The Demon Crown is James Rollins' 19th solo novel. While it is a Sigma Force novel, it is a bit unusual because the threat they are fighting against is a prehistoric wasp.
At the conclusion of book 8 in the series, Bloodline, the Sigma Force crew had eradicated Japan's Kage, also known as the Guild, a terrorist group. However, at least 2 of them survived. One of them, Seichan, is now working with the Americans and Takashi Ito, has formed a smaller, tougher group whose intent is to replicate a Pearl Harbor attack on Hawaii. Takashi hopes it will bring an Imperial Japan back to power.
A secondary plot concerns James Smithson, the creator of the Smithsonian Museum. Upon his death in 1829 in Italy, he was buried with a chest. He left papers that mentioned a secret artifact that could leash hell upon the earth. He called it the demon crown and ordered that it be buried with him. When Smithson's grave was about to be uprooted by a quarry in 1903 Alexander Graham Bell, a Smithsonian Regent, immediately took a group to Italy and brought back Smithson's bones and the chest which contained a vial filled with amber and bones.
Over the early years of U. S. history the Librarian of Congress personally ensured the security of Smithson's personal papers and the chest but in 1944 a robbery took place and they were stolen by Japanese agents. A few Sigma Force members later wondered whether this robbery was the reason for dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima for no one knew if the vial held a weapon.
On May 6 in the present day a swarm of wasps entered the city of Hana on the island of Maui and killed 54 people with their venom but injured a thousand more. Commander Grayson Pierce and girlfriend Seichan are vacationing in Hawaii when the swarm arrives and instantly react to the event. The Sigma Force deployment begins.
I was enthralled with the book until the halfway point when I realized how far-fetched the plot was. It was still thrilling but it was bizarre. Author James Rollins is a veterinarian by trade and his scientific and historical facts have always been accurate in the past so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and continued reading.
He added a special touch with the addition of chapters written from the wasps' point of view. We now know how they think and why they act a certain way. As a woman I was amused that after the mating ritual the female wasp eats the male wasp. I thought this addition was quite creative, especially coming from a male author.
The thriller formula was followed exactly. It began with a killer hunting down a victim, high stakes were maintained for the main character, the action kept moving as complications were heaped on the Sigma Force crew, the clock was ticking toward a deadline that suddenly was shortened and ended with the world restored but the world is a different place. I like when an author who writes a novel consistently every year does not get bored and change the formula. Many authors have fallen to boredom and written a few poor novels but Rollins has been consistent with the thriller formula.
This may be James Rollins' best book to date. It certainly was his most creative.
At the conclusion of book 8 in the series, Bloodline, the Sigma Force crew had eradicated Japan's Kage, also known as the Guild, a terrorist group. However, at least 2 of them survived. One of them, Seichan, is now working with the Americans and Takashi Ito, has formed a smaller, tougher group whose intent is to replicate a Pearl Harbor attack on Hawaii. Takashi hopes it will bring an Imperial Japan back to power.
A secondary plot concerns James Smithson, the creator of the Smithsonian Museum. Upon his death in 1829 in Italy, he was buried with a chest. He left papers that mentioned a secret artifact that could leash hell upon the earth. He called it the demon crown and ordered that it be buried with him. When Smithson's grave was about to be uprooted by a quarry in 1903 Alexander Graham Bell, a Smithsonian Regent, immediately took a group to Italy and brought back Smithson's bones and the chest which contained a vial filled with amber and bones.
Over the early years of U. S. history the Librarian of Congress personally ensured the security of Smithson's personal papers and the chest but in 1944 a robbery took place and they were stolen by Japanese agents. A few Sigma Force members later wondered whether this robbery was the reason for dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima for no one knew if the vial held a weapon.
On May 6 in the present day a swarm of wasps entered the city of Hana on the island of Maui and killed 54 people with their venom but injured a thousand more. Commander Grayson Pierce and girlfriend Seichan are vacationing in Hawaii when the swarm arrives and instantly react to the event. The Sigma Force deployment begins.
I was enthralled with the book until the halfway point when I realized how far-fetched the plot was. It was still thrilling but it was bizarre. Author James Rollins is a veterinarian by trade and his scientific and historical facts have always been accurate in the past so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and continued reading.
He added a special touch with the addition of chapters written from the wasps' point of view. We now know how they think and why they act a certain way. As a woman I was amused that after the mating ritual the female wasp eats the male wasp. I thought this addition was quite creative, especially coming from a male author.
The thriller formula was followed exactly. It began with a killer hunting down a victim, high stakes were maintained for the main character, the action kept moving as complications were heaped on the Sigma Force crew, the clock was ticking toward a deadline that suddenly was shortened and ended with the world restored but the world is a different place. I like when an author who writes a novel consistently every year does not get bored and change the formula. Many authors have fallen to boredom and written a few poor novels but Rollins has been consistent with the thriller formula.
This may be James Rollins' best book to date. It certainly was his most creative.
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