South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Series plunges into action-packed ‘Crucible’
James Rollins’ mix of science, uncomfortable history, futurist ideas, technology and a bit of the fantastical have made his Sigma Force series an imaginative blend of espionage and military thrillers. Rollins seldom leaves time for his characters to take a deep breath before they are careening from one actionpacked scene to the next.
Yet no matter how overthe-top the action is — and it can get up there — Rollins imbues the plot with a believability that keeps the reader deeply invested in the story and characters.
“Crucible” is the 14th installment in the series about Sigma Force, a unit working for the ultra-secret
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. And Rollins wastes no time in plunging head-on into the forceful plot.
Sigma Force commander Gray Pierce and his best friend Monk Kokkalis, who specializes in medicine and biotech, return to Monk’s house in Silver Spring, Maryland, following a night out to find the place in chaos.
Seichan, Gray’s pregnant lover, is missing, as are Monk’s two daughters,
6-year-old Penny and
5-year-old Harriet. Monk’s wife, Kat, is in a coma following the brutal attack.
Gray and Monk are still in shock when they are told to report immediately to Sigma Force Director Painter Crowe. The home invasion coincided with the assassination of five internationally renowned female scientists at a meeting
in Portugal. The scientists had been financing the potentially groundbreaking research into artificial
intelligence by Mara Silviera, a 21-year-old genius. Mara saw the massacre unfold online and, knowing she also has been targeted by the killers because of her research, tries to disappear.
Rollins skillfully weaves the different plot threads into a cohesive story, while adding in clues from the Spanish Inquisition and religious zealots fixated on a time when witches were burned at the stake. The result is a gripping story about science’s future that is rooted in history.
“Crucible” thrives on its driven characters who are men and women of action. Gray and Monk are leaders but are equally matched by Seichan and Kat, who also are Sigma Force agents.
As usual, Rollins knows about strong storytelling.