"Exciting SF thriller"
The explosion destroyed much of the Kensington Gallery
antiquities collection of the British Museum when a bluish
light struck the Iron Camel artifact killing guard Harry
Masterson in the blast. Various people and government
agencies want to know what caused the detonation. Lady Kara Kensington, whose family founded the devastated
gallery and its curator Safia al-Maaz find clues that lead
to Ubar, a city buried beneath the Arabian Desert. They
hire renowned explorer Omaha Dunn to escort them to this
legendary ancient city. In Connecticut DARPA Agent Painter Crowe is working an
operation when his assignment is changed. His superiors
show him the British Museum video and hand him a chunk of
meteoric iron that came from the Iron Camel explosion.
They assign him to learn what caused the explosion with
the clues leading to Ubar. As these four people and others head to Ubar, none comes
close to conjecturing what awaits them in Ubar: a force
that could destroy humanity. Those ruthlessly guarding
this force believe the outsiders are the wrong hands
because they want to control the secrets at a cost that
could mean the end. This exciting science fiction thriller shows once again
that James Rollins is one of the best at taking readers
on a nature tour like none they have ever been on except
in his action-packed novels (see ICE HUNT and
EXCAVATION). His latest tales hooks the audience the
moment Harry takes his third puff on his cigarette and
never lets up until the end. The key quartet each have
distinct personalities and a bit of romance adds to
understanding the varying motives of the foursome. Fans
will cherish this powerful story. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 15, 2004
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Nationally bestselling author James Rollins has transported
readers to the dark heart of the Amazon, the bowels of the
earth, far below the ocean, and the top of the world. Now
he embarks upon his most gripping and terrifying adventure
yet: to a nightmare buried beneath a treacherous desert
wasteland. An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities
collection of a London museum -- a devastating blast that
sets off alarms in clandestine organizations around the
world, as the race begins to determine how it happened, why
it happened, and what it means.
Lady Kara Kensington's family paid a high price in money
and blood to found the gallery that now lies in ruins. And
her search for answers is about to lead Kara and her friend
Safia al-Maaz, the gallery's brilliant and beautiful
curator, into a world they never dreamed actually existed.
For new evidence exposed by the tragedy suggests that Ubar,
a lost city buried beneath the Arabian desert, is more than
mere legend ... and that something astonishing is waiting
there. Two extraordinary women and their guide, the international
adventurer Omaha Dunn, are not the only ones being drawn to
the desert. Former U.S. Navy SEAL Painter Crowe, a covert
government operative and head of an elite counterespionage
team, is hunting down a dangerous turncoat, Crowe's onetime
partner, to retrieve the vital information she has stolen.
And the trail is pointing him toward Ubar. But the many perils inherent in a death-defying trek deep
into the savage heart of the Arabian Peninsula pale before
the nightmarish secrets to be unearthed at journey's end.
What is hidden below the sand is more than a valuable relic
of ancient history. It is an ageless power that lives and
breathes -- an awesome force that could create a utopia or
tear down everything humankind has built during millennia
of civilization. Many lives have already been destroyed by
ruthless agencies dedicated to guarding its mysteries and
harnessing its might. And now the end may be at hand for
Safia, for Kara, for Crowe, and for all the interlopers who
wish to expose its mysteries, as it prepares to unleash the
most terrible storm of all ...
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