The Seventh Plague
A Sigma Force Novel
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In a breathtaking blend of scientific intrigue and historical mystery, #1 New York Times bestselling mastermind James Rollins reveals an ancient threat hidden within the pages of the Bible, one that threatens the modern world in The Seventh Plague.
If the biblical plagues of Egypt truly happened—could they happen again—on a global scale?
Two years after vanishing into the Sudanese desert, the leader of a British archeological expedition, Professor Harold McCabe, comes stumbling out of the sands, frantic and delirious, but he dies before he can tell his story. The mystery deepens when an autopsy uncovers a bizarre corruption: someone had begun to mummify the professor’s body—while he was still alive.
His strange remains are returned to London for further study, when alarming news arrives from Egypt. The medical team who had performed the man’s autopsy has fallen ill with an unknown disease, one that is quickly spreading throughout Cairo. Fearing the worst, a colleague of the professor reaches out to a longtime friend: Painter Crowe, the director of Sigma Force. The call is urgent, for Professor McCabe had vanished into the desert while searching for proof of the ten plagues of Moses. As the pandemic grows, a disturbing question arises.
Are those plagues starting again?
Before Director Crowe can investigate, a mysterious group of assassins leaves behind a fiery wake of destruction and death, erasing all evidence. With the professor’s body incinerated, his home firebombed, Sigma Force must turn to the archaeologist’s only daughter, Jane McCabe, for help. While sifting through what’s left of her father’s work, she discovers a puzzling connection tying the current threat to a shocking historical mystery, one involving the travels of Mark Twain, the genius of Nikola Tesla, and the adventures of famous explorer Henry Morgan Stanley.
To unravel a secret going back millennia, Director Crowe and Commander Grayson Pierce will be thrust to opposite sides of the globe. One will search for the truth, traveling from the plague-ridden streets of Cairo to a vast ancient tomb buried under the burning sands of the Sudan; the other will struggle to stop a mad genius locked within a remote Arctic engineering complex, risking the lives of all those he holds dear.
As the global crisis grows ever larger, Sigma Force will confront a threat born of the ancient past and made real by the latest science—a danger that will unleash a cascading series of plagues, culminating in a scourge that could kill all of the world’s children . . . decimating humankind forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Rollins's epic 12th Sigma Force adventure (after The Bone Labyrinth) features exotic locales, heroic quests, quixotic villains, action galore, and enough science and scientific curiosities to titillate even casual readers. Archeologist Harold McCabe, who has been missing for two years, suddenly emerges from the Egyptian desert near death and dies before being able to say where he has been and what has happened. McCabe's body seems to be the source of a deadly pathogen that threatens to cause a pandemic. That thread sends one team including McCabe's daughter, Jean McCabe; bio-archaeologist Derek Rankin; and Sigma Force's operative named Seichan and Commander Grayson Pierce to Egypt and Sudan. Meanwhile, Safia al-Maaz, a senior curator at the British Museum, is kidnapped while speaking with Sigma Force director Painter Crowe in Washington, D.C., and Painter follows that line, which leads to the Arctic and a huge installation run by billionaire Simon Hartnell. A Russian assassin, Valya Mikhailov, matches skills and wits with Seichan, while Valya's assassin twin brother, Anton, does likewise with Crowe. Rollins's characters are as large as his landscape in this vast and vastly entertaining thriller saga.
Customer Reviews
The 7th Plague
Another great story from Rollins! It as a happy surprise to have Safia in the story line reuniting with Painter. The gem in the writing is that you don't need to read this series in order, each book can be read independently with excellent character introductions that don't sound repetitive to devoted readers. The main focus in this book, the return of a historical pandemic, could deter readers due to the jargon and profile. I found myself having to reread and look for additional references in order to understand a lot of the dialogue and to appreciate the implications. Other than the the medical/scientific complexity of the story it was classic, and maybe even a tad bit predictable, Sigma Force.
Another excellent novel
Once again Rollins has impressed me. Love the amount of detail and the mixture of fact and fiction. Always love the facts at the end of the story. Can't wait for the next one....
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