Ever since author Michael Crichton passed away in 2008, critics have lauded several different writers as his “heir apparent.” The funny thing is that James Rollins probably fits that description better than anyone else I have read and has been doing this consistently since well before 2008.

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE is an eco-terror novel run fully amok. It purports that a potential mass extinction event may harken back to biblical times and the plagues that threatened the earth in the age of Moses. Rollins’ latest book shows that this type of event may have happened several times throughout history, and we just may be in line for it once again.

Many historians have discounted the stories of Moses and the Exodus as myth. Rollins is happy to point out via this eye-opening novel that recent discoveries around the Nile River may hold evidence as to just how real these events may have been. Professor Harold McCabe fears that the infamous 10 plagues from the Bible may be ready to become our new reality. The only problem is that Professor McCabe dies before he can relate his story to the world. What makes things that much more bizarre is the fact that his remains have been mummified.

"James Rollins frightens and educates readers while daring them to look away as he drops one exhilarating plot twist after another. Biblical history has never been so sweet!"

His daughter, Jane McCabe, finds evidence in her father's work of an interesting theory that ties in the current issues of the modern world --- global warming, viral pandemic --- to a historical mystery that featured the unlikely trio of Mark Twain, Nikola Tesla and Henry Morton Stanley. Sir Stanley was regaled for his discovery of fellow explorer David Livingstone, who had been lost in the darkest heart of Africa. Livingstone had discovered evidence of the biblical plagues while exploring the Nile River, and that river turning to blood was just the start.

Now it is up to Sigma Force, led by Director Painter Crowe and Commander Grayson Pierce, to find out what the actual risk is to humanity based on the discovery of Professor McCabe's mummified corpse. If there really is the possibility of a mass extinction event, they must find out how to stop it and, more importantly, who may be behind seeing that these tragic events become reality. It will send Pierce and his team to the Middle East and the deserts of Africa in search of the source of the plagues.

Meanwhile, Director Crowe finds himself taken prisoner by a megalomaniac by the name of Simon Hartnell. Hartnell seems to be the driving force behind seeing the plagues come to life on planet earth in a misguided attempt to fulfill some of the prophecies laid forth decades earlier by Tesla. In the meantime, Commander Pierce is dealing with following up on Professor McCabe's desire to find proof of the Exodus, all the while becoming himself the living vessel of God's wrath.

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE, which technically applies to “a thunderstorm of hail and fire,” also proves to be a fine description for this fireball of a novel. Heart-stopping action, cutting-edge science and biblical history combine to make for an outstanding read that includes everything from an extreme attempt at creating an energy source like no other to a possible solution found amidst a pack of elderly elephants in the African jungle. James Rollins frightens and educates readers while daring them to look away as he drops one exhilarating plot twist after another. Biblical history has never been so sweet!