The Devil Colony

The Devil Colony: A Sigma Force Novel
James Rollins
Harper
Harper Collins Publisher
ISBN: 978-0-06-178565-8
$ 9.99
647 pages

What do these things have in common? The Mormon Church, Lewis
and Clark, the mysterious death of Meriwether Lewis, Native Americans,
The Founding Fathers of the United States, the disappearance of the
Anasazi people, the Iroquois Nation, nano technology, Indian mounds,
volcanoes, and the emblem of the United States? One thing, the book The Devil
Colony.

When you live near the Rocky Mountains in Utah, naturally exploring by
climbing and hiking is a frequent activity for many. Trent Walker and
Charlie Reed decide to follow an old Indian map that was drawn on an
old deer hide piece. The two are trying to find the landmarks on this
faded fabric and attempt to compensate their map with erosion and
weathering. The two had just finished high school and Charlie was
planning on entering college in the fall while Trent plans to work locally.

The map belongs to Charlie's grandfather who is currently experiencing a taste
of a traditional trip, or hallucinogenic. Only a few of the tribal
elders even know that this map exists. This is a great opportunity for
the two friends to finally explore and have an adventure before their lives
change with their prospective futures.

The two are looking for a supposedly haunted cave which has some
kind of a secret hidden treasure.

The two discovered the cave with mummified bodies. However, the
bodies looked Caucasian, not Native American. Being shocked and
uneasy, the two quickly begin to leave the cave when Trent slips and
falls. Charlie continues to leave the cave. Trent is ready to yell for
help when he hears voices outside the cave and then a gunshot. He
chooses to hide further back into a tunnel in the cave. He hears
something rolling into the cave. It is Charlie's body followed by his
elderly grandfather who then puts a pistol to his own head and shoots
himself.

This is only the beginning of an enthralling interwoven action-adventure
tale, intermixing legends with real events. The tale combines many of the
characters from Rollins' previous novels in combining all these themes
through places around the world.

Compared to Rollins' previous novels, this one is the best with the
intermixing of the past and the present with reality and legend. Also,
the reader certainly enjoys the opportunity to be reacquainted with many
of the characters from previous novels as they continue with their every
day challenges while still trying to stop the Guild from its ultimate desire of
world power.

Also, after the conclusion of The Devil Colony, there is a short story,
"The Skeleton Key" which explains what happened to Seichan prior to her
entering the story in The Devil Colony.

The Devil Colony will not disappoint any Rollins fan. I would not
recommend this as a first Rollins novel as many of the characters are
from previous novels. However, for me, The Devil Colony was another
wonderful and educational adventure with the fictional Sigma Force in a great
novel by James Rollins.