James Rollins will present THE SEVENTH PLAGUE at GIBSON’S BOOKSTORE (45 S Main ST, Concord, NH 03301)
Thursday, January 26, 2017 @ 7:00 PM
In this new thriller, he poses a solution for global warming, but asks, at what cost. Featuring an ‘Elon Musk’ like character and a unique perspective on the friendship between Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla, there is a lot of meat on the bone for great interview.
Rollins’s creativity and succinct stylish writing have the New York Times Book Review raving, “he’s what you might end up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together.” And in a recent editor’s pick review from Amazon added, “Think of a Michael Crichton novel on steroids…” Clearly reviewers are crowning James Rollins is the heir apparent to one of the world’s most revered authors. And with THE SEVENTH PLAGUE he cements this title. He even gives a humble nod to his predecessor in THE SEVENTH PLAGUE, using the theme “life finds a way” as a crucial plot twist.
In a breathtaking blend of scientific intrigue and historical mystery, the bestselling mastermind reveals an ancient threat hidden within the pages of the Bible, a threat with a puzzling connection to the travels of Mark Twain, the genius of Nikola Tesla, and the adventures of famous explorer, Henry Morgan Stanley. The advance reviews are consistently positive:
“When it comes to the blending of action, adventure, history, and science, there is no other author who does it better than Rollins.” – Booklist, starred review
“Rollins’s characters are as large as his landscape in this vast and vastly entertaining thriller saga.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review
THE SEVENTH PLAGUE asks, if the biblical plagues of Egypt truly happened—could they happen again—on a global scale?
ABOUT THE SEVENTH PLAGUE:
Series: Sigma Force Novels (Book 11)
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (December 13, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062381687
ISBN-13: 978-0062381682
In THE SEVENTH PLAGUE the leader of a British archeological expedition stumbles out of the Egyptian desert. Before he can explain what happened to his team, he dies. But his remains hold a terrifying discovery that only deepens the mystery: something had begun mummifying his body while he was still alive. Sigma must search for the truth, traveling from the plague-ridden streets of Cairo to a vast ancient tomb buried under the burning sands of the Sudan; while struggling to stop a mad genius locked within a remote Arctic engineering complex, risking the lives of all those he holds dear. As the global crisis grows ever larger, Sigma Force will confront a threat born of the ancient past and made real by the cutting-edge science—a danger that will unleash a cascading series of plagues, culminating in a scourge that could kill all of the world’s children . . . decimating mankind forever.
THEMES EXPLORED IN THE SEVENTH PLAGUE:
- TRUMP, TESLA AND A SECRET ENERGY SOURCE: Tesla was a visionary genius, and later in life in The New York Times, he made the bold claim that he had discovered a new, and never-before-seen energy source, one that would change the world. But he never revealed his secret, so when he died, the U.S. government cleared out all of his papers and research journals, including notebook that Tesla had warned his nephew to secure upon his death. All of Tesla’s confiscated work was reviewed by the National Defense Research Committee, a group led at the time by John G. Trump, the uncle of the current president-elect. Eventually, pressured by Tesla’s nephew, those papers were returned to his family, but not all of them. One conspicuous piece was missing—that notebook. In THE SEVENTH PLAGUE, it’s found.
- COULD A VIRUS CAUSE ONE OF THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES: The Zika virus originated in a monkey in Uganda, yet it’s grown into a tragic disease spreading around the world, causing crippling and deadly birth defects. Yet, we’re struggling to address it as it hits US shores. The organism in my novel is in the same family of viruses and causes birth defects and death, but only in male children, very much like Moses tenth plague—the deaths of the firstborn sons. So this novel serves as a cautionary tale about Zika and about our inability to face such crises.
- ELECTRICITY-EATING BACTERIA: They are very real. They’ve only recently been identified, but over a dozen different specimens have been found. These are microbes that feed directly on electricity, sucking electrons out of the environment and using them as an energy source. They’re so unique that a slew of labs are exploring practical applications for them—from growing them into living biocables that could conduct electricity to using them to power nano-machines capable of all sorts of industrial uses, including cleaning up the environment.
