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Trump, Tesla and Biblical Plagues converge in THE SEVENTH PLAGUE

December 19, 2016

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE asks, if the biblical plagues of Egypt truly happened—could they happen again—on a global scale?

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.

James Rollins is one of the most inventive writers writing today, with 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 review from Amazon adds, “Think of a Michael Crichton novel on steroids…”

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE by James Rollins

Sigma Force

The Seventh Plague

In a breathtaking blend of scientific intrigue and historical mystery, #1 New York Times bestselling mastermind, James Rollins, reveals an ancient threat hidden within the pages of the Bible, one that threatens the modern world in

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE

If the biblical plagues of Egypt truly happened–could they happen again–on a global scale?

Two years after vanishing into the Sudanese desert, the leader of a British archeological expedition, Professor Harold McCabe, comes stumbling out of the sands, frantic and delirious, but he dies before he can tell his story. The mystery deepens when an autopsy uncovers a bizarre corruption: someone had begun to mummify the professor’s body–while he was still alive.

His strange remains are returned to London for further study, when alarming news arrives from Egypt. The medical team who had performed the man’s autopsy has fallen ill with an unknown disease, one that is quickly spreading throughout Cairo. Fearing the worst, a colleague of the professor reaches out to a longtime friend: Painter Crowe, the director of Sigma Force. The call is urgent, for Professor McCabe had vanished into the desert while searching for proof of the ten plagues of Moses. As the pandemic grows, a disturbing question arises.

Are those plagues starting again?

Before Director Crowe can investigate, a mysterious group of assassins leaves behind a fiery wake of destruction and death, erasing all evidence. With the professor’s body incinerated, his home firebombed, Sigma Force must turn to the archaeologist’s only daughter, Jane McCabe, for help. While sifting through what’s left of her father’s work, she discovers a puzzling connection, tying the current threat to a shocking historical mystery, one involving the travels of Mark Twain, the genius of Nikola Tesla, and the adventures of famous explorer, Henry Morgan Stanley.

To unravel a secret going back millennia, Director Crowe and Commander Grayson Pierce will be thrust to opposite sides of the globe. One will 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; the other will struggle 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 latest 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.

Thriller Arcane [William Morrow, On Sale: December 13, 2016, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780062381682 / eISBN: 9780062381705]

Buy THE SEVENTH PLAGUE: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR

James talks about the themes he explores 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. 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.
  • ELECTRIC-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.

Clearly some reviewers are crowning James Rollins as 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.

“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

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