The demon crown

*Starred Review* Rollins' latest Sigma Force novel is one of the best in the series. The founder of the Smithsonian Institution, James Smithson, never set foot in the U.S. His bones were stolen from an Italian tomb by Alexander Graham Bell. What could possibly have compelled Bell to commit such a robbery? Jump to the present: Grayson Pierce and his girlfriend are in Maui, enjoying time away from Sigma Force, when they are among those subjected to a horrific attack by predatory wasps (yes, wasps). These creatures can adapt to the environment, and, as more attacks are reported, the Sigma Force team is tasked with eradicating a new kind of enemy. First they must find where the killer wasps are coming from and then aid scientists in developing an antidote to the deadly venom the wasps use to incapacitate their victims. The mix of science, history, and high-concept adventure is always first-rate in a Rollins novel, and that's true here as well, even with killer wasps in the mix and don't forget those bones and Alexander Graham Bell! Rollins raises the stakes even higher by daring to present the wasps' point of view in several scenes. Go with him, and you'll agree that he pulls it off beautifully. Devotees of Clive Cussler and Steve Berry are no doubt reading Rollins already, but if they're not, what's keeping them?--Ayers, Jeff Copyright 2017 Booklist

Readers with insect phobias may want to avoid bestseller Rollins's terrific 13th Sigma Force novel (after 2016's The Seventh Plague). In 1903, Alexander Graham Bell is on a mission to Italy to retrieve the bones of James Smithson, the man who founded the Smithsonian Institution. Along with Smithson's skeleton, Bell finds a pumpkin-sized chunk of amber containing a small dinosaur with a tiny crown of bones. Smithson's diary warns: "what the Demon Crown holds is very much alive and ready to unleash the very hordes of Hell upon this world." Sure enough, in the present, the secret cabal known as the Guild is about to unleash a massive infestation of giant killer wasps that, once established, will bring the world to its knees. Sigma Force commander Grayson Pierce and partner Seichan are on the beach in Hawaii when the first masses of unrelenting, venomous wasps swarm ashore. Soon all of Sigma Force is working to defeat the evil plan. The chapters written from the wasps' point-of-view are particularly bone-chilling. Agents: Russ Galen, Scovil Galen Ghost Literary Agency; and Danny Baror, Baror International. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.