Doomsday Key by Rollins James

At Princeton University, a famed geneticist dies inside a biohazard lab. In Rome, a Vatican archaeologist is found dead in the heart of St. Peters Basilica. In Africa, a US Senators son is slain within a Red Cross camp in Ghana. These three murders on three continents bear a horrifying tie: all the victims are marked by a Druidic pagan cross burned into their flesh. The bizarre murders thrust Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force into a global hunt for a powerful group of industrialists who have a stranglehold on the worlds food supply. Aided by two women from his past, Gray flees a trio of high-tech assassins as he pieces together the clues. But saving the world comes at a high price: Pierce must sacrifice one of the women. Yet even that price might not be enough, for, as he soon discovers, the only true path to salvation lies with the Doomsday Key.

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Fact: From 2006 to 2008, one-third of all honeybees in the United States (and much of Europe and Canada) vanished. This phenomenon earned the name Colony Collapse Disorder.

Fact: In the 11th century, King William sent many tax collectors throughout England to assess lands. News was, the King wanted to check the fertility of these lands. But there was another rumor (myth or legend) that the ulterior motive behind these assessments was something else that was much more gruesome. The King maintained a diary where all the places assessed where listed. But two places were marked as ‘Wasted’. The diary held the answer to the mystery and was called Domesday Key. But in time, this book came to be known as The Doomsday Key. This diary was lost in time.

Fact: In the 12th century, Saint Malachy, known for his healing abilities (like Jesus himself), had a vision which he captured in his journal. Here he has written the names of the Popes of the Catholic Church, 112 in all and a prophecy that the last Pope would preside when the world ends. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, is the 111th Pope. The next pope, Peter Roman (as mentioned in the journal) would witness Armageddon. This journal was also lost in time.

So how are these facts connected?

The answer lies in The Doomsday Key. The prologue takes place in the 11th century with the tax collectors sent to assess lands ending with omen.

In the present day, three deaths across the world arouse suspicion for SIGMA as the three deaths are similar. In all the three cases, one identical symbol was carved on the victims’ body.

Commander Gray Pierce is assigned the task to go into the depths of these murders. Assisted by his colleague, Kowalski, his love Rachel, Father Wallace and Seichen (from Guild; another secret organization whose mission is the exact opposite of that of SIGMA), Pierce goes on a hunt to find the lost artifacts. The hunt leads them from the United States to Northern secluded parts of England, Norway and France.

There’s a lot of action with an emphasis on history.There‘s this mystery regarding a 3-in-1 spiral symbol, the search for Malachys’ sarcophagus, tombs of people with mushrooms growing inside them and a lot of traps. The best mystery of all is where The Doomsday Key is hidden.

The SIGMA series.

The Doomsday Key is the sixth title in the SIGMA series by James Rollins. It features a secret organization called the SIGMA Force. This team handles global threatening events (something like Clive Cussler’s NUMA). Again like Cussler’s Kurt Austin (not to mention Dirk Pitt), Rollins has his protagonist, Commander Gray Pierce. Pierce is the main character in all the titles in the series.

He is closely accompanied by his boss, Painter Crowe, SIGMA chief, and his partner, Monk Kokkalis. Many other recurring characters exist.

As mentioned, there are totally six titles in this SIGMA series. Although all titles have separate unique plots, there is an ulterior story that follows chronologically from t