Unrestricted Access
New and Classic Short Fiction
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
Experience the exciting breadth of #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins’s wild imagination and adventurous spirit in this anthology of his short masterworks, including a new full-length novella featuring Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane, as well as eleven previously published short stories, gathered together for the first time.
In this breathtaking collection of short fiction, his first ever anthology, James Rollins brings together twelve thrilling stories that dig a little deeper into his creative stomping grounds and open vistas into new landscapes and characters.
At the center of Unrestricted Access is the never-before-published novella "Sun Dogs.” While trekking through the Sonora desert, a gunshot thrusts Tucker and Kane into an adventure that challenges their considerable skills. The discovery of secrets known only to the native tribes of Arizona threatens to unleash an ancient force that could irreparably alter the future. It also forces Tucker to make a terrible choice that will shatter his relationship with his soul-bonded companion Kane. As these partners learn, nothing remains buried forever and old debts must be paid, no matter the cost.
Other stories—each with an introduction by James Rollins—are just as compelling, offering broader insight into this acclaimed master’s fictional universes, including:
“The Pit”: a young dog is kidnapped and brutalized into becoming the bloody champion of a dog-fighting ring. But can this tortured monster find redemption and a path back to the boy who first raised him with love and compassion?
“Tagger”: A pair of teenage street artists must protect San Francisco from a demon who has been seeking revenge for centuries.
“The Devil’s Bones”: In this jungle adventure—the first joint story from Rollins and Steve Berry—Commander Gray Pierce and Cotton Malone must work together using their unique skills to survive a deadly threat.
The stories “The Midnight Watch,” “The Skeleton Key,” “Tracker,” and “Kowalski's in Love” shine light into some of Sigma Force’s secrets. Who were these characters before they were recruited by Sigma? What solo adventures did they experience? How do these short adventures tie into the larger Sigma universe? Rollins offers some clues.
And rounding out this collection are a pair of entertaining stories “Blood Brothers” and “City of Screams” that complement The Order of the Sanguines series.
Filled with adventure, intrigue, history, and speculative science, Unrestricted Access demonstrates Rollins’s remarkable creative powers and is a must-have collection for his many fans.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fans of bestseller Rollins's Sigma Force thrillers (The Last Odyssey, etc.) will best appreciate this collection of 12 stories, all reprints except for "Sun Dog," a novella starring series hero Tucker Wayne. In "Kowalski's in Love," a typical formulaic specimen, Sigma Force character Joseph Kowalski is introduced hanging upside down in a snare, having ended up on an island off Brazil's coast populated by savage baboons infected as part of a mad scientist's experiments. The attractive physician who frees Kowalski warns him that the island will be firebombed in less than half an hour, giving him limited time to locate an antidote that will save the lives of humans who have contracted the same mind-altering disease as the primates. At the outset of "The Skeleton Key," another series character has an explosive charge locked around her neck, setting up another familiar ticking-bomb scenario. Author notes connect stories to the various series, complete with hype: a new character is "unlike any seen in print before," and a discovery will alter how readers "view the very founding of America." Many will conclude that Rollins's blend of fantastic concepts, violence, and action works best at novel length.
