece together the horrifying truth. But the revelations come at a high cost, and to save the future, Gray will have to sacrifice one of the women at his side. That alone might not be enough, as the true path to salvation is revealed in a dark prophecy of doom. The ultimate nightmare is locked within a talisman buried by a dead saint-an ancient artifact known as the Doomsday Key.

From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a thrilling short story that delves deep beneath the city of Paris to a dark necropolis, where the only means for escape is…The Skeleton Key. Seichan is ripped out of the Sigma series for an adventure all her own-but can she survive? The beautiful and elusive assassin wakes in a hotel in Paris with a deadly electronic collar fastened to her throat. Joined by a boy who is similarly threatened, she must rescue the son of a hated enemy, who has fallen under the sway of the nefarious leader of an apocalyptic cult. To survive, she must venture into the dark world beneath the City of Lights, into the infamous catacombs of Paris. Caught between two enemies, she must fight for her life…while time ticks down toward a fiery apocalypse. But in the dark, surrounded by the moldering bones of the dead, even success does not equal survival. In the end, the only true hope for the world lies in a stunning act of betrayal. Included with this short story is a sneak peek at the first 70 pages of The Devil Colony, where a clue unlocked by The Skeleton Key will play a key role.

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. All evidence points to a radical group of Native Americans, including one agitator 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 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 before it destroys all he holds dear?

New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes you to the edge of modern medicine, genetics, and technology, revealing the next evolutionary leap forward: Immortality-a future conceived through the monstrous ingenuity of man . . . Galilee, 1025. A cunning Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure: the Bachal Isu-the staff of Jesus Christ-a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that will forever change humanity if unleashed. A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht off the coast off the Horn of Africa, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman and brutally killing her husband. Painter Crowe and his SIGMA team are enlisted for the top secret rescue mission. The kidnapped woman is Amanda Gant-Bennett, the daughter of U.S. president James Gant. Crowe is more than a little suspicious that the kidnapping masks a far more nefarious plot. In the field, Commander Gray Pierce leads his small team of operatives into the treacherous African jungle to find the missing woman. But what should be a straightforward rescue turns into a fiery ambush and a deadly act of betrayal. As Commander Pierce and his team discover, the hostage is a pawn in a shattering act of terrorism with dark and shocking repercussions. And the danger is only beginning . . . Performed by Peter Jay Fernandez.

The crash of a U.S. military research satellite in the remote wilds of Mongolia triggers an explosive search for the valuable cargo it holds: a code-black physics project connected to the study of dark energy, the energy associated with the birth of our universe. But the last blurry image from the falling satellite captures a chilling sight: a frightening look into the future, a view of a smoldering eastern seaboard of the United States in utter ruin. At the Vatican, a mysterious package arrives for the head of Pontifical ancient studies, sent by a colleague who vanished a decade earlier. It contains two strange artifacts: a skull scrawled with ancient Aramaic and a tome bound in human skin. DNA testing reveals both are from Genghis Khan-the long-dead Mongol king whose undiscovered tomb is rumored to hold the vast treasures and knowledge of a lost ancient empire. Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma-joined by a pair of Vatican historians-race to uncover a truth tied to the fall of the Roman Empire, to a mystery bound in the roots of Christianity's origins, and to a weapon hidden for centuries that holds the fate of humanity.

A military research station buried in the remote Sierra Nevada Mountains broadcasts a frantic distress call that ends with a chilling order: "There's been a breach. Failsafe initiated. No matter the outcome: Kill us . . . kill us all." When help arrives to investigate, they discover that everyone is dead-not just the scientists, but every living thing for fifty square miles is annihilated-and the blight is spreading. Only one team on earth has the scientific knowledge and military precision to handle this mission: Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma. The dead scientists were working on a secret project, researching radically different forms of life on Earth, life that could change our understanding of biology and humanity itself. But something set off an explosion in the lab, and now Sigma must contend with the apocalyptic aftermath. Following a fascinating trail of clues, Sigma will make a shocking discovery involving a prehistoric continent and a new form of life and death buried under miles of ice. Gray Pierce and his dedicated team must race to decipher millennia-old secrets out of the frozen past and untangle mysteries buried deep in the darkest jungles of today, as they face their greatest challenge yet: stopping the Sixth Extinction-the end of humankind.

From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a lightning-paced short story, in which a major attack on U.S. soil can only be stopped by…The Midnight Watch. In the dead of night, a faceless enemy hacks into the Smithsonian Institution's network of servers, but it is only the first strike masking a larger attack. To rescue a biologist trapped in the National Museum of Natural History and to discover the true intent behind an assault that grows bolder and bloodier by the minute, Sigma Force must unleash its most headstrong operative-Joe Kowalski-to do what he does best: lay waste to anything between him and his goal. From a daring rescue to a cross-city chase like no other, Kowalski will discover the shocking truth hidden in the most unexpected of places: the heart of the National Zoo.

