The Doomsday Key is one of many (actually, six) in the Sigma Force series, but author James Rollins takes more than enough care to ensure that readers are caught up before the crux of the action begins. A crew is placed together to figure out what exactly happened in Africa, where a highly cutting-edge type of agricultural development has been completely torn to the ground, all the individuals there killed. Crowe gets together the team – Pierce, Kowalski, and Kokkalis – to try to piece together the chain of events that lead to this atrocity. The amount of twists and turns that The Doomsday Key takes would easily put a Bond movie to the line, whether it be the slightly mythic qualities approached during the book, the colorful characters, or how the plot gradually meanders until the absolutely delightful conclusion.
Even more than the events that happen in The Doomsday Key, what Rollins does here is point out the interesting relations that are present between a hyper-modern society and very earthen, natural types of belief held by these individuals. While the book may be seen as some as simple escapism, there are some treads that are heady, to say the least. Those that get done with The Doomsday Key should dig through some of the matters discussed in the title and see exactly how close to reality they are; I hawe a feeling that subsequent readings of the book will be even more enjoyable.
The writing style is incredible; Rollins ensures that readers are perfectly encapsulated in the action, while ensuring that there is enough grounded in reality to make it seem as if these events could conceivably happen. I know that I will be digging through Rollins’ other works in this series after reading The Doomsday Key; if you haven’t already, you should as well.
Rating: 8.8/10
The Doomsday Key (Novel) / James Rollins / $27.99 / 448 Pages / http://www.harpercollins.com