Sandstorm

A Sigma Force Novel, Book 1

By: James Rollins

Narrated by: John Meagher

Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum, and 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. Her search for answers leads Kara and her friend, Safia al-Maaz, the gallery's curator, into a world they never dreamed existed. 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.

The two extraordinary women and their guide, 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 counter-espionage team, is hunting down a dangerous turncoat and the trail is pointing him toward Ubar.

What is hidden below the sand is more than a valuable relic of ancient history. It is an ageless power that lives and breathes. Many lives have already been destroyed by ruthless agencies dedicated to guarding its mysteries and harnessing its might. The end may be at hand for Kara, Safia, Crowe, and all of the interlopers who wish to expose its mysteries, as it prepares to unleash the most terrible storm of all.

©2004 Jim Czajkowski (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

james rollins thrill ride

i liked this book.the science, action, and strong female characters were great. i will continue this series.

narrator is awful

struggled to finish, narrator is awful. I like the author and the story but this was rough

Good but not great

Good but not great overall. The narration isn’t bad but there is a high pitch on a lot of the words. Not sure if it’s solely the part of the narrator or the audio recording but it’s bothersome enough to hurt my ears. Very entertaining story but some parts just seemed to be a little off but overall it was enjoyable. I recommend if you truly love the adventure genre.

Good Action, Bit Tomey at times

Narration: 3.5 actually. breadth and depth of voices was adequate but other narrators could have done better for this story. This is not a directed criticism of the narrator who has done great on other books. I think the voice pitch and author's excessive narratives at time distracted me from the pace and action causing me to HAVE to repeat the last 30-120 seconds more so than any book to date. YMMV.

Plot: 5.0! plausible, modern, timely, and at times just plain fun.

Story: 3.25-4.5, let me briefly explain: the author, while good, must be bipolar with no offense to those with actual affliction. the story runs so true and clean at times making it a great joy only to get to a following section where every adjective and adverb in the English language is used to...(ahem) OVER-describe a scene, feeling, sense, etc to the point the narrator had run out of breath and my brain had disengaged. I will willingly admit I am a fan of Jack Reacher, Alex Cross, and others and will give the next Sigma Force (Painter Crow, sp?) story a try, but this was a tough narrative for me to STAY engaged with. while there are Clancy-esque attempts here, this freshman tome fell short in achieving top shelf status due to over and at times ineffectual use of descriptive prose.

A little wordy

But good. I could use less description. Good characters, okay performance. I will be reading more

Starting at the beginning

I’m just starting this series and this was a great beginning. Looking forward to continuing.

Adventures with interesting factors.

Enjoyed the history & scientific elements. It got a little over done at the end.

Excellent Story so-so Reading

I thoroughly enjoy Rollins' novels, whether I read them, or have someone read them to me. The narration by John Meagher is, sadly, mediocre. In both this book and the one I am currently listening to, Map of Bones,Meagher mispronounces a bunch of words. Words that are not that difficult, such as "waning" (as in the moon), "limed" (meaning outlined), and metastasized, just to mention the three latest words, are routinely misspoken. He has a pleasant enough voice, but the errors are jarring. When a "reader" mispronounces words, I lose the thread of the story momentarily, as I wince and inwardly complain. Someone either needs to review his reading and correct him, or get another reader.

the animal thing. again.

I hate books that engage in cruelty to animals, for any reason at all. Additionally, I am not a fan of sport hunting, though I understand the need to keep some animal populations under controll. As far as I know the previous is only a small incident in this story, but I'm not going any further because I don't trust the author anymore. Just an FYI for anyone who feels like I do. The writting is skilled and the story seems exciting and fast paced, so I would have loved to finish it if the author hadn't indulged in this lame and way overused plot device to move the action forward.

I'm glad he evolved

I had listened to the whole sigma force series before going back to this one. It probably would've been better if I had listened to this one first, but it lacked the quality of his later works. Still, if you're going to get into the series, you should start at the beginning.