Kowalski's in Love

Sigma Force #2.5

by James Rollins

Experience a heart-pumping and thrilling tale of suspense! Kowalski’s in Love was originally published in Stories to Keep You Up All Night (2006), edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson.This Thriller Short from #1 New York Times bestselling writer James Rollins brings a story that’s no love story, at least not in the traditional sense. Fans of Rollins’s Sigma Force series know Joe Kowalski, a naval seaman with the heart of a hero, but lacking the brainpower to go with it. Kowalski stays in trouble and here readers will get to know a bit more about his backstory. One that illustrates something Kowalski seems to live by. Dumb luck is better than no luck at all.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Short Stories, Action, Mystery, Mystery Thriller

29 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 30, 2006

About the author

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers. His writing has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than 20 million books. The New York Times says, “Rollins is what you might wind up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together.” NPR calls his work, “Adventurous and enormously engrossing.” Rollins unveils unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets matched with stunning suspense. As a veterinarian, he had a practice in Sacramento for over a decade and still volunteers at local shelters. Nowadays, Rollins shares his home up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with two furry companions, Echo and Charlie. He also enjoys scuba diving, spelunking, kayaking, and hiking. Of course, he loves to travel and experience new places around the world, which often inspire his next globe-trotting adventure.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The good thing about reading a series long after it is already established is that you can be sure to read the books in order, meaning sometimes the author shares short novellas or stories that go back to the beginning... the bad thing is, you might not know enough about the character if you do this. I began reading the Sigma Force books written by James Rollins earlier this year when I realized I missed international thrillers with medical or archaeological themes. I've completed books one thru four, and when I checked for the next installment, it was this short story called Kowalski's in Love. Kowalski first appeared in book four as a supporting character who helped solve a problem. He appeared much like background material and didn't have much of a personality. From reading this one, I take it he will become more prominent in the future books.

That said, he's hilarious in this mini story... he's accidentally deposited onto an island where feral baboons try to kill him. A woman shows up to save him, and they immediately bicker. Then he needs to save her. And he falls in love. It was funny, stark, action-oriented and swift. It breathed life into a character I hadn't thought much about. Now I'm curious what the larger story is because this island of baboons clearly has a connection to another book, but I'm not sure if it's in the Sigma Force series or one of the stand-alone novels. I will have to find out. The other good thing is this originally was part of a collection of multiple thriller authors, offering a way to read shorts by a bunch and determine which authors you wanted to further explore.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your typical Kowalski story. Through a combination of bumbling and bulldozing his way through a situation, he manages to save the day. This little ditty is how he was introduced to Sigma Force. It's short, but any fan of the Sigma Force novels is going to like this. This was originally printed in an anthology book called Thrillers.

[John Paxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad but not that much of a fan of Kowalski but still worth reading.

[Mahdi Golestani]

داستان کوتاهی از مجموعه ی سیگما فورس که برخلاف ترتیب شماره ی مجموعه ی اصلی که کتاب 2.5 حساب میشه تحت عنوان کتاب 3.5 منشتر شده.
نکته ایی که اول میخوام بهش اشاره کنم شکل چاپ این عنوان توسط کتابسرای تندیسه .
کتاب 104 صفحه میباشد به قیمت دوازده هزارتومن در حالی که کوالسکی عاشق فقط 24 صفحه از این کتاب رو در بر میگیره . و الباقی صفحات به غیر از
پرتی ها شامل فصل اول کتاب چهارم مجموعه ی سیگما یعنی ویروس یهودا میشه که حکم تبلیغ عنوان چهارم رو بیشتر نداره .
به عبارتی شما با یک عنوان 24 صفحه ایی روبرو هستید با 80 صفحه پرتی به قیمت 12 هزارتومن .
برای بنده هیچوقت قیمت عنوان ها مهم نبوده ولی این مورد دیگه توهین کامل به خریدار کتاب هست .
بعد از اون اندازه و تعداد خطوط و سایز فونتی که مجموعه ی پارکر نسبت به قیمتش داشت حالا با همیچن عنوانی روبرو میشیم که واقعا نوبره و کاملا نشون دهنده ی تمام تلاش کتابسرای تندیس برای رقابت با نشر باژ تو این موارد هست .

[هادی امینی · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان کوتاهه! و خوب من عاشق کوالسکی‌ ام.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kowalski's in Love was a fun short story that showed how one of my favorite characters in the series became connected to Sigma.

Joe Kowalski, a naval seaman, is ready for a nice relaxing vacation. But after some trouble on his boat, he ends up on a small Brazilian island. Unfortunately for Kowalski, this island has some aggressive inhabitants and is about to be blown up by the Brazilian Navy.

