Hands down the best book in the Sigma Force series that I have read so far (I am reading them in order, so this is the fourth that I have read). All of my favorite characters were back for an action packed mystery of a historical plague resurfacing.

Rollins takes us all over the globe, connecting both a science arm and a historical arm. Gray is reunited with our favorite Guild member once again, this time with the added tension of keeping his family safe.

On the other side, Monk and Lisa are living aboard a cruise ship trying to figure out what is causing a strange illness at Christmas Island. The twists and turns that happened aboard this ship were thrilling! How Rollins was able to keep both prongs of the story entertaining while eventually bringing them together was masterful.

I will say, Rollins pulled at my heartstrings in this one. It appears that he killed off one of my favorite characters! I spent much of the remainder of the book waiting for him to reveal that the character made it through, but time after time Rollins presented us with the opposite information. That is until the last few pages, once I had admitted defeat and was angry, did he give me a possible sliver of hope. I am sure this will quickly be dashed in the next book haha.

My only critique of this book would be the last few pages. I followed along with this storyline pretty easily compared to some of his others, but the last handful of pages really confused me. Like did any of this happen???? Who are these people and why is she in the past?? I need answers! I am hoping the next book will give me these. Overall, I enjoyed this book and it had all of the best qualities of the first three. It gives me hope that he may continue to grow as a storyteller as I read further into the series. ( )

Non-stop action. This book just kept moving along and it was really hard to put down. Curse the need to sleep! With this being the fourth in a series, I'm already vested in the characters, but Rollins keeps developing them which is great. A realy good read! ( )

The author was trying to do too much with this book. There were too many characters, too many scenarios. It kept jumping around and made it difficult to care one way or another about any, I mean ANY of the characters.

There were lots of plot questions I had, which was almost a given considering how complicated the plot was. The ending lasted too long and was confusing.

The book was especially a disappointment because I had read a later book in the series which was much better. This seemed like a subpar Clive Cussler copycat. And Clive Cussler books aren't that great to begin with. ( )

Another satisfying thriller, featuring the Sigma Force team. Gray Pierce, Monsignor Verona, and Seichan combine forces to battle a plaque, with ancient roots. In certain cases, the manner in which riddles are solved are beyond creedence. ( )

Pro (as an audio book) - It's long
Cons - Preposterous plot; solutions to subplots get lost; two major characters disappear w/o resolution; conclusions comes out of nowhere..
Other Rollins novels have been more interesting. ( )