A war is coming, a battle that will stretch from the prehistoric forests of the ancient past to the cutting-edge research labs of today, all to reveal a true mystery buried deep within our DNA, a mystery that will leave readers changed forever . . . In this groundbreaking masterpiece of ingenuity and intrigue that spans 50,000 years in human history, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes us to mankind's next great leap. But will it mark a new chapter in our development . . . or our extinction? In the remote mountains of Croatia, an archaeologist makes a strange discovery:  a subterranean Catholic chapel, hidden for centuries, holds the bones of a Neanderthal woman. In the same cavern system, elaborate primitive paintings tell the story of an immense battle between tribes of Neanderthals and monstrous shadowy figures. Who is this mysterious enemy depicted in these ancient drawings and what do the paintings mean? Before any answers could be made, the investigative team is attacked, while at the same time, a bloody assault is made upon a primate research center outside of Atlanta. How are these events connected? Who is behind these attacks?  The search for the truth will take Commander Gray Pierce of Sigma Force 50,000 years into the past. As he and Sigma trace the evolution of human intelligence to its true source, they will be plunged into a cataclysmic battle for the future of humanity that stretches across the globe . . . and beyond. With the fate of our future at stake, Sigma embarks on its most harrowing odyssey ever-a breathtaking quest that will take them from ancient tunnels in Ecuador that span the breadth of South America to a millennia-old necropolis holding the bones of our ancestors. Along the way, revelations involving the lost continent of Atlantis will reveal true mysteries tied to mankind's first steps on the moon. In the end, Gray Pierce and his team will face to their greatest threat: an ancient evil, resurrected by modern genetic science, strong enough to bring about the end of man's dominance on this planet. Only this time, Sigma will falter-and the world we know will change forever.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a shocking short story, where a chance mishap leads to the discovery of a weapon like no other in... Crash and Burn. On a transatlantic flight, the two black sheep of Sigma Force Seichan and Kowalski must set aside their mutual dislike as a mysterious fiery force knocks their aircraft out of the sky. This unlikely duo must use every skill, weapon, and bit of ingenuity to survive a night on a remote volcanic island, where their only refuge is the haunted, bat-plagued grounds of a seemingly deserted resort. But something horrific awaits the two, something born of the latest science but rooted in our basest human instincts. To survive they will need to learn to work together but even then, it may be too late.

The latest riveting and suspenseful thriller of historical mystery and scientific exploration in the Sigma Force series from New York Times bestselling author James Rollins.

A construction project beneath the National Mall reveals a dark secret dating back to the Civil War, something buried by a cabal of scientists, led by Alexander Graham Bell, who helped found the Smithsonian Institution. It is a cache of bones, preserved in amber, protecting a wonder like no other, the very secret of life after death. But such a prize is guarded by a horror out of the ancient past, a horror that still lives in the marrow of those bones-and is now free again. From a crystalline lab atop Mount Fuji to an island off of Hawaii teeming with what's been called the dark matter of life, Sigma Force must solve a mystery going back eons, to when life first took root on this planet. But the menace is spreading, changing, growing, adapting, and outwitting every attempt to stop it. It means to retake a world it once ruled. For Sigma Force to stop it, Commander Grayson Pierce will have to do the unthinkable: team up with Sigma's greatest enemy-the newly resurrected Guild--even it if means sacrificing one of their own.

In the race to save one of their own, Sigma Force must wrestle with the deepest spiritual mysteries of mankind in this mind-expanding adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling author, told with his trademark blend of cutting edge science, historical mystery, and pulse-pounding action. Arriving home on Christmas Eve, Commander Gray Pierce discovers his house ransacked, his pregnant lover missing, and his best friend's wife, Kat, unconscious on the kitchen floor. With no shred of evidence to follow, his one hope to find the woman he loves and his unborn child is Kat, the only witness to what happened. But the injured woman is in a semi-comatose state and cannot speak-until a brilliant neurologist offers a radical approach to "unlock" her mind long enough to ask a few questions. What Pierce learns from Kat sets Sigma Force on a frantic quest for answers that are connected to mysteries reaching back to the Spanish Inquisition and to one of the most reviled and blood-soaked books in human history-a Medieval text known as the Malleus Maleficarum, the Hammer of Witches. What they uncover hidden deep in the past will reveal a frightening truth in the present and a future on the brink of annihilation, and force them to confront the ultimate question: What does it mean to have a soul?

