The Judas Strain

Title: The Judas Strain

Author: James Rollins

Pages: 12 discs

Genre: Thriller

Grade: B

Synopsis: The United States' special ops Sigma Force is battling a mysterious plague in the East Indian Ocean. The antidote to the plague appears to come from some ancient writings of Marco Polo. One team is following the historical trail while another is tracking the scientific trail of the disease.

My Review: The book was an enjoyable read, but it seemed to be somewhat of a cookie-cutter type thriller. I enjoyed the historical references to Marco Polo and others and the geographical descriptions of the different locations where the story takes place although portions of the story (as is typical) were somewhat unbelievable.

Map of Bones

Title: Map of Bones

Author: James Rollins

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 448

Letter Grade: A-

Synopsis: The book begins with a group of hooded men that invade midnight mass at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany. Rather than steal the golden coffin for which the cathedarl is famous, they take the relics from inside the sarcophagus and leave the golden coffin. The relics are supposedly the bones of the three wise men. This crime brings together a small American Sigma force team a Vatican historian and a Roman Carabinieri lieutenant. They go on a chase after the medieval Dragon Court which is still operating in the Catholic Church. They find out that the bones of the magi are not bones at all but a special monatomic gold that allows them to have special powers. The Dragon Court has stolen the bones because they are trying to bring about Armageddon.

My Review: I really liked this book. In many ways it is similar to the Da Vinci Code. I think that I liked this book just as much. Both books have a group of people chasing a secret ancient society and trying to solve a puzzle that has baffled people for hundreds of years. Amazingly, the main characters in both books are able to solve the puzzles in a matter of days. The people in Map of Bones are realistic and the dialogue is intriguing. The plot is clever and makes the book very hard to put down.