New Releases by James ROLLINS

In het achtste deel van de Sigma Force-reeks van bestsellerauteur James Rollins is Het Gilde erop uit om een nieuwe historische gebeurtenis te manipuleren: de Amerikaanse presidentsverkiezingen. In Bloedlijn, het achtste deel van de Sigma Force-avonturenthrillerreeks van bestsellerauteur James Rollins, is het Sigma-team in Somalië wanneer Het Gilde zijn volgende plan in werking stelt in de VS... Galilea, 1025. In een eeuwenoude citadel vindt een tempeliersridder een lang verborgen heilige schat: de Bachal Isu, de staf van Jezus. De staf is een relikwie van onschatbare waarde en bevat mysterieuze krachten die de mensheid voor altijd zullen veranderen. Bijna duizend jaar later kapen Somalische piraten voor de kust van Afrika een jacht en ontvoeren daarbij een passagier, de zwangere dochter van een prominente Amerikaanse politicus. Het Sigma-team krijgt de opdracht om de vrouw uit de Somalische jungle te redden. Het team moet de confrontatie aangaan met het Gilde, een duistere orde die door de eeuwen heen belangrijke historische gebeurtenissen heeft gemanipuleerd. Hun volgende doelwit: de aanstaande Amerikaanse presidentsverkiezingen. James Rollins is een internationale bestsellerauteur. Zijn Sigma Force-thrillers worden in meer dan 40 landen uitgegeven. Rollins studeerde diergeneeskunde en woont in het Sierra Nevada-gebergte. Hij is fanatiek speleoloog en duiker. Van zijn boeken werden in Nederland en Vlaanderen ruim 120.000 exemplaren verkocht.

La vérité sur la création des États-Unis demeure ensevelie sous les ruines d''une colonie tombée dans l''oubli : la Colonie du Diable... La découverte dans les Rocheuses de centaines de corps momifiés et d''étranges reliques archéologiques attire l''attention du monde entier. Mais une terrible explosion se produit sur les lieux, tuant une anthropologue sous l''œil des caméras de télévision. Tout accuse un groupe d''Indiens radicaux et, en particulier, une jeune fille qui s''est enfuie en emportant un indice primordial pour l''enquête. Traquée, elle appelle à l''aide son oncle Painter Crowe, directeur de l''unité spéciale Sigma Force. Des sommets volcaniques d''Islande aux déserts américains, de la réserve d''or de Fort Knox aux geysers bouillonnants de Yellowstone, Painter Crowe s''allie au commandant Gray Pierce afin de déjouer la mystérieuse conspiration qui manipule l''histoire des États-Unis depuis ses origines...

In his first-ever collaboration, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins combines his skill for cutting-edge science and historical mystery with award-winning novelist Rebecca Cantrell’s talent for haunting suspense and sensual atmosphere in a gothic tale about an ancient order and the hunt for a miraculous book known only as . . . The Blood Gospel

«Il massimo della letteratura di intrattenimento.» The New York Times «Segreti, colpi di scena, intrecci di ampi respiro... Nessuno – ripeto: nessuno – è all’altezza di James Rollins.» Lee Child «I libri della Sigma Force sono il massimo della letteratura di intrattenimento.» The New York Times «I protagonisti della Sigma Force sono grandiosi come i romanzi di questa serie imperdibile.» Publisher Weekly Un''avventura della Sigma Force Vol. 10 Terra Santa, estate 1134. Lo cerca da sedici anni. Per recuperarlo, ha sacrificato la sua giovinezza e il patrimonio della sua famiglia. Si è persino travestita da uomo, così da essere ammessa tra i Templari e prendere parte alle crociate. E, alla fine, ha trovato la cripta. Ora l’ultimo ostacolo è un vecchio guardiano, un guardiano che aspetta quel momento da 455 anni. Seychelles, oggi. Lo teme da giorni. Per sfuggirgli, Amanda Gant ha viaggiato sotto falso nome e ha evitato l’occhio indiscreto delle telecamere a circuito chiuso, finché non è salita a bordo di uno yacht al largo delle Seychelles. Lì dovrebbe essere al sicuro. Invece un gruppo di uomini armati prende il comando della barca e rapisce Amanda. Per portarla da lui. Zanzibar, oggi. Lo insegue da ore. Per trovarlo, il comandante Gray Pierce ha girato a lungo fra i tortuosi vicoli della città. E adesso deve convincerlo a collaborare, perché Tucker Wayne è un ex ranger specializzato in operazioni di salvataggio, e il presidente degli Stati Uniti ha un disperato bisogno d’aiuto: sua figlia Amanda è stata rapita. E non da criminali qualsiasi, bensì dalla Gilda, un’organizzazione sulle tracce di un segreto che la famiglia Gant custodisce da novecento anni. Un segreto di cui Amanda è l’ultima depositaria.