To save the world and our future, Sigma Force must embark on a dangerous odyssey into an ancient past whose horrors are all too present in this page-turning thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins that combines cutting-edge science, historical mystery, mythology, and pulse-pounding action. For eons, the city of Troy-whose legendary fall was detailed in Homer's Iliad-was believed to be myth, until archaeologists in the nineteenth century uncovered its ancient walls buried beneath the sands. If Troy was real, how much of Homer's twin tales of gods and monsters, curses and miracles-The Iliad and The Odyssey-could also be true and awaiting discovery? In the frozen tundra of Greenland, a group of modern-day climatologists and archaeologists stumble on a shocking find: a medieval ship buried a half mile below the ice. The ship's hold contains a collection of even older artifacts-tools of war-dating back to the Bronze Age. Inside the captain's cabin is a magnificent treasure that is as priceless as it is miraculous: a clockwork gold atlas encircled by an intricate silver astrolabe. The mechanism is signed with the name of its creator, Ismail al-Jazari, a famous Muslim inventor considered to be the Da Vinci of the Arab world-a brilliant scientist who inspired Leonardo's own work. Once activated, the moving globe traces the path of Odysseus' famous ship as it sailed away from Troy. But the route detours as the map opens to reveal an underground river leading to a hidden realm underneath the Mediterranean Sea. The map indicates that this subterranean world is called Tartarus, the Greek name for Hell. In mythology, Tartarus was where the wicked were punished and the monstrous Titans of old, imprisoned. When word of Tartarus spreads-and of the cache of miraculous weapons said to be hidden there-tensions explode in this volatile region where Turks battle Kurds, terrorists wage war, and civilians suffer untold horrors. The phantasmagoric horrors found in Homer's tales are all too real-and could be unleashed upon the world. Whoever possesses them can use their awesome power to control the future of humanity. Now, Sigma Force must go where humans fear to tread. To prevent a tyrant from igniting a global war, they must cross the very gates of Hell.

From number one New York Times best-selling author James Rollins, the latest riveting, deeply imaginative thriller in the Sigma Force series, told with his trademark blend of cutting-edge science, historical mystery, and pulse-pounding action. It begins in Africa.... A United Nations relief team in a small village in the Congo makes an alarming discovery. An unknown force is leveling the evolutionary playing field. Men, women, and children have been reduced to a dull, cattle-like state. The natural world surrounding them - plants and animals - have grown more cunning and predatory, evolving at an exponential pace. The insidious phenomenon is spreading across the African continent, threatening the rest of the world. But is it a natural event? Or more terrifyingly, did someone engineer it? What has made the biosphere run amok? Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force are prepared for the extraordinary and have kept the world safe - vigilance for which they have paid a tragic personal price. Yet even these brilliant and seasoned scientific warriors do not understand what is behind this frightening development - or know how to stop it. As they race across the nation and around the globe - from Washington D.C. to the densest jungles of Africa - to find answers, the members of Sigma realize they have become prey. To head off global catastrophe, Sigma Force risks their lives to uncover the shattering secret at the heart of a biosphere run amok - a truth that will illuminate who we are as a species and where we may be headed...sooner than we know. Mother Nature - red in tooth and claw - is turning against humankind, plummeting the entire world into The Savage Zone.

In the latest riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author, an international research station in the Coral Sea comes under siege during a geological disaster that triggers massive quakes, deadly tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. To stop the world from burning, it's up to Sigma Force to uncover a secret buried at the heart of our planet. The Titan Project-an international research station off the coast of Australia-discovers a thriving zone of life in an otherwise dead sea. The area teems with a strange bioluminescent coral that defies science yet holds great promise for the future. But the loss of a military submarine in the area triggers a brutal attack and sets in motion a geological disaster that destabilizes an entire region. Massive quakes, volcanic eruptions, and deadly tsunamis herald a greater cataclysm to come-for something is stirring miles under the ocean, a threat hidden for millennia. As seas turn toxic and coastlines burn, can Sigma Force stop what has been let loose-especially as an old adversary returns, hunting them and thwarting their every move? For any hope of success, Commander Gray Pierce must search for a key buried in the past, hidden deep in Aboriginal mythology. But what Sigma could uncover is even more frightening, something that will shake the very foundations of humanity.

From the #1 New York Times master of international thrillers comes the story of a global hunt across the top of world, pitting nation against nation, as ancient myths of a lost continent prove all too real. The execution of a Vatican archivist within the shadow of the Kremlin exposes a conspiracy going back three centuries—to the bloody era of the Russian Tsars. Before his murder, he manages to dispatch a coded message, a warning of a terrifying threat, one tied to a secret buried within the Golden Library of Tsars, a vast and treasured archive that had vanished into history. As combative forces race for the truth behind this death and alarming discovery, Sigma Force is summoned to aid in the search—not only for this missing trove of ancient books, but to follow a trail far into the Arctic, to search for the truth about a lost continent and a revelation that could ignite a global war. But Sigma Force has its own difficulties at home after an explosive attack on the National Mall—one aimed at the heart of their covert agency—has left them vulnerable and exposed. The growing conflict—both on Russian soil and deep in the Arctic—will reignite a centuries-old war between the newly resurgent Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican, while sabers rattle across the nations of the Arctic Circle, threatening to turn those icy seas into a fiery conflagration. Facing enemies on all sides, it will be up to Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force to unravel a mystery going back millennia—and uncover the truth about a lost civilization and an arcane treasure that could save the planet...or destroy it.