Black Order Sigma

A sinister fire in a Copenhagen bookstore ignites a relentless hunt across four continents. Arson and murder reveal an insidious plot to steal a Bible that once belonged to Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory. And Commander Gray Pierce dives headlong into a mystery that dates back to Nazi Germany...and to horrific experiments performed in a now-abandoned laboratory buried in a hollowed-out mountain in Poland.

A continent away, madness ravages a remote monastery high in Nepal, as Buddhist monks turn to cannibalism and torture. Lisa Cummings, a young American doctor investigating the atrocity, is suddenly a target of a brutal assassin working for clandestine forces that want the affair buried at any cost. Lisa's only ally is a hidden pilgrim, Painter Crowe — director of SIGMA Force, an elite command of American scientists and Special Forces operatives — who is already showing signs of the baffling malady that destroyed the minds of the monks.

Now it is up to Gray Pierce to save both Painter and Lisa — and a world in jeopardy — as SIGMA Force races to expose a century-old plot that threatens to destroy the current world order...and alter the destiny of humankind forever.

Combining the historic scope of The Da Vinci Code with the relentless thrills of today's best action novels, James Rollins's Black Order is a classic adventure — an ingenious and breathtaking tour de force that explodes with revelations...while offering a startling new view of our place in the grand scheme of existence.

"[A] high-powered thriller....Rollins keeps getting better with every novel, and his fast-paced thrillers are feasts for the imagination....If you like all-stops-out, high-concept adventure, this one's for you." Booklist

The elite scientists of Sigma Force race to track the ultimate mystery of mankind--the origins of life. From the frozen peaks of the Himalayas to the diamond fields of the Congo, they face daunting challenges as they try to unlock the cryptic secret.

James Rollins is the bestselling author of seven previous novels: Subterranean, Excavation, Deep Fathom, Amazonia, Ice Hunt, Sandstorm, and Map of Bones. He has a doctorate in veterinary medicine and his own practice in Sacramento, California. An amateur spelunker and a certified SCUBA enthusiast, he can often be found either underground or underwater.