Book Review: The Devil Colony

This might be my favorite Sigma Force novel. James Rollins slows it down a bit as he brings the Sigma team to home soil for an adventure that could see the end of the world. The novels featuring the DARPA special ops team have been break-neck paced, globe-trotting adventures. The Devil Colony, while one team visits one remote location not on American soil, takes place pretty much completely in the States. It also makes use of the Sigma director, Painter Crowe, who hasn't seen enough action lately in my opinion.

So what do gold, Native Americans, the Founding Fathers, Lewis and Clark, the lost tribes of Israel, the Book of Mormon, and neutrinos all have in common? That's right: James Rollins!

The Devil Colony doesn't move as fast as previous novels. That's not a bad thing. It moves at just the right pace to move the action along without being too fast. In fact, while previous Sigma novels have featured the "real lives" and extended families of our characters, this story takes the time to focus more on family. It absolutely does not detract at all from the story. It makes the characters all that more real and relatable.

I enjoyed seeing Crowe get into the field, he's been taking more of a back seat since the first Sigma novel and his promotion to Director. Gray, Monk, and Kowalski get into their usual troubles - Kowalski is a blast (pun intended) to read about - and the assassin Seichan is becoming more important to the stories and, while not a member of Sigma or a true team member, at least a recurring companion.

This adventure reveals more to Sigma about their arch-rivals, the Guild. And the ending of the novel? Oh boy! Can't wait too read what happens next!

The Devil Colony was provided to by the publisher as a time-limited ebook through NetGalley, and is due out June 21st, 2011.