From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins and award-winning suspense novelist Rebecca Cantrell comes a disturbing story of vengeance, bloodshed, and creatures that prowl the night. In the haunted, war-torn highlands of Afghanistan, amid the ruins of Shahr-e-Gholghol, an archaeology team is massacred in the night. Sergeant Jordan Stone and his crack forensic team are called in to examine the site, to hunt for the perpetrators of this horrific act. But the discovery of a survivor—a child of ten—will shatter all the team knows about life and death. Among the crumbling bones of dead kings, something hoary and murderous stirs out of the ancient past, lurching forward to claim vengeance on those still living. Included with this thrilling story is a sneak peek at The Blood Gospel, where the further exploits of Sergeant Stone and his team will be revealed.

In the medieval heart of Budapest, Captain Tucker Wayne and his war dog, Kane, rescue a mysterious woman fleeing three armed men. The secret she holds will unlock a terrible treasure, one steeped in blood and treachery, tied to a crime going back to the fall of Nazi Germany, and a heritage of suffering and pain that reaches out from the past to wreak havoc in the present. In a final showdown in the depths of a lost cemetery, truths will be unearthed, secrets exposed, and the fate of all will rest upon the shoulders of one man and a dog whose courage is beyond measure. Featuring an extract from BLOODLINE.

Immortality is not just within our reach—it is already here. Galilee, 1025. A Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure, a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change humankind forever. A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman. Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for a covert rescue mission. Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal that has manipulated events throughout history. And the danger is only beginning . . . Halfway around the world, a firebombing at a fertility clinic in South Carolina exposes a diabolical conspiracy that goes back centuries . . . a scheme that lies within our genetic code. With time against them, SIGMA must race to save an innocent unborn baby whose very existence raises questions about the nature of mankind: Could you live forever? Would you live forever?

“One of the most inventive storytellers writing today” —Lincoln Child, bestselling co-author of Gideon’s Corpse “The modern master of the action thriller.” —Providence Journal-Bulletin “Nobody—and I mean nobody—does this stuff better than Rollins.” —Lee Child, bestselling author of the Jack Reacher novels Bloodline, a breathtaking Sigma Force thriller from the phenomenal James Rollins, is further proof that, when it comes to explosive adventure and nail-biting suspense, this New York Times bestselling author is one of the very best in the business! Bloodline is a lightning-paced, unputdownable international thriller chock-full of the trademark elements that have propelled Rollins to the top of virtually every national bestseller list: cutting-edge science ingeniously blending with history and nonstop action. A relentlessly exciting tale that races across the globe, Bloodline ensnares popular series hero Commander Gray Pierce in a deadly conspiracy involving Somali pirates, the kidnapped daughter of the U.S. Vice President, and a dark secret hiding in the human genetic code. This is mystery, suspense, surprise, and ingeniously inventive storytelling as only James Rollins can do it.

