Map of Bones: A Sigma Force Novel (Sigma Force Series Book 2) by James Rollins (Epub)

Description

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 under the command of Grayson Pierce leaps into action, 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.

User’s Reviews

Review “This novel…is sure to be compared to Dan Brown’s DA VINCI CODE, but, in every way, it’s a much better book….Clever and suspenseful.” — Booklist”Rollins has few peers in the research department, which makes the historical material fascinating….Dan Brown-ers looking for methadone will add to Rollins’s usual solid numbers.” — Publishers Weekly From the Author About James RollinsJAMES ROLLINS is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers that have been translated into more than forty languages. Known for unveiling unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets, Rollins’ knack for breakneck pacing and stunning originality has been hailed by critics and embraced by scores of millions of readers around the world.The Critics RaveThe New York Times says that his “roguish charm comes from his efforts to persuade readers the story is credible [through] real-life sources for his novel’s science, history and geography.” Rollins’ rare blend of action, suspense, and knowledge was also mentioned by the Huffington Post, which stated that “After Crichton passed away in 2008 he clearly passed the baton to James Rollins, who like Crichton, is a renaissance man.”NPR calls his work “adventurous and enormously engrossing…” and the New York Journal of Books had this to say: “If you’re a fan of smart, entertaining adventure fiction, this is your summer beach read writ large….All the science, all the history, and all the locations are masterfully intertwined. The characters are multi-dimensional. And the story is, well, a corker.”The Story Teller’s StoryAs a boy immersed in the scientific adventures of Doc Savage, the wonders of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and pulps such as The Shadow, The Spider, and The Avenger, James Rollins decided he wanted to be a writer. He honed his storytelling skills early, spinning elaborate tales that were often at the heart of pranks played on his brothers and sisters.Before he would set heroes and villains on harrowing adventures, Rollins embarked on a career in veterinary medicine, graduating from the University of Missouri and establishing a successful veterinary practice. This hands-on knowledge of medicine and science helps shape the research and scientific speculation that set James Rollins books apart.Explosive Page-Turning AdventuresThe exotic locales of James Rollins novels have emerged as a hybrid between imagination, research, and his extensive travels throughout the United States and Europe, as well as New Zealand, the South Pacific, China, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America. Recent jaunts include book tours and stops across the country and several European nations to give talks, seminars, and media interviews.In recent years, much of James’ travel has involved meeting readers in small and large groups, at writing and fan conferences, and even aboard seagoing “seminars.” James’ mentoring and coaching skills have made him a sought after writing instructor and guest speaker for workshops, symposia, conventions, and other forums throughout the country.James Rollins is the author of nine thrillers in the bestselling Sigma Force series (Sandstorm, Map of Bones, Black Order, The Judas Strain, The Last Oracle, The Doomsday Key, The Devil Colony, Bloodline, and The Eye of God); six individual adventure thrillers; and the Jake Ransom middle grade series (Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow, Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx.) From the Inside Flap The bestselling master of astonishing adventure James Rollins delivers his most relentlessly exciting page-turner to date-a gripping and explosive novel of an ancient conspiracy to create a terrifying new world order out of the ashes of modern civilization.MAP OF BONES The crime is inhumanity 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 new born savior. As they flee the carnage they have wrought, they carry a price 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. Defence 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 door step 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.A masterful novel that combines the exhilarating mysticism of The Da Vinci Code with the pulse-pounding action of Tom Clancy thriller, James Rollins’s Map of Bones is destined to be a modern classic that will stand among the very best adventure tales every written.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Like most of the books in this genre, this one is formulaic. We have out secret team of highly trained x-seals and intelligence operatives. They are all a little emotionally damaged but actually really sensitive inside. They can’t trust others but, of course, one look between the main male and main female characters and there is crazy chemistry. The difference here is we also have several priests who know a lot about gnostic traditions and the sort of rebel faction that supports this tradition.Weaknesses here are several. First of all, if this group is so smart and put together by powers that be, why are there so few of them with so few firearms? They get outsmarted and outgunned left and right, over and over, and then always barely escape. This gets predictable and boring.Second, many spots have very very long passages of historical information that sometimes is not really necessary. In some spots this goes on for three or four pages. Just jump ahead.Also, I wish I had a dime for every time the author said “muttered” or “grumbled” when a character kind of talks under his breath. There must be dozens of examples of this, and I can not imagine any reader for whom this does not stick out a little bit.But if you want a quick adventure with some supernatural religious stuff combined with some science and history, this might be a fun read for you. This is my first one in the series but I may try another.

