cover image Arkangel: A SIGMA Force Novel

Arkangel: A SIGMA Force Novel

James Rollins. Morrow, $30 (528p) ISBN 978-0-0628-9316-1

Mysteries buried on a lost continent animate Rollins’s action-packed 18th adventure for SIGMA Force (after Tides of Fire). When the agency’s secret headquarters under the Smithsonian Institution are bombed, commander Gray Pierce and his girlfriend, assassin Seichan, suspect their nemesis, Russian agent Valya Mikhailov. Their suspicions deepen when a Vatican archivist is murdered after delivering a message to his superiors about the Golden Library, a priceless trove of books hidden away by Ivan the Terrible. The volumes are said to contain secrets that could restore Russia to its former glory. While a dormant rivalry between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican flares up after the archivist’s murder, Gray and his team search for the supposedly lost island of Hyperborea in the East Siberian Sea, the rumored home of the Golden Library. Rollins stuffs the narrative with globe-spanning combat, pulse-pounding suspense, and some satisfying puzzles to solve. Once readers catch their breath, they’ll be eager to dive into the next installment. Agent: Russ Galen, Scovil Galen Gosh Literary. (Aug.)