Several Vatican personnel and the niece of an important one help Grayson on the case. Grayson leads a team to prevent the underground Guild from causing more damage around this world this time, they've blown up a church and killed nearly 100 people while stealing relics that might be the bones of the Magi, more commonly known as the Three Wise Men. The focus shifts from Painter Crowe to Grayson Pierce now, although Painter does appear in many scenes.

I've previously read the first book in the series and several other novels in this genre. Map of Bones is the 2nd book in the Sigma Force series written by James Rollins. I read and reviewed one other Sigma Force Book, #4 - The Judas Strain Leave your disbelief on a hanger somewhere. Rollins offers the mandatory climactic thunderstorm, a reasonable quantity of blood and guts, hints of sexual attraction, a bit of perversion, but focuses on the story and keeps it moving at a hectic pace. Another gripe is that the book seems a series of chases and battles with not all that much to connect them for the first 100 pages. Far too often he relies on silliness like 'Gray had memorized the layout of the castle.' This grows in frequency as we near the end. Rollins is not the tightest writer in terms of offering reasonable explanations for the twists and turns of the story. Of particular value here is the technology, both real and speculative, and the offered history, a definite plus. There are plenty of sub-mysteries concerning who is on which side in both the Vatican and Sigma, which adds some spice. Raoul, the major bad guy is straight out of central casting, lacking only steel braces.

Joining Pierce in his attempts to find out who, what, and where is Rachel Verona, Vatican Caribinieri and niece to a Vatican big-wig. There is a secret afoot and a highly competitive treasure hunt in which Sigma tries to outpace not only the Dragon Court, a millennia old cult of alchemists and overall bad guys, but their hired team of assassins, the Guild, led by Pierce's personal enemy, the cold-blooded Dragon Lady. When a cathedral in Cologne is assaulted by a crew using strange technology that leaves all present but one dead, and the take is ancient Magi bones, the Church is, as one might expect, alarmed. It comes complete with an opening action sequence that introduces the two antagonists. Sigma is the good guy crew here, led by Grayson Pierce, this book's version of 007, ably assisted by his trusted buddy, Monk, and the relative newbie, Kat. Map of Bones is an action adventure tale, combining both ancient secret societies, a la Dan Brown, and other secret societies, a la.well.

Sigma force book 2