Sandstorm

By: James Rollins

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Length: 6 hrs and 13 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 James Rollins (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"If he weren't such a good action writer, Rollins might make a dynamite climatologist....Rollins writes settings and scenes that sizzle." (Publishers Weekly)

Brilliant

Such a fun book to listen to! I loved the details, thoughtful insights and inventive descriptions.

Had a hard time with this one

It has lots of action but little substance. Perhaps it a result of the abridgement, but it seems that the characters are flat and formulaic. The author?s overuse of descriptive words is distracting. When you are told that the best soldiers are obtained for a team at length, you don?t need to refer to them as a crack team of commandos several times. It?s an OK story, but seemed to be ripped off from Indiana Jones and several other action novels/movies. One of the main characters is named Omaha, hmm original.

Stomached it

The abridgment lost fidelity, and the performance was grating. I had much higher expectations for an author of this caliber.

Great Adventure with Mystery and Sci Fi

Typical of Rollins' other books, the set up is very interesting and innovative and held me captive throughout my listen. A cast of characters are challenged by their extreme environment, each other and the mysteries of a past civilization whose royalty could harness anti-matter for unlimited energy. A great summer escape. I would have enjoyed the story unabridged were it available as I wanted to hear more about the characters and the archeology of the relics which lead the exploration deeper into their fate.

Fast paced, entertaining

This is another Dan Brown'esk type book but not to the depth of Dan Browns DaVinci Code or Angels and Demons. The mystery quickly leads from London to the deserts with three factions trying to resolve the mystery. This book is relatively short but keeps your interest up to the end.

Nice action listen

I found the book to be a good listen. The action continued throughout it so I didn't get bored.

Get the Unabridged Version

After listening to two other great novels by this author, I got the abridged one because I was in need of a fix and had a trip. The abridged version is not as good and is really jumpy in the plot line, plus if they say the character name Luk luk one more time... it was as bad as Jar Jar :-) Good story though

Fun and easy read.

Easy read; think abridged is better; otherwise, it would be way too long..... Really like James Rollins!

Only 5 chapters??

This was a good book but it was over too fast. Was this supposed to be a short story?

Abridged versions are really horrible

Get the unabridged version. This one left too much of the story untold. Unfortunately, I got this abridged versions a very long time ago as it was the only one available at the time.