James Rollins' latest Sigma Force thriller, The Demon Crown (#715) combines a theft from the Smithsonian Institution with a particularly nasty threat to the modern world. It certainly creeped me out.
In Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton posed the question of whether dinosaur DNA could be resurrected into living creatures. We know from the movies that it didn't go well. In The Demon Crown, prehistoric wasps from ancient caches of amber have been weaponized. Two Sigma agents responsible for the downfall of their nemesis, The Guild, have been chosen as the unwitting subjects of a trial run of this new biological weapon as they vacation on Maui. The experiment is so successful that it could mean the destruction of every other living being on earth.
Sigma Force is racing against an impossible timeline to save two of their own, and solving James Smithson's connection to a theft from the Institution bearing his name during World War II. Just when you think the stalwarts of Sigma can't survive another deadly peril, they use their brains and skills (and occasionally their brawn!) to find a way out.
What makes Rollins' thrillers so frightening and gripping is the plausibility behind the premise. It's not too difficult to imagine the Hawaiian Islands being used as a launching point for a biological invasion, nor scientists trying to re-grow extinct animals with modern technology. It's definitely the stuff to keep you awake at night!
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