«Segreti, colpi di scena, intrecci di ampi respiro... Nessuno – ripeto: nessuno – è all’altezza di James Rollins.» Lee Child «Il massimo della letteratura di intrattenimento.» The New York Times Poco prima della Seconda guerra mondiale, alcuni tra i più brillanti scienziati dell''Unione Sovietica furono trasferiti in un''imponente base segreta, costruita sotto la calotta polare, per lavorare a un progetto rivoluzionario che avrebbe cambiato il corso della Storia. Poi, improvvisamente, gli esperimenti vennero sospesi e la base abbandonata: quel luogo doveva essere dimenticato da tutti, sepolto per sempre nei ghiacci dell''Artico. Sessantacinque anni dopo, un sottomarino americano equipaggiato per effettuare ricerche scientifiche si avvicina casualmente a un''enorme isola di ghiaccio, che si estende sin nelle profondità dell''oceano Artico. I ricercatori a bordo scoprono che al suo interno è incastonata una struttura artificiale e, mentre stanno scandagliando l''isola col sonar, registrano un fugace movimento: qualcuno si aggira nella base, qualcuno - o qualcosa - che non sarebbe mai dovuto sopravvivere. La notizia del ritrovamento mette in fibrillazione i servizi segreti di Stati Uniti e Russia. Scienziati e militari vengono mandati tra i ghiacci dell''Artico per fare luce su quella scoperta. Ma anche alcuni civili - come Matthew Pike, un ex membro delle Forze Speciali, e sua moglie Jenny, che dopo la morte del figlio ha interrotto i rapporti col marito - saranno loro malgrado coinvolti in un vortice di segreti, violenze e tradimenti, perché quella base nasconde misteri che non devono essere svelati.

«Lo scettro del re dei romanzi d''avventura è in mano a James Rollins.» The Huffington Post «Il massimo della letteratura di intrattenimento.» The New York Times «Segreti, colpi di scena, intrecci di ampi respiro... Nessuno – ripeto: nessuno – è all''altezza di James Rollins.» Lee Child «I libri della Sigma Force sono il massimo della letteratura di intrattenimento.» The New York Times «I protagonisti della Sigma Force sono grandiosi come i romanzi di questa serie imperdibile.» Publisher Weekly Un''avventura della Sigma Force Vol. 3 Grayson Pierce, agente segreto della Sigma - una sezione occulta del dipartimento della Difesa statunitense -, è stato mandato a Copenhagen per seguire un''asta di libri antichi, che pare aver suscitato l''interesse di alcune organizzazioni terroristiche. Sembra una missione di routine, ma, quando un gruppo di sicari uccide la proprietaria di uno dei pezzi più importanti dell''asta - la Bibbia appartenuta a Charles Darwin, il padre dell''evoluzionismo -, Gray intuisce che quel libro non è semplicemente un oggetto d''antiquariato, ma la chiave di un segreto sconcertante rimasto sepolto dalla caduta del Terzo Reich. Nel frattempo, in un remoto monastero del Nepal, la giovane dottoressa Lisa Cummings è testimone dell''ondata di follia e violenza che si è improvvisamente diffusa tra i monaci, i quali scrivono ossessivamente col sangue indecifrabili sequenze di rune celtiche e svastiche. Tuttavia, mentre cerca di far luce su quegli avvenimenti oscuri, Lisa viene rapita insieme con un enigmatico pellegrino, colpito anche lui dalla «malattia»: è Painter Crowe, il direttore della Sigma. Vertici di un triangolo di complotti ed enigmi che affondano le loro radici nella Germania nazista, Gray, Painter e Lisa dovranno impegnarsi in una caccia che li porterà dall''Asia all''Europa, dall''America all''Africa: perché, dalle ceneri della seconda guerra mondiale, è risorta una fenice che vuole gettare la sua ombra di morte sull''intera umanità. Le avventure della Sigma Force La città sepolta La mappa di pietra L’ordine del sole nero Il marchio di Giuda L’ultimo oracolo La chiave dell’apocalisse Il teschio sacro L’eredità di Dio L’occhio dell’inferno Estinzione Labirinto d’ossa La settima piaga La corona del diavolo - disponibile dal 27 settembre 2018 I racconti della Sigma Force Il tempio del sole L''oro perduto La nave fantasma Gli altri romanzi Artico Amazzonia L’altare dell’eden La via d’oro L’ultima eclissi La città di ghiaccio

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 Force 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.

