An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum, setting off alarms in clandestine organizations around the world.
And now the search for answers is leading Lady Kara Kensington; her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery’s brilliant and beautiful curator; and their guide, the international adventurer Omaha Dunn, into a world they never dreamed existed: a lost city buried beneath the Arabian desert.
But others are being drawn there as well, some with dark and sinister purposes. And the many perils of a death-defying trek deep into the savage heart of the Arabian Peninsula pale before the nightmare waiting to be unearthed at journey’s end: an ageless and awesome power that could create a utopia… or destroy everything humankind has built over countless millennia.
Sandstorm by James Rollins. Book #1 in the Sigma Force series. Narrated by John Meagher. Audiobook by Harper Audio, 2004. Run time is 16 hours.
Occasionally I take a break from the horror genre and read a treasure-seeking action adventure book. I don’t mind it being a little bit more formulaic as long as it’s nicely written. Don’t make it uber cliched and don’t make it TOO predictable.
I had looked forward to reading something by this author for a very long time. I’ve been hearing about him for a while now. Browsing his books, the plots always sounded fun! I had a hand full of books by him to try.
OOOOOOO MY. This is going to be a short and not exactly sweet review.
I was extremely disappointed with Sandstorm. 😦 For an author so highly praised as a best seller and a leader in this genre, the writing was just…. I’m sorry, but BAD! D: The plot premise was good, but it was written very amateur -ish. So many cliches and everything was so predictable! Sure, it’s action adventure, a genre not often known for being a “deep thinker”, but this was just too predictable even for the genre. 
It left the story super NOT suspenseful and boring.
Sandstorm started out very nicely. It wasn’t long until we hit a few road bumps. By hour 4 (of 16!), the wheels were beginning to fall off. By hour 7, I was practically foaming at the mouth with the sheer amounts of ridiculous plot points after ridiculous plot points. There is a romance that just felt like it had zero chemistry and was forced. Didn’t feel natural at all! But that was basically everything! It was like a jigsaw puzzle where you know you aren’t putting the correct piece in the empty spot so you just jam it in to make it fit anyways? This book is a lot like that.
I even love science topics, but the whole story with the ultimate weapon got so convoluted I couldn’t even keep up anymore. Nothing felt like it made sense, and when it did it just felt so UGH! SERIOUSLY?! D:<
This book was extremely disappointing and so frustrating! I was so angry after this book, I gathered up every book I had by this author and took them to the used bookstore to donate. I didn’t want them anymore. I doubt I will read this author ever again.
Creature From The Book Lagoon 