The Doomsday Key

James Rollins is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read several of his books that revolve around the DARPA team. He certainly does his due diligence with historical facts but sometimes it’s a bit much and doesn’t seem all that necessary . His information is sometimes a bit heavy to absorb and takes away from the overall story. I won’t stop reading his books because I do enjoy the fact that his stories contain factual information. I just wish it were a bit on the lighter side.

James Rollins has penned a number of excellent escapist novels. I would recommend

Ice Hunt

,

Subterranean

,

Amazonia

and

Sandstorm

to anyone who enjoys adventuring science/techno-thrillers. I would be more reluctant to do so with this installment of his Sigma series though.

This is yet another thoroughly researched, keep-surviving-by-the-skin-of-your-teeth adventure. Less pronounced in this book yet still present is Rollins’ tendency to move from cliffhanger to cliffhanger, with small breathers in between. It is a book to enjoy during a flight or a rainy weekend – and it will keep you turning pages for hours. However, for a number of reasons this would had been a much better book had it not been yet another Sigma sequel.

Sigma simply does not work that good for me. I cannot buy the small number of people undertaking such critical tasks. In fact, Sigma is so understaffed that not only has to rely on certified idiots (sorry Kowalski, but you know it is true…) but even the director himself has to go into the field. They operate all over the world under thin pretexts, they do not even seem to be official sanctioned. And to add insult to injury, most new recruits seem to suffer the Star Trek’s away-party odd crew-member fate…

On top of that, Sigma seems to deal with one crisis after another while under attack from both a shadow power group and other government secret services. For a writer who takes great pride in the accuracy of his facts interweaved with his fiction, this requires a continuous leap of faith.

I can understand how having a book franchise can work for both the writer and his publisher. The first has a set framework of characters to weave his new plot with whereas the later has a more or less loyal fun-base to fall back to. However, they should both keep in mind that this does not always work for the reader.

This is a 3.5 stars novel but I rounded it up because Rollins has given a number of techno-thrillers I greatly enjoyed in the past.

I love this series. The writing flows well. I love that he takes real life mysteries and puts his stamp on them. It makes them enjoyable and easy to comprehend while still learning new things. There is always a section afterward that explains where he got his idea from and what is real and what has his stamp on it. Highly recommend.

I’m not sure why I waited so long to read this book. Normally when a new Rollins is released I’m at the store the same day. Perhaps it was because I was afraid the goodness couldn’t last forever, but I should have had better faith in Mr. Rollins. The Doomsday Key was fabulous. It contains all the necessary ingredients for a successful smrgsbord of action-adventure-thriller-suspense entertainment. There are certain criteria you need for an endeavor like this: the good guys, the bad guys, comedic relief (oh, Kowalski), conspiracy rooted in historical truth (popes and prophecies), gunfights and explosions, caves, caves that cave in, a deadly disease, a finger in a leather bag with ancient symbols burned on the outside, a good dosing of betrayal, some stone circles and smelly peat bogs, oh and a few cliffhangers thrown in for good measure. It’s all here!

This time around, Sigma is back to work with a shadowy double agent operative named Seichan who also works with the Guild (see: bad guys). We still don’t know if Seichan is true to us (and by us I mean Sigma, of course) or if she’s just out for her own benefit. Either way, if Commander Gray Pierce doesn’t work with her, the whole world could be taken over by a nasty spore; a fungus that grows mushrooms inside of you.

Yeah, gross.

Doomsday is the sixth Sigma novel, and it could be my favorite. Sometimes after the first few books in a series an author teeters out, the books become formulaic and predictable, but Doomsday is none of these. This one is more mature than its predecessors; I even got teary at one point toward the end. Not to mention there was so much information related to true historical facts that my head was spinning, and I came out the other side smarter for it. Google Saint Malachy and his prophecies, or the legend of the Black Madonna, or colony collapse disorder, and you’ll see what I mean; but you won’t understand how they all go together until you read this book. It really makes you think… if the facts and details used to make a plot are real, what if Rollins’ theories as put down in fiction are actually true? And that, that right there, is why I love his books. I suggest you run your person out to the closest book store and start with Sandstorm (Sigma prequel) and work your way up from there.

5 stars. His next book is not Sigma, but I love his individual adventures too, so I can’t wait for the Altar of Eden on December 29.

Book’s condition was described as very good. I would assess it more as fair. It is a little grubby with several ‘dog eared’ pages. However, overall it’s okay and readable.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member