I have been working my way through the Sigma Force series and realized I had inadvertently missed this short story when I was early on in the series. The story is very short at under thirty pages long, but I think the author did a great job introducing readers to Kowalski and his unique charms. Kowalski has become one of my favorite characters in the series and I've always wondered how he came to be at Sigma when he has a much different background than the others working there. The plot is one similar to that you'd find in other books in the series, Sigma is sent in to retrieve an antidote to a deadly experiment while being under a time crunch due to the Brazilian Navy's plan to bomb the island. Overall I thought the story was fun and showcased Kowalski's character very well.

I would definitely recommend Kowalski's in Love for fans of the series and I'm glad I finally picked this story up.

[Vivone Os · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magical readathon Orillium: Conduit – Spellbook: book with at least two S’s in the title
Globalni ciljevi: nastavak serijala

Kratko, ali slatko.
Nedostajala mi je Sigma Force.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Part of Unrestricted Access: New and Classic Short Fiction

[AndrewP · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short that gives some background on Kowalski before he joined Sigma Force. A bit of action and an amusing ending that takes a twist in a different direction.

Worth reading if your a fan of the series.

[Cathy Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast and fun read

If you like Rollins’ characters like I do, you will enjoy this fast and fun read that focuses on a typical Kowalski outing. Even though it is a short read, I quickly got lost in the story and stayed hooked through to the end.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crisp, clean, Sigma-esque fun, with glimpses of Kowalski— the unsung hero!
Definitely readable. Recommended to all lovers of Rollins.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Kowalski first joined the Sigma Force gang in the fourth book of the series, The Judas Strain, and has been a permanent feature ever since. Kowalski is the munition expert for Sigma Force and he stands out from the rest in that he is more brawn than brains. So you may wonder, ‘how on earth did Painter Crowe choose Kowalski to become a member of this highly specialized team?’ You can find the answer in Kowalski’s in Love.

Kowalski’s in Love first appeared in James Patterson’s Thriller: Stories to keep you up all night, an anthology of short stories, however, Rollins has recently released it separate from the anthology. The story starts off with, “He wasn’t much to look at…even swinging upside down from a hog snare”, which should give you some idea of where this is going. For Kowalski fans this is an absolute must read. It is short but sweet.

If you are interested in learning more about the Sigma Force Series check it out on my blog A-Thrill-A-Week

[michael Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kowalski is the man! Always laughing and cutting up in the most dire moments.Reminds me of...well...ME


I can't get enough of James Rollins.His stories are. Always such an adventure. I can't wait to read all the adventure s

[Ayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story about Kowalski before he joined Sigma force. Title ties to a funny ending.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kowalski accidentally blows his boat up and swims to a Brazilian island filled with dangerous baboons that is due to be fire bombed. A lot happens in 23 pages.

[Leslie Sexton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced as always.

I’m a huge fan of Rollins. I love these short story intros before his new book comes out. This one spotlights Kowalski and now we know why he is wary of apes. Fun and quick to read. My new book is waiting! Merry Christmas and Thank You Very Much!

[Kelly Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but so short!

I know it’s a short story and I shouldn’t be disappointed by its being short, but Kowalski is my favorite Sigma officer and I was really hoping this story would be longer.
Still, his trials with the baboons were perfectly Kowalski, and that’s just fine by me.

[Sandra Pierre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet but way too short

The title says it all. . You. have to love Kowalski!! he. Has a heart of gold and has the worst timing.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun short story featuring Kowalsi from Sigma Force in earlier times. Lots of action and nice ending

[Drew Cannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story introduces us to Joe Kowalski, a character introduced later in the Sigma Force saga (I believe around book 4). This allows us to learn a bit more about this character's background and what his personality is like. In regards to the story, it's short as mentioned earlier, but still manages to be exciting throughout. Kowalski finds himself shipwrecked on an island where a science experiment has gone mad! He is tasked by a member there that works with Sigma Force to go and retrieve the antidote to said experiment ASAP. This story definitely got me excited for this character's introduction later in the series. 4/5.

[Farideh · Rating 5 out of 5]

کوتاه اما مهیج بدون هیچ اضافه گویی.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why are all the women always stunningly beautiful and WHY TF DID THAT ONE GIRL HAVE HER HAIR DOWN???????

[Maria Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

What makes Kowalski fall in love

This is a short story about an adventure, Kowalski had when his boat accidentally went on fire because he dropped his smoking cigar on spilt gasoline, forcing him to swim to island that had been the research site for a crazy scientist who developed a virus that causes people and animals to go mad. But he had also developed the antidote, which was in a safe in his home on the island. Kowalski had gotten snared by one of the many traps, set-up to deter the baboons roaming the island, but was rescued by the woman scientist who had been parachuted in to get the antidote. Since she helped him and had gotten injured in doing so, he volunteered to go to the compound to get the antidote while she heads to the beach for the helicopter that Sigma was sending. He gets the antidote to Director Crowe but takes a special kind of automatic gun to rescue the woman scientist using the soon to be his best loved gun.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Four stars.