In Copenhagen, a suspicious bookstore fire propels Commander Gray Pierce of SIGMA Force on a relentless hunt across four continents. Meanwhile, a terrifying mystery surrounding horrific experiments performed in an abandoned laboratory unfolds in Poland, and Buddhist monks in the mountains of Nepal inexplicably turn to cannibalism and torture. They seem to suffer from a baffling, mind-destroying malady, whose signs are beginning to appear in Painter Crowe, director of SIGMA Force. Now, only SIGMA Force can save a world suddenly in terrible jeopardy, because a new order—one that may answer questions about the origin of life—is on the rise. Don''t miss an exclusive excerpt from the next SIGMA Force adventure The Devil Colony (available June 21), in which gruesome murders in an Indian cave lead Painter Crowe to a dark cabal that has been manipulating history since the founding of America.

The Rand scientific expedition entered the lush wilderness of the Amazon and vanished. Years later, one of its members has stumbled out of the world''s most inhospitable rainforest—a former Special Forces soldier, scarred, mutilated, terrified, and mere hours from death, who went in with one arm missing . . . and came out with both intact. Unable to comprehend this inexplicable event, the government sends Nathan Rand into this impenetrable secret world of undreamed-of perils to follow the trail of his missing father . . . toward mysteries that must be solved at any cost. But the nightmare that is awaiting Nate and his team of scientists and seasoned U.S. Rangers dwarfs any danger they anticipated . . . an ancient, unspoken terror—a power beyond human imagining—that can forever alter the world beyond the dark, lethal confines of Amazonia. Let New York Times bestselling author James Rollins lead you into the primal jungle for an adventure of a lifetime!

Using his father''s watch as a key, Jake intends to return to Calypsos. Instead he''s thrust into a strange desert land where he''s joined by his friends Marika, Pindor, and Bach''uuk and his sister, Kady. As they try to figure out what to do next, a surprise attack by the beautiful young Princess Nefertiti takes them all captive. Soon even she is battling the Skull King''s minions. For Jake has something the Skull King wants—a prize that will give its owner awesome power, including control of the fearsome Howling Sphinx. In a new pounding adventure, Jake races against time to outfight and outwit Kalverum Rex, knowing that if the Skull King wins, he''ll be unstoppable. Filled with unexpected danger, challenging puzzles, and dazzling action, this is a first-rate, fast-paced thriller—a read only James Rollins could have created!

In dit eerste deel van James Rollins’ Sigma Force-reeks start de Sigma Force een onderzoek naar een mysterieus materiaal uit oude, Arabische legendes – zodat het niet in de handen van Het Gilde valt. In Zandstorm, het eerste deel van de Sigma Force-avonturenthrillerreeks van bestsellerauteur James Rollins, start Sigma de zoektocht naar een legendarische, krachtige energievorm, voordat die in kwade handen terechtkomt. Verborgen onder het zand van de woestijn ligt de legendarische stad Oebar, het immens rijke handelscentrum van het oude Arabië. Vermoedelijk is de locatie ook een geheimzinnige bron van antimaterie, die krachtig genoeg is om de hele aarde van energie te voorzien – of te vernietigen... Een expeditie van wetenschappers en Sigma-agenten Painter Crowe en Coral Novak trotseert zandstormen en een allesverzengende zon om de verdwenen stad Oebar te vinden en binnen te komen. Ze zijn op zoek naar de antimaterie en moeten die vinden voordat deze in handen valt van Het Gilde, dat er kwaadaardige bedoelingen mee heeft. James Rollins is een internationale bestsellerauteur. Zijn Sigma Force-thrillers worden in meer dan 40 landen uitgegeven. Rollins studeerde diergeneeskunde en woont in het Sierra Nevada-gebergte. Hij is fanatiek speleoloog en duiker. Van zijn boeken werden in Nederland en Vlaanderen ruim 120.000 exemplaren verkocht.

Carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States, Ice Station Grendel has been abandoned for more than seventy years. The twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union, it was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible. But an American undersea research vessel has inadvertently pulled too close—and something has been sighted moving inside the allegedly deserted facility, something whose survival defies every natural law. And now, as scientists, soldiers, intelligence operatives, and unsuspecting civilians are drawn into Grendel''s lethal vortex, the most extreme measures possible will be undertaken to protect its dark mysteries—because the terrible truths locked behind submerged walls of ice and steel could end human life on Earth.

Ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland surfaces from an aborted underwater salvage mission to find the Earth burning. Solar flares have trig-gered a series of gargantuan natural disasters. Earthquakes and hellfire rock the globe. Air Force One has vanished from the skies with America''s President on board. Now, with the U.S. on the narrow brink of a nuclear apocalypse, Kirkland must pilot his oceangoing exploration ship, Deep Fathom, on a desperate mission miles below the ocean''s surface. There devastating secrets await him—and a power an ancient civilization could not contain has been cast out into modern day. And it will forever alter a world that''s already racing toward its own destruction.

Following the fall of Baghdad, two Iraqi boys stumble upon armed men looting the city zoo. The floodgates have been opened for the smuggling of hundreds of exotic birds, mammals, and reptiles to Western nations, but this crime hides a deeper secret. Amid a hail of bullets, a concealed underground weapons lab is ransacked—and something even more horrific is set free. Seven years later, Louisiana state veterinarian Lorna Polk stumbles upon a fishing trawler shipwrecked on a barrier island. The crew is missing or dead, but the boat holds a frightening cargo: a caged group of exotic animals, clearly part of a black market smuggling ring. Yet, something is wrong with these beasts, disturbing deformities that make no sense: a parrot with no feathers, a pair of Capuchin monkeys conjoined at the hip, a jaguar cub with the dentition of a saber-toothed tiger. They also all share one uncanny trait—a disturbingly heightened intelligence. To uncover the truth about the origin of this strange cargo and the terrorist threat it poses, Lorna must team up with a man who shares a dark and bloody past with her and is now an agent with the U.S. Border Patrol, Jack Menard. Together, the two must hunt for a beast that escaped the shipwreck while uncovering a mystery tied to fractal science and genetic engineering, all to expose a horrifying secret that traces back to humankind''s earliest roots. But can Lorna stop what is about to be born upon the altar of Eden before it threatens not only the world but also the very foundation of what it means to be human?

James Rollins, the New York Times bestselling master of nail-biting suspense and historical mystery, combines cutting-edge biotechnology with a centuries-old secret in an apocalyptic story that reveals where humankind is truly headed The Doomsday Key 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. The first clue is discovered inside a mummified corpse buried in an English peat bog—a gruesome secret that threatens America and the world. Aided by two women from his past—one his exlover, 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. Sigma Force confronts humankind''s greatest threat in an adventure that races from the Roman Coliseum to the icy peaks of Norway, from the ruins of medieval abbeys to the lost tombs of Celtic kings. The ultimate nightmare is locked within a talisman buried by a dead saint—an ancient artifact known as the Doomsday Key.