⭐ Same issues as in the first book, too many personal issues, too many cliffhangers, and what’s with the female nemesis deal? In both books the main character is dogged by a deadly female agent. Poorly edited or proofread. The main character has studied Hindi philosophy? Hindi is a language spoken largely in North Centralish India. Aside from Hindus, it is spoken by many Muslims, Christians, Jains and others. Hindu refers to a philosophy and religion which is practiced by many who do not speak Hindi, like the folks in Tamil Nadu, W. Bengal, Kerala and Karnataka, to name a few. Not a satisfying experience, I shall try no more of them.

⭐ Unlike a lot of people, I don’t mind dropping into the middle of a series. I had read one of the later books in the Sigma Force series so, when I saw this one for sale, I picked it up. Rollins really delivers in this novel with arcane mysteries, the latest tech and scientific theories as well as plenty of action. My only small issue with the book was Rollin’s tendency to go off on philosophical digressions in the dialogue while action is happening around the characters. Action first, please, there is time to explain later!! Other than this slightly irritating tendency, I love these books and will definitely pick up others.

⭐ I work in a library and when they closed because of the pandemic I asked my boss if I could just grab a few books and she said “yes”. I just went down the mystery isle and crab 10 books all different authors. This book by James Rollins was one of them. I have never read him before I am now on the 4th book of his Sigma series. These books have great adventure, characters , mystery and education, as these book are about history at the end of the book Rollins tell you what is fiction and what is base on truth .If you want superior writing James Rollins is way a past 10 stars.

⭐ Was really digging around for something Indiana Jonesy for a change of pace, this is certainly a mix of that with some whiffs of Dan Brown, Fringe, and similar floating throughout. It was fairly fast paced and the plot did not feel terribly contrived. But with the pacing came a sense of repetitiveness.Still probably would have been thoroughly enjoyable, except… The action felt extremely silly. Maybe its a point of view and experience thing, having done many ill-advised adventures serving in the military, but for all the attempts at making the pseudo science believable the action parts were seriously not. It was like the author name drops some pieces of hardware and expects some cred to carry over. No one shoots pistols with both hands and actually hits things. Not even delta operators. Granted some of them can do some serious trick shooting, but not like that. Also, no one who is as experienced as the characters are portrayed would stop to consider emotions or relationships in the middle of an engagement. Like that doesn’t even enter into the mindset. Its training, reflex, reaction. That was terribly contrived.Then simple things like diving for a fair amount of time then immediately surfacing and not getting bends. Or even talking about it. Like I guess if you were basically wading but the scene in question conveyed some depth greater than 15 feet since they were flinging a serious boat around with aplomb.Torpedoes.. So, there is this thing called blast overpressure. When an explosion occurs, it will generate a shockwave. Amazingly, these travel much faster through water than air, so it is actually more dangerous to be “in the water” near a boat that gets hit with a torpedo (we’ll pretend for a moment that it wasn’t a real torpedo, which are actually made to sink like massive naval ships and not little bitty schooners). In fact, it is / has been common practice to throw grenades over the side of a boat to take out divers, since even a small amount of explosives has a large kill radius in the water. But regardless, a real torpedo would likely have taken out anyone in the water well past the distance of a football field and likely caused significant injury past that distance.So like great story, mediocre execution. Maybe tone back the guns blazing and action unless you do some amount of equivalent research on that side as well.

⭐ The Sigma Force series has a stupid name. And I suppose the whole thing is a bit on the cheesy side. But it’s fun. Kind of Indiana Jones, kind of Da Vinci Code — It’s like a series of Clive Cussler novels if Cussler had the ability to write readable dialogue.The fun is in full force here, at least for the first 2/3 of the book. There’s suspense, there’s science, there’s something resembling history (sorry James, but Elaine Pagels is not what anyone would call a reliable source). For hundreds of pages the story moves forward at a breakneck pace.And then it hits a brick wall. Just when it feels like the story should be racing into the third act, it sprains an ankle and limps into another puzzle scene, followed by a string of betrayals, leading up to a couple of major reveals that absolutely anyone over the age of 2 could see coming. Yes, the book starts with a bang and ends with a thud.Still, it’s readable, and the first 2/3 mostly makes up for the rest. So I do recommend it, but just barely. Rollins is probably the best modern author for this kind of thriller, so if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s worth it.

