"In the tradition of Dan Brown"
In Cologne, Germany in the Kolner Dom Cathedral, during
services celebrating the Feast of The Three Kings, killers
dressed in monk robes kill almost the entire
congregation. Some were shot but most died in the same
manner at the same time. The golden sarcophagus was
opened and the bones of the magi were stolen. The sole
survivor tells how the people died and describes the
symbol on the monks' robes that belong to the Royal Dragon
Court, a fraternal order of alchemists who want the world
to return to a feudal order with them as the leaders. The Vatican sends two of its agents and asks for help from
the U.S. Sigma Force, a secret organization known to very
few. Working together, the group figures out that the
bone dust in the sarcophagus was also in the wafer that
everyone had eaten. The Royal Dragon Court wants to
possess the knowledge the Magi possessed so that it would
give them unlimited power and it is up to the Sigma force
and the Vatican spies to stop them from completing their
quest for world domination. Readers who like action thrillers in the vein of Jack
Higgins and a story reminiscent of Dan Brown's THE DAVINCI
CODE will find MAP OF BONES an exquisitely exciting and
entertaining reading experience. The audience will find
that James Rollins also attempts to educate his readers
about the inner working of the Catholic Church and the
early teachings of the Apostles that were later destroyed
as heretical. There will be other Sigma Force books that
readers will eagerly await them coming out in the same
manner as anticipating their publication like waiting for
a Clancy or Brown thriller. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 12, 2005
SummaryA mysterious biblical object, nefarious Vatican spies and a
deadly centuries-old religious cabal—sound familiar?
Sacramento veterinarian Rollins offers more Da Vinci
Code--style thrills for the seriously addicted. In this
seventh outing, hooded men invade midnight mass at the
Cologne Cathedral and slaughter almost everyone present,
then break open a gold sarcophagus and steal... the bones of
the Three Wise Men. Grayson Pierce, top agent in the
Department of Defense's covert Sigma Force, takes a team to
Rome, joins up with love-interest Rachel Verona, a
carabinieri corps lieutenant, and her Vatican official
uncle, Vigot. It seems that the Dragon Court, a medieval
alchemical cult-cell that still operates within the Catholic
Church, is to blame, and it also seems that the bones of the
Magi aren't really bones, but the highly reactive Monatomic
gold that the group plans to use to accomplish its ultimate
goal—Armegeddon. Rollins has few peers in the research
department, which makes the historical material fascinating,
and he keeps the dialogue believably colloquial and the
incidental elements motivated—and plausible for at least
short stretches. Clumsy romance is mostly overcome by lots
of action. Dan Brown-ers looking for methadone will add to
Rollins's usual solid numbers.
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