Sandstorm CD

Rating:
Summary: Its never a gamble...
Review: ...to buy a James Rollins book! Impossible to imagine, but he's getting even better with each book. Sandstorm has the best characterization I've seen from this author--very engaging 3-dimensional people. I won't repeat the story line told in previous reviews, but will say that Sandstorm gripped me from page one to the very end. It represents the very best in high tech action thrillers, not TOO far-fetched, bordering on science fiction. There is lite romance but this never takes center stage to the raw, exploding action sequences. The ending was very satisfying, EXCEPT I enjoyed it so much that the whole time I was reading it I hoped it was going to be a trilogy! If you like action, action, action coupled with truly good, imaginative writing, you will be delighted with Sandstorm!

Rating:
Summary: Sandstorm will have you running for cover!
Review: An inexplicable scientific phenomena destroys a museum with many ancient Arabic artifacts. All that is left behind are clues leading to an ancient city long buried beneath the Arabian sands. The curator of the museum, along with her best friend, a archeologist, and two agents from Darpa(U.S. Scientific Special Forces agents) and two Indiana Jones type Archeological explorers, travel two this site to unearth the reason behing the explosion that rocked the museum, also believed to be the reason why the curator's father disappeared in a sandstorm many years before, above the ancient, lost city.
On their tale is a group of female assassins, bent on keeping this city a secret, and therein lies the action, and excitement behind James Rollins's best book yet.
Plenty of fun for anyone hooked on the action adventure novel.
HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!!! AAA+++

Rating:
Summary: A rollicking fun read!!
Review: First let me say that Lady Kensington has a much smaller role than I was lead to believe after reading the synopsis. Aside from that, this is a fun read. I have read all of Rollins' previous books and this is one of his best! The plot was fast moving and you don't get confused as to how the characters relate to one another. The ending was a little obvious, which is why I didn't give it five stars, but if you like adventure novels (and I most certainly do!) you will enjoy "Sandstorm."

Rating:
Summary: Who cares about character developement?
Review: First of all I liked this book. It's fun, fast, never overly silly, but just silly enough. It's one of his two best. Now, I'd like to rant about something that bothers me. I've been an avid reader for well over twenty years and I can't help but cringe whenever I hear someone talking about character developement in an action/thriller where all of the action takes place in a matter of a few days. First off, when someone is staring at an enemy army with no hope of escape and a potentially Earth destroying antimatter bomb under their noses... who cares if they once had a puppy that died or if their favorite color is blue?!? This isn't an epic saga of the Russian Revolution where it might be important to know what events have molded our characters in the past. This is a fast-paced action adventure where we get to know all we need to know about the characters in order to enjoy the story. We have tough guys and even tougher gals fighting for their lives in extreme, supernatural circumstances. It's GREAT for a fun weekend read. I love some author's ability to coax a lot out of his characters, but in a book like this more character developement would have slowed down the pace and seriously hurt the overall book. As far as character developement, Dean Koontz is the champ, Matt Reilly is at the other end, and Rollins is in the middle somewhere. However, I can get just as big a kick out of Rollins and Reilly as I do from Koontz. Overall, for this kind of book, I think Rollins does pretty good in the overrated "Character Developement" category. It's an enjoyable read and you won't get cheated out of anything. I gave it 4 stars only because I save 5 star reviews for the truly GREAT works.

Rating:
Summary: James Rollins best book to date
Review: I have read every book James Rollins has written. This is his best.

Lots of action, fiction, science,science fiction, and history truth with some off the wall Historical science fiction with twists and turns. Strange happenings and excitement abound in this book.

The story line characters were terrific. I wouldn't mind finding Painter Crowe, Omaha Dunn, and Safia in another Indiana Jones type novel. Lets find some other hidden artifacts, there are lots of them out there.

Bravo,James, this would make a terrific movie.

Rating:
Summary: A Riveting Read!
Review: Imagine Indiana Jones, (his name is Omaha Dunn here), taking-on 'the perfect storm' in the great Rub al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, in central Arabia. In this desert place, beneath the burning sun, hurricane force winds blow up quickly. One can drown in an ocean of sand and remain interred forever. Add to this mix, the obsession to find a great fabled city, and a civilization lost thousands of years ago, now buried beneath the shifting dunes. Ubar, a rich and fabulous trading center of ancient Arabia, ruled by the Queen of Sheba, once rose out of the desert and then mysteriously vanished back into the sands. References to Ubar in the Koran, the Arabian Nights, and countless Bedouin tales told around desert campfires have captivated the imaginations of explorers and archaeologists. But all searches have been fruitless and the city remained lost. The storm, the search for Ubar and for a source of energy strong enough to fuel the entire earth, are just the basics of this enthralling story. James Rollins' "Sandstorm" also contains various subplots, no less exciting than the primary adventure, a terrific cast of characters, fascinating historical and scientific information, a love triangle and enough action, suspense and thrills to keep you reading long into the night. This is one of the most addictive novels I have read in some time. Once I began, I just couldn't put it down.

Dr. Safia Al-Maaz, curator of the Arabian wing of the British Museum was abruptly awakened one night by the smell of smoke and the sound of sirens. She looked out her window and saw her wing of the museum in flames, and chaos in the streets. Dressing in panic she ran to the site, a short distance from her flat. The Arabian wing, priceless artifacts, and all the work she had accomplished over a 10-year period, were totally destroyed by a tremendous explosion. Clandestine organizations worldwide were alerted to this event almost before Safia reached the disaster area. And so begins a dangerous, lethal race to discover what caused the explosion, why it happened and what it means.