⭐ I feel as if my mind has been opened and my faith in the Unknown increased. This book was part science, part intrigue, definitely lots of Action and it makes you really think. This is what I love most about James Rollins novels.This book was awesome. Family and friends could betray you, and enemies can be the best allies.The book begins with a massacre at a church in Germany…the way the victims die is so awful… Anyway, from there, we learn that the papacy has deadly secret sects going all the way back to a biblical past(I love that stuff)I don’t want to give away too much, so I’ll say this: You’ll be on the edge of your seat.The Sigma Force team from Book 1, put together by Painter Crowe is on a dangerous mission to save the world, and it all begins with the history of the magi. I totally was not ready for this.

⭐ Upon first looking at this book`s description on Amazon you might think that it is nothing more than another The Da Vinci Code rip-off however if you are a fan of sandstorm then you will understand that this is not the case.This taut thriller about a conspiracy of (yet another) secret religious sect of the Catholic Church delivers all the punch of a well-plotted novel. Grayson Pierce, an operative for the U.S. top secret Sigma Force, is called to command a group of two other agents, Monk and Kat, to investigate the mysterious massacre of church goers in Cologne, Germany and the theft of the cathedral’s relics, the bones of the Magi. They are assigned to work with an intel group from the Vatican, Monsignor Vigor Verona and his niece Rachel, a lieutenant in the Carabinieri Corps. The five quickly discover that the deaths in Cologne were carried out by the Imperial Dragon Court, a secret society dating back to the Middle Ages, and that the theft of relics in that church was just the beginning. Through Vigor’s vast knowledge of church symbolism, history, and architecture, and the others’ combined education in chemistry, physics, and engineering, they begin to solve the mystery that could lead to Armageddon. Their lives are threatened at every turn as they race the ruthless members of the Dragon Court to uncover the next clue.Dan Brown popularized the literary premise of a complex religious conspiracy by a secret sect with The Da Vinci Code. James Rollins’s book is just as great as The Da Vinci Code because of its smooth writing and plotting and better integrated historical details. Rollins’s approach allows for a breathtakingly fast pace and incredible suspense. Sometimes the connections between the past and the riddle at hand are tenuous, although the information itself is usually fascinating. Rollins moves convincingly from one point of view to another, using all to satisfying effect, and he does great when trying to stir up the emotional connections between characters. The action easily keeps the reader drown into the story. The truly intriguing aspect of this novel is that every character believes that Biblical Armageddon will occur if the Dragon Court solves the final riddle. Although the clues are solved using science, they lead to what is ultimately a supernatural mystery.Map of Bones is “the first in the exciting new Sigma adventure series” so it should be interesting to see how Rollins follows up this series debut. Im sure he will deepen the characterization of his Sigma Force even more as his readers start to identify with them throughout the series, and his excellent storytelling ability will serve him well.This novel makes fantastic escapist reading and yet delivers some intellectual depth to distinguish it from many other thrillers. If you are a fan of Dan Brown then I Highly recommended this for readers looking for a good thriller.

⭐ I’ve enjoyed other books in this series but not this one . It started off as a rollicking fast paced thriller. But then it bogged down into ridiculous minutia. At 42% I started skimming, then I decided to move on. I don’t care how it ended as I’m not too sure what it is all about

⭐ I was sorry that Painter Crowe was promoted and no longer was a field agent ( until the end ). The Catholic Church sure has lot of secrets, with spies of its own. The descriptions of all the places where Sigma Force was looking for clues were wonderful. I wonder how many readers have been to these churches checking out the story. At least there is hope that not everything got destroyed.e)

Keywords

Free Download Map of Bones: A Sigma Force Novel (Sigma Force Series Book 2) in Epub format
Map of Bones: A Sigma Force Novel (Sigma Force Series Book 2) Epub Free Download
Download Map of Bones: A Sigma Force Novel (Sigma Force Series Book 2) 2009 Epub Free
Map of Bones: A Sigma Force Novel (Sigma Force Series Book 2) 2009 Epub Free Download
Download Map of Bones: A Sigma Force Novel (Sigma Force Series Book 2) Epub
Free Download Ebook Map of Bones: A Sigma Force Novel (Sigma Force Series Book 2)