The world is on the brink of catastrophe, but Sigma Force is on the case. Another impossible to put down thriller from the author of Ice Hunt and Excavation.
Black Order (by James Rollins, Harper, 2006), is a page-turning novel you will find hard to put down.
World in Peril
The world is in even more trouble than usual. There’s a mystery about experiments that were performed by the Nazis in Poland, during World War II. There’s a fire in a book shop in modern-day Copenhagen. And Buddhist monks in Nepal have become torturers and cannibals.
A Hero Arrives
The world clearly needs a hero, and Rollins gives us one in the person of Commander Grey Pierce of Sigma Force. This agency concentrates on global security issues. Pierce is soon up to his neck in trouble, but it’s clear that he’s used to that, so he sets off to fix things, again.
As if he hasn’t enough to deal with, Pierce learns that the director of Sigma Force, Painter Crowe, is showing signs of the same ‘illness’ that made the monks insane, and there is also a new incarnation of the old Nazis that has to be destroyed. Despite the frenetic pace of events in Black Order, Rollins doesn’t lose the reader.
Plunder of Nazi Technology
This novel is prefaced with “Notes from the Historical Record”, in which Rollins outlines how, during the last months of the Second World War, the Allies plundered Nazi technology. He then begins the book in Poland, in 1945, teasing you just enough to make sure that you’re hooked, then he jumps into the present, in the Himalayas.
Interesting Characters
Rollins’ characters – particular Grey Pierce, Painter Crowe, and Doctor Lisa Cummings – are interesting, although sometimes stereotypical, in that ‘save the world’ kind of mold. The villains are equally interesting, but they also exhibit some of those clichéd ‘bad guy’ characteristics.
Vivid Scenes
Nevertheless, his scenes are vivid, such as when Doctor Cummings discovers the carnage at the monastery: “She stared deeper into the room – into the slaughterhouse. Arms and legs lay stacked like cords of firewood in the centre of the room.”
Author of Many Popular Thrillers
Rollins is the author of a number of popular thrillers, including Ice Hunt, and Excavation. His strength as a writer is in creating plots that keep you turning the page.
Black Order is an enjoyable book. Once you discover if the world survives these current threats – hint, it does – don’t be surprised if you reach for another Rollins’ novel and a new set of threats to the planet.