Revisit the remarkable debut novel that launched the career of New York Times bestselling author James Rollins. The Earth’s last mystery is about to be revealed…The world beneath the world is waiting. Beneath the ice at the bottom of the Earth is a magnificent subterranean labyrinth, a place of breathtaking wonders—and terrors beyond imagining. A team of specialists led by archaeologist Ashley Carter has been hand-picked to explore this secret place and to uncover the riches it holds. But they are not the first to venture here—and those they follow did not return. There are mysteries here older than time and revelations that could change the world. But there are also things that should not be disturbed—and a devastating truth that could doom Ashley and the expedition: they are not alone.

What if you could bio-engineer the next great world prophet: scientifically produce the next Buddha, the next Mohammed, or even the next Jesus? Would it mark the Second Coming or initiate a chain reaction with disastrous consequences? A master at combining historical and religious intrigue with edge-of-your-seat adventure, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins brings back SIGMA Force to battle a group of rogue scientists who''ve unleashed a bio-engineering project that could bring about the extinction of mankind. From ancient Greek temples to glittering mausoleums, from the slums of India to the radioactive ruins of Russia, two of SIGMA''s finest must race against time to solve a mystery that dates back to the first famous oracle of history—the Greek Oracle of Delphi.

Daring adventurer-archaeologist Indiana Jones returns in an all new, action-packed saga, in the novelization of the fourth, long-anticipated Indiana Jones movie. 300,000 first printing. (A Lucasfilms/Paramount Pictures film, written by David Koepp from a story by George Lucas, directed by Steven Spielberg, releasing May 2008, starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett, Shia LeBeouf, John Hurt, Ray Winstone, & Jim Broadbent)

ju·das strain, n. A scientific term for an organism that drives an entire species to extinction A master at combining historical and scientific intrigue with cutting-edge adventure, New York Times bestselling author of Map of Bones and Black Order James Rollins returns with his most relentless, high-octane thriller to date—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 the shadowy covert organization SIGMA Force—search for answers to the bizarre affliction that has inexplicably washed ashore. 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. At a Fourth of July celebration a world away, SIGMA''s commander Gray Pierce thwarts the murderous schemes of a beautiful assassin—a would-be killer who holds the first clue to the discovery of a possible cure. With the fate of every man, woman, and child on Earth hanging in the balance, Pierce joins forces with the woman who wanted him dead, and together they embark upon an astonishing quest—one that winds through Venetian tombs, Byzantine cathedrals, and jungle-encrusted ruins—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. And as a relentless madman dogs their every step, Pierce 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, Pierce will realize he can truly trust no one—not the bewitching enigma who runs at his side or even those who are closest to him—for any one of them could be . . . a Judas.

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.

Nationally bestselling author James Rollins has transported readers to the dark heart of the Amazon, the bowels of the earth, far below the ocean, and the top of the world. Now he embarks upon his most gripping and terrifying adventure yet: to a nightmare buried beneath a treacherous desert wasteland. An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum—a devastating blast that sets off alarms in clandestine organizations around the world, as 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. And her search for answers is about to lead Kara and her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery''s brilliant and beautiful curator, into a world they never dreamed actually existed. For new 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. Two extraordinary women and their guide, the international adventurer 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 counterespionage team, is hunting down a dangerous turncoat, Crowe''s onetime partner, to retrieve the vital information she has stolen. And the trail is pointing him toward Ubar. But the many perils inherent in a death-defying trek deep into the savage heart of the Arabian Peninsula pale before the nightmarish secrets to be unearthed at journey''s end. What is hidden below the sand is more than a valuable relic of ancient history. It is an ageless power that lives and breathes—an awesome force that could create a utopia or tear down everything humankind has built during millennia of civilization. Many lives have already been destroyed by ruthless agencies dedicated to guarding its mysteries and harnessing its might. And now the end may be at hand for Safia, for Kara, for Crowe, and for all the interlopers who wish to expose its mysteries, as it prepares to unleash the most terrible storm of all . . .

The mysterious reappearance of the body of a missing CIA agent lost in Brazil four years earlier sparks a mission into the Amazon by a team of American scientists and military people.