Sandstorm
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4.3 • 926 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
More heart-stopping action and suspense from the bestselling author of Amazonia and Subterranean. . . . “Rollins writes with intelligence, clarity, and a refreshing sense of humor.”—Kirkus Reviews
In his five previous thrillers, James Rollins, the king of speculative adventure writing, has taken readers on mind-expanding journeys spanning from the top of the world to deep within the earth’s surface. In this latest voyage of imagination combining hard science with explosive page-turning excitement—his most breathtaking yet—he explores the mysterious sands of the Arabian peninsula.
Twenty years ago, a wealthy British financier disappeared near Ubar, the fabled lost city buried beneath the sands of Oman. Now, an expedition of scientists, led by the financier’s daughter, is finally setting off for the legendary metropolist to unlock the desert’s secrets. What they find, however, is more beautiful than they ever dreamed—and far deadlier. Within Ubar is a powerful energy source that could fuel the entire earth above—if it can be harnessed. But before they can resurface, the explorers become trapped. For the same life-giving force that can save the world is about to set off a giant, sweeping storm awesome enough to annihilate everything in its wake . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
If he weren't such a good action writer, Rollins might make a dynamite climatologist. Each of his thrillers has featured as a central character an extreme environment, most recently the Arctic ice (Ice Hunt, 2003) and now the hot sands of Saudi Arabia. But while Rollins writes settings and scenes that sizzle, what's caught in the heat are usually familiar characters grappling with far-fetched threats, and so it is here. That one male lead is a danger-courting archeologist named Omaha Dunn seems less parodic than tired, and the novel's premise of a hoard of antimatter hidden in the legendary city of Ubar is almost as ridiculous as the idea that this cache has been guarded for millennia by an order of women who propagate without men, via parthenogenesis. Rollins writes less like Michael Crichton than Stan Lee. Most of his readers won't care, though, because there's just enough scientific gloss on the nonsense to make it palatable, and anyway, what they want, and what he delivers, is action, as Omaha and an American military agent, Painter, join forces with two Mideastern women, one a scientist, the other a billionaire, to locate the steadily destabilizing antimatter before it's snatched by a villainous cabal, or worse, blows up the planet. And that's why they'll buy this book in numbers big enough to have it flirt with national bestseller lists.
Customer Reviews
Good not great
Good escape. Wonk science. Gets a little repetitive and cheesy on the romance.
Enter SIGMA Force!
What was supposed to be a stand alone action-thriller, this series takes readers on an amazing thrill ride into history, mystery, science, and of course action. Now if you don't know what SIGMA Force is, its basically a group of former special forces soldiers that have been trained and/or posses skills in some form of scientific discipline. As the author would put it, they are scientists with guns!
In this first installment we get to see the beginnings of now SIGMA Director Painter Crowe when he was just a field agent. We get our first glimpse of The Guild, the main enemy of SIMGA and unlike SIMGA who's job it is to protect the world from advanced forms of technology from falling into the wrong hands, The Guild is out for profit.
Sandstorm is a fun ride into the Arabian Peninsula to the lost city of Ubar. Taking mystery backed by scientific reasoning, the two blend so well. From static sandstorms, to antimatter, to people being burned alive in liquid glass, this book delivers with a punch. I even learned what a buckyball was! lol
If you're new to the SIGMA Series, here's your starting point. Have fun!
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