Lady Kara Kensington, Safia's best friend and sponsor to the Arabian gallery, is devastated also. Both women have strong roots in the deserts of Arabia. Painter Crowe, member of a secret American government organization, is tasked with finding the incredibly powerful source of the explosion before anyone else does, and if possible, to contain it. Answers to these questions and many more are to be found in the desert country of Oman and the Rub al-Khali, a forbidden land where evil spirits reign, and where, perhaps, lies the mysterious city of Ubar, the Atlantis of the Sands. Lady Kensintron organizes a small expedition, including Dr. Al-Maaz and Crowe, to travel to Oman to find these answers. However, Kara's expedition is not the only group determined to discover the desert's secrets; other shadowy groups trail the expeditions every move.

Again, I was completely riveted. The historic detail is amazing. A great read & highly recommended!
JANA


Rating:
Summary: Didn't like Painter or Safia, but the book was entertaining
Review: Ok, this is my second James Rollins book; but I have to state that I enjoyed his last book, Ice Hunt much better. That doesn't mean Sandstorm was a bad book, it was just that some of the characters really bothered me. It's hard to put my finger on it, but the characters, `Painter' and `Safia' didn't have that special element that authors need to make their books work. First, Painter showed some promise as a covert operative working for the American government at the start of the book. As soon he meets Safia, Painter has mixed emotional feelings towards Safia. He likes her, he loves her, and he doesn't love her and so on...please. Yes Painter had plenty momentous action scenes in the book, but he was not interesting to me. He was just a former Navy SEAL that had some romantic feelings toward Safia, that's all. The character, Safia, was too whiney for me. She kept on thinking of her bad experience back in Tele Aviv, and I kept on thinking, "Get over it! Move on!" Maybe I am being too harsh on Safia. The one character I did like was Omaha Dunn. He was smart, he was funny, and he was not perfect. His character was much more interesting that Painter's; in my opinion James Rollins centered on the character Painter a little too much.

As far as the story goes, I thought it was original and very entertaining to read! Just like the last book, Sandstorm was fast paced, and exciting, especially at the end. There's also some real life truths written in the book, just read the epilogue

If Mr. Rollins ever decided to use a character again, I hope it is Omaha Dunn!

Rating:
Summary: Bravo!
Review: See storyline above.

A visually stunning, fast-paced adventure, that will keep Rollins fans happy and hopefully garner some new ones. I love the science as well as the creativity. Keep up the good work.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Archaeologic relics harbors high technology
Review: The fertile mind of James Rollins conjured up the incredulous plot of his latest adventure thriller "Sandstorm". While Rollins' use of cutting edge technology makes for a mostly interesting read unfortunately the novel gets more preposterous as it proceeds.

The crux of the novel is an unexplained explosion at the British Museum in London thought to be caused by static electricity. The explosion, centered in the Kensington Gallery, was so ferocious in actually melted the bones of an unfortunate security guard that had the misfortune to be present within the gallery. The gallery was a vast collection of Arabian artifacts collected by Sir Reginald Kensington, who had mysteriously disappeared in the Arabian desert during a quest for the fabled city of Ubar. Head of the family Lady Kara Kensington appointed her dear friend and childhood playmate Dr. Safia Al-Maaz, a talented and attractive archaeologist as its curator.

Examination of the rubble that remained of the gallery pointed to a meteoritic artifact in the shape of a resting camel that eminated from the legendary Omani city of Ubar as the source of the outburst. U.S. counterespionage agent and former Navy Seal Dr. Painter Crowe and his amazonlike partner Dr, Coral Novak were called in to lead the investigation as to the cause of the devastation. The use of Geiger counters lead to the discovery of a major source of radiation within the gallery. Amazingly the source seemed to be within a nine foot tall sandstone statue. With the help of Dr. Al-Maaz, an iron relic shaped like a accurately proportioned human heart was extricated from the statue. Inscribed on it were the words U-B-A-R. It was postulated that the explosion was due to the degradation of anti-matter which when put in contact with matter could result in a massive release of energy.

The potential to acquire the secrets of this powerful energy source lead to an expedition to Oman by the characters previously mentioned, to find the mythical city of Ubar, thought to be the home of the Queen of Sheeba. Typically another team of mercenaries under the banner of a group called the Guild was also attempting to learn the secrets hidden in Ubar. Lead by a turncoat ex-partner of Crowe, Cassandra Sanchez they would kill anyone that stood in their way.

Along the way numerous twists, turns and fantastic revelations attempt to hold our interest as the plot thickens. It gets somewhat too thick at times.


Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC!
Review: This book was great. A combination of a lot of different genres.

If you like adventures like Indiana Jones or books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child you'll love this. I mention Preston and Child because like them, Rollins uses alot of different tools and settings in his stories. They never stay rooted in one place, or cover just one theme.

And like Preston and Child, his books might seem a little 'out there', scientifically speaking, but he always bases his stories WITH science as a means of making them more beleivable.

Great action, lots of likeable (and loathesome) characters, some historical facts, science, comic releif, and romance make this book a definite great read.