Map of Bones

A Sigma Force Novel, Book 2

By: James Rollins

Narrated by: John Meagher

Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

During a crowded service at a cathedral in Germany, armed intruders in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and destruction. But the killers have not come for gold; they seek a more valuable prize: the bones of the Magi who once paid homage to a newborn savior...a treasure that could reshape the world.

With the Vatican in turmoil, SIGMA Force leaps into action. An elite team of scientific and Special Forces operatives under the command of Grayson Pierce and accompanied by Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri, they are pursuing a deadly mystery that weaves through the sites of the Seven Wonders of the World and ends at the doorstep of an ancient, mystical, and terrifying secret order. For there are those with dark plans for the stolen sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind...when science and religion unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time.

©2005 Jim Czajkowski (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"This novel about an ancient secret society and the race to find priceless antiquities is sure to be compared to Dan Brown's i>Da Vinci Code, but, in every way, it's a much better book....even those who found Brown's opus unpalatable will thoroughly enjoy the taste of this one." ( Booklist)

amazing story

I have already read most of James Rollins books about the Sigma force. Between reading and listening is still the same. I am still sitting at the edge of my seat waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. I can't wait to listen to his other books.

Modern science and Ancient magic

Would you consider the audio edition of Map of Bones to be better than the print version?

Though I prefer audiobooks because they seem to bring the story to life for me, this is a hard question to answer, because John Meagher's narration isn't up to the story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Map of Bones?

There were quite a few and if I answer the question it would take away some of the cliff hanging suspense of the story from future listeners.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

As many James Rollins fans know, John Meager is no longer narrating the current books. However, he did read several of the early ones, which were some of James Rollins best Sigma Force novels. He seems like a very young and fairly new narrator that needed to hone his skills a lot more. His voice would be more appropriate for young adult books or kids books, because he sounds like an excited teenager. His pronounciation of most of the Italian words and other (just plain English) words is very poor and he needs to receive a little coaching. Because his voice is so high in timbre, he actually does the women's voices quite well. I actually bought this book early on when I joined Audible and then returned it because of the narration. However, recently I was going through some of my early James Rollins books and decided I wanted this one for my collection. The story is so good that I was pretty much able to overlook the mediocre narration.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Modern science meets ancient mysteries

Any additional comments?

In my opinion, the early Sigma Force novels were the best. The only thing I don't care for is the graphic sexual depravity It would have been just fine without it and certainly wasn't necessary to make a good story. Also, some of the violence was a bit over the top. The country to country chasing of the clues, the characters, and the mysteries of the story are wonderful, though. This is one of my favorite Sigma Force novels.

great story. amazing research & imagination

loved the story. sometimes a bit overwhelming with detail. worth the effort! the narration was mediocre. inconsistent, mispronunciations, marginal voice changes.

when are bones not bones

Would you consider the audio edition of Map of Bones to be better than the print version?

No, while I enjoyed the story on a whole, the narration was horrible. Generally I find any excuse to listen to my current book, but while listening to this one - while I enjoyed the story as a whole - I found excuses not to listen.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the blending of fact with fiction.

What didn’t you like about John Meagher’s performance?

Meagher should have learned correct pronunciation of clerical terms since they were so central to the story. Whenever he came to a difficult church word, it was horribly jarring to hear it butchered by him. I will probably avoid any other book narrated by him.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

At the very end, when he poured the orange juice down the drain accepting his father as he is.

Any additional comments?

This book has spurred to reading about monatomic metals, which seems quite interesting.

2nd in Sigma series

Any additional comments?

I really enjoy reading Rollins. There's always a lot of cool high tech equipment, far out but believable plot lines and tons of action. Map of Bones reminded me of The Da Vinci Code a bit; a bunch of clues to follow and mysteries to unravel. I guess I was expecting more action (like Sandstorm), so I felt the story moved a little slow in the middle for me. Plus, I was really hoping to expand on more of the characters from the first Sigma book as well. There was still some character development though, and Commander Grayson Pierce and his team are pretty cool too. That being said it was still a great read and I am totally looking forward to the next in the series.

The narrator did a fine job with all the characters and kept the story moving along nicely. Well done.

this series is awesome

love this series. it is great how the author mixes fact and fiction. thanks for the great story.

Good story line but questionable execution

I liked the story but I felt that it would have been better if it had been “filled” out and not so action-packed. I found the Narrator to be trying very hard but falling short. He repeatedly mispronounced many words such as Tao, Apostolic, Lausanne, Citation “X” rather than Citation 10 as in Roman Numeral X, and many more words that do not come to mind at the moment. It was distracting to me.

Very entertaining with one exception

I was quickly sucked into this novel! It was intriguing to me while I listened as it made me wonder how much of it was indeed factual. It was a book I did not want to put down!! *My only negative remark would have to be the use of foul language. Though not as much as it could have been and I’m aware of it’s importance of shaping the characters, I still prefer not to have it in the story at all. Good book overall!!!

Awesome! A must read or listen.

A great book and also an equally great listen. Can't wait for the other books.

A must but get through the narrator

Story is fantastic for the historical fiction nerds out there! Even includes other books to read on topic. Did not care for the narrator/reader. Overall great read.