It has always been a mystery to me why a lot of writers have a few good books and then a mediocre one. This is the fifth Rollins Book that I have read; two have been five star, Black Order: A Sigma Novel (Sigma Force Novels) and Ice Hunt, and the others something less, like this one.

Part of the plot was unrealistic such as four people were captured and all were kept alive as they traveled to other countries. One of these, a bodyguard, was kept alive by this vicious group that had no qualms about killing hundreds of innocent victims. Was this manufactured since he was used later on in the story? Another woman switched sides so many times it is unbelievable that either side would have trusted her more than once, or twice at the most.

You had to set aside your disbelieve when it came to the group's code-breaking discussions and just skip over the dialog as you knew the answer would just pop-out from the discussion. A lot of the book was too wordy and an abridged version would have made for a better read.

This was the fourth book in the Sigma Force series which is not a problem if only the main characters are carried forth from book to book, but Rollins seems to like to leave a question about some characters for resolution in the next book. Someone in a review for a previous Rollins book said they didn't understand why `Seichan' was even introduced but guess she would be needed in a later book. Well yes she was needed in this book and became one of the main characters but was allowed to escape at the end. Will she be in the next book?

Other than what I mentioned here the book was well written and kept my interest but had an incomplete ending in several respects.

After finishing this book, I felt betrayed and it was definitely a strain to get through it. There are plenty of good action adventure fiction stories out there so don't waste your time or money with this author.

Sadly, I bought 2 books by this author at the same time: Judas Strain and Black Order. I struggled to finish Judas Strain, finding the dialog, story and action contrived and hard to follow at times. I gave up after 200 pages of Black Odor, finding it even worse.

The books by Preston and Child are generally much better and their worst novel is far better than either Judas Strain or Black Order.

As usual, Rollins delevers a book full of action and thrills. The masterpiece that I have come to expect from his every release. A must read!!!!!!!!

This was my first James Rollins book and i do have to say that overall i enjoyed the book very much. So how come it only got 3 stars? well true believers read on to find out.

With out ruining the plot of the book to much lets say that it involves a Bio-Terrorist group, a covert government agency, a world ending virus, a famous explorer and of course completely over the top action.

This book will keep you very entertained if your an action junkie. Most of the action is completely over the top that it becomes kinda silly. This was pretty much the downfall of the book for me. I love action as much as the next guy but when "Secret agents/scientists/scholars" can do everything from deciphering century old puzzles in one breath and dodging rockets a second later it kinda gets ridicules. I mean one guy even has a prosthetic hand that can clamp down with superhuman strength.

But if you can look past the cheesy action sequences you will find a truly compelling story involving a very well known explorer....it should be noted though that the characters in this book have stared in a book from this author once before and a few references were made to past relationships. I think the book is called "Map Of Bones". However since this is the first James Rollins book that i have read, i cant really say should read the other book first. After i read it ill let you know!

I had a very hard time getting through this book. I really liked all the characters but the plot was over the top. Every element you can think of was thrown in - bioterrorism, religious artifacts, natural disasters, historical figures, love story, parents in peril - and it was just too much mixed together to really enjoy the sotry.