In James Rollins's short thriller, "Kowalski's in Love," a less-than-intelligent but brawny Sigma Force member, Joe Kowalski, gets caught in a deadly series of booby traps on a remote island while a virus threatens to wipe it out. He's found by a scientist, Dr. Shay Rosauro, who he helps to escape the traps and complete her mission to find an antidote before a Brazilian military operation destroys the island. The story serves as a character-building piece for Kowalski, showcasing how his "dumb luck" and heroic instincts lead him to join Sigma Force.

This is my first introduction to our new Sigma Force hero Joe Kowalski. In the introduction, James Rollins discusses the difficulty of writing a short story and still including the important elements. He mentioned that he (obviously) tends to write books that are much longer than a short story. So keeping to a much lower word count and still writing something good would be a challenge. In my opinion, James Rollins met this challenge and surpassed it. He introduced two new characters, got me to a point where I liked them and then also cared about what happened to them. I can sometimes read a whole book and not give a crap what happens to the main characters, so I have to say bravo to the author for doing this successfully. It’s only short, but I was pulled straight in and was compelled to listen (I listened to the audiobook version) from the very beginning right until the end. Every moment in between was action packed and we even had some of James Rollins’ signature humour as well. Overall, I was impressed with this short story.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I had already read this shortie, but for some reason I missed it.

Poor Joe Kowalski managed to blow up his boat and swam to shore on a small island. Unfortunately for him the island is covered with booby-traps and is swung up into the air by a snare. Dr. Shay Rosauro, searching for an antidote for a horrible virus released by the owner of the island, finds Joe and releases him. When another trap breaks her leg, Joe agrees to finish her time-sensitive mission. Find the antidotes before the Brazilian military wipe the island off the face of the Earth and make it to the pickup point.

Joe quickly became a favorite of mine from the moment he appeared in Rollins' Sigma Force books. He's not smooth, but he is bullheaded. And he has a great love for cigars and weapons, especially unusual weapons. Loved this! 3.5 out of 5.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ for # 2.5 in the series…

“…The Island of Rabid Baboons."

I wish I was joking, but that is actually the plot to this short story in the Sigma Force series. It tells us that Kowalski, before he joined Sigma was in the Navy, and somehow unbeknownst to us ends up on a island of baboons that have been injected by a madman professor with a raging cannibalistic passion. The island, full of booby traps, reminds us of another island, owned by Dr. Moreau.

This story isn’t really needed to progress in the series, but provides us with a laugh out of the ridiculousness of Kowalski’s situation.

Things you may also encounter on this island:
1. Cannibalistic raging butlers who mimic zombies
2. Alpha male baboons with too much testosterone
3. Next level artillery
4. Sexy crazed women bent on killing you
5. Lower brain cell levels

[Steve W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picking this from the e-library, I'm not sure how I missed that it is a short-story (chapter) rather than a full book. I was expecting a story to develop, but what felt more like a tangent from some other story.

I don't have the deep experience with Rollins books that other readers here do (just one audio book, Map of Bones, which I enjoyed), so Kowalski as a familiar character meant nothing to me. I didn't feel that I got to know another side of a character I already know.

If this were the only work I read by Rollins, I wouldn't come back for more. I guess maybe I need to avoid the short stories, at least for now, and stick with the main Sigma Force stories.

[Ericka Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short novela using Joe Kowalski as the main character. Kowalski is the crass grunt of the sigma team. All muscle, little brains but a lot bravery or stupidity depending on the situation. He’s probably my favorite. Kowalski finds himself on a tropical island, caught in snare, upside down with crazy murderous baboons circling him. They are crazy and murderous because they have been experimented on. Kowalski is able to escape with the help of scientist, Dr Gabriella Rosaruo and in about 20 pages the the day is saved and they escape.

[Nancy Silk · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Humorous But Threatening"

This is a very short novella (27 pages) which was included in the 2006 multiple author book "Thriller." Joe Kowalski is a naval seaman with a heart of a hero, but lacks the brainpower to go with it. He's a primary character in Rollins' Sigma series. One of his famous quotes is "Dumb luck is better than no luck at all." This short story is amusing, full of quick action. Take a few minutes to enjoy.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

How’d I miss this Sigma Force short story?

I’m always on the lookout for Sigma Force series books, so I was surprised to chance upon this short story about the brave, brawny but not very bright Joe Kowalski. He’s the Everyman of Sigma Force’s elite team, the big-hearted guy who tries his best to do what’s right. If you like reading the Rollins’ Sigma Force series, this should be a good appetizer until the next full-length book.