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The Doomsday Key

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks

In this electrifying adventure from James Rollins, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sigma Force series, Commander Gray Pierce returns to solve a centuries-old secret, one coded in prophecies of doom.

At Princeton University, a famed geneticist dies inside a biohazard lab. In Rome, a Vatican archaeologist is found dead in St. Peters Basilica. In Africa, a US Senator's son is slain outside a Red Cross camp. Three murders on three continents bear a horrifying connection: all the victims are marked by a Druidic pagan cross burned into their flesh.

The bizarre murders thrust Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force into a race against time to solve a riddle going back centuries, to a ghastly crime against humanity hidden within a cryptic medieval codex. The first piece of the puzzle is discovered inside a mummified corpse buried in an English peat bog-a gruesome secret that threatens America and the world.

Aided by two women from his past–one his ex-lover, the other his new partner–Gray must piece together the horrifying truth. But the revelations come at a high cost, and to save the future, Pierce will have to sacrifice one of the women at his side. That alone might not be enough, as the true path to salvation is revealed in a dark prophecy of doom.

Sigma Force confronts humankind's greatest threat in an adventure that races from the Roman Coliseum to the icy peaks of Norway, from the ruins of medieval abbeys to the lost tombs of Celtic kings. The ultimate nightmare is locked within a talisman buried by a dead saint–an ancient artifact known as the Doomsday Key.

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 27, 2009
      Bestseller Rollins's labyrinthine sixth Sigma Force thriller (after The Last Oracle
      ) offers plenty of intriguing science and history lessons. Sigma Force director Painter Crowe gathers the usual crew—Cmdr. Grayson Pierce; Pierce's best friend, Monk Kokkalis; lumbering Joe Kowalski—to discover why an experimental agriculture site in Africa has been attacked and razed, killing everyone, including a U.S. senator's son. “The future of mankind” may depend, they learn, on the “Doomsday key,” a strange substance brought to England long ago by ancient Egyptians that holds the promise of a new and powerful medicine. A few of the book's many highlights include genetic manipulation, traitorous beautiful women, illuminated manuscripts, saints, prophecies, curses and miracles. Rollins deftly juggles all this and more as the Sigma team races from the depths of the Vatican to the outer reaches of Norway toward an explosive confrontation with the shadowy forces of evil known as the Guild.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 31, 2009
      Rollins takes fans on a frenetic roller-coaster ride through the streets of Rome, across England and into Norway. The Sigma Force is in a race to find a link between a nearly 1,000-year-old mystery and a modern conspiracy that could cause the starvation of billions of humans. Comdr. Gray Pierce leads a team that includes his former lover and his current enemy, getting them to work together to save each other's lives long enough to save the world. Peter Jay Fernandez serves up an entertaining gravelly Scottish brogue and a plausible Norwegian accent and gives every character his or her own distinctive voice, allowing easy identification by using inflection and cadence. He keeps listeners involved through lengthy descriptive passages, convoluted scientific explanations and historical fact and speculation, and does well at raising the tension as the narrative escalates into explosive, action-packed scenes. A Morrow hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 27).

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Rollins's latest Sigma Force thriller combines science, history, and religion to save the world from an evil group that wants to use genetically mutated food to control the food supply. Painter Crowe and his crew must solve three murders on three continents, which are connected by a pagan cross having been burned into each victim. With so many twists and a roller-coaster plot that moves at a breakneck pace, THE DOOMSDAY KEY benefits greatly from Peter Jay Fernandez's versatile performance. Whether the characters are investigating a murder at the Vatican, involved in a motorcycle shoot-out, or carrying out some other high-energy action, Fernandez's breathless style complements the book's pace and accentuates Rollins's imaginative story. D.J.S. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from June 1, 2009
      Rollins's ("The Last Oracle") prose explodes off the page in a twisty and compelling thriller that explores the issues of human overpopulation and genetically modified food. The Sigma Force must unravel the mysterious deaths of a geneticist, a senator's son working for the Red Cross in Africa, and someone with close ties to the Vatican. Gray Pierce and his team follow the clues starting from Rome, while Sigma leader Painter Crowe takes his group to meet with the head of a corporation that appears to be genetically modifying food. VERDICT Swashbuckling adventure, elite team effort, and religious symbology all add up to another gripping and terrifying read. Rollins somehow juggles all of these elements and incorporates them into an amazing and brilliant technothriller that might be his best to date. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 3/15/09.]Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

      Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      May 15, 2009
      A case could be made that this guy doesnt write novelshe builds roller coasters. Rollins, author of a string of high-intensity action thrillers (and, lets not forget, his excellent adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), puts his characters at the top of the ride, gives them a push, and lets them go racing off into adventure. In this, the latest Sigma Force novel, a series of baffling incidents around the world are linked by a mysterious symbol, a cross inside a circle, which may connect the incidents to the ancient Druids and, of all things, the Domesday Book (which, in case youve forgotten, was commissioned by William the Conquerer, in the late eleventh century, to be a complete survey of Englands people and lands). Like Matthew Reilly, Rollins excels at combining action and history with larger-than-life characters, and also like Reilly, he creates imaginative puzzles for his characters to solve. The books are designed to propel the reader through to the end: snappy dialogue, brief chapters, short paragraphs. You are so engrossed in the story that you turn the pages without realizing it, and soon youre finished, perhaps a little bit out of breath, but usually exhilarated. A must for pure action fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from December 15, 2009
      In this sixth book in "New York Times" best-selling author Rollins's (www.jamesrollins.com) "Sigma Force" seriesfollowing "The Last Oracle" (2008), also available from Recorded BooksCommander Gray Pierce and his former lover join forces to find an antidote to a soon-to-be-released biological toxin. Peter Jay Fernandez's ("A Man Finds His Way") narration is stellar; his diverse and nuanced accents help to bring this suspenseful international thriller to life. Highly recommended for fans of both the series and Dan Brown's books. [The Morrow hc was described as "an amazing and brilliant technothriller that might be (Rollins's) best to date," "LJ" 6/1/09.Ed.]Ilka Gordon, Siegal Coll. of Judaic Studies Lib., Cleveland

      Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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