Kingdom of Bones

Sigma Force #16

by James Rollins

From #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins, the latest riveting, deeply imaginative thriller in the Sigma Force series, told with his trademark blend of cutting-edge science, historical mystery, and pulse-pounding action.

It begins in Africa . . .

A United Nations relief team in a small village in the Congo makes an alarming discovery. An unknown force is leveling the evolutionary playing field. Men, women, and children have been reduced to a dull, catatonic state. The environment surrounding them—plants and animals—has grown more cunning and predatory, evolving at an exponential pace. The insidious phenomenon is spreading from a cursed site in the jungle — known to locals as the Kingdom of Bones —and sweeping across Africa, threatening the rest of the world.

What has made the biosphere run amok? Is it a natural event? Or more terrifyingly, did someone engineer it?

Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force are prepared for the extraordinary and have kept the world safe, vigilance for which they have paid a tragic personal price. Yet, even these brilliant and seasoned scientific warriors do not understand what is behind this frightening development—or know how to stop it. As they race to find answers, the members of Sigma quickly realize they have become the prey.

To head off global catastrophe, Sigma Force must risk their lives to uncover the shattering secret at the heart of the African continent—a truth that will illuminate who we are as a species and where we may be headed . . . sooner than we know.

Mother Nature—red in tooth and claw—is turning against humankind, propelling the entire world into the Kingdom of Bones.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Action, Science Fiction, Audiobook

591 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 19, 2022

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

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigma Force is another of my go-to series. Rollins expertly blends science, myths, action, and adventure into this series as well as his standalone novels.

Kingdom of Bones centers in Congo where a virus started. Commander Gray Pierce and his Sigma Force team are called to save the world. I usually enjoy this plotline but I think Rollins got carried away with excessive detail and the story becomes more bizarre as it goes. Truthfully, after nine hours, I only want to know about Tucker and his war dog, Kane. The best part is the author's truth or fiction at the end of the novel.

[Kate The Book Addict · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to HarperCollins Publisher for an ARC for an honest review. Please feel free to send author James Rollins other books or any additional great writers to me too for more honest reviews. 😊.
Riveting nonstop action book by James Rollins. Totally addicted!! I personally love the in-depth research the author has obviously done to wrap within a very interesting thriller filled with characters you really deeply care about, whether it’s love or hate. The writing is so fluid with just enough details. Each scene you know something important—a clue!!—is there, waiting for you to discover. Fantastic read!!!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I've come to expect, the Sigma Force series delivers on a good story with fascinating background history. #16, Kingdom of Bones, is the 2022 release in the series written by James Rollins, and while it had a lot of positives, it was missing something to keep my full interest. Perhaps it felt a bit like a consolidation of past stories, or some of my favorite characters were missing, or the focus on Africa didn't completely connect with my reading interests. The usual dynamic religious / political / historical web of lies was missing, and I found the villains not so villainy this time. All that said, the quality was still there in terms of writing style and adventure scenes. The focus points were just off. Still looking forward to the next one.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigma Force is a group of former special ops who now work for DARPA. They've been trained as scientists and get sent in when odd and dangerous events occur. When a new supervirus breaks out in the Congo, Sigma gets brought in. All signs point towards it originating within the lost kingdom of Prestor John. The story also has some crazy mutant animals in it. Most of the main team are in this one, Gray, Monk, Kowalski, Tucker and Kane. The only member missing is Seichan but Rollins does promise at the end that the next book will center around her. All in all, another solid Sigma Force novel.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new virus has appeared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sigma Force team comes to the rescue. As usual with the Sigma Force books, there is a lot of action. The sigma crew is endangered and things get blown up. I preferred the parts of this book that were about the virus - where it came from and it’s impact. I also liked the creatures that the author invented and the discussion of the history of the Congo. Although this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.

In his notes at the end of the book, the author says that he fully expects to get hate mail for the way the military dog is treated in this book. He deserves the hate mail. I spent the whole book worrying more about the dog than I did about the escaped killer virus. That is probably because, in fiction the scientists always save the day and vanquish the virus. Ha! What a joke!

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Here is what you came to find,” Tyende said. “Molimbo’s people call it Utoto wa Maisha. The Cradle of Life. The Kuba named it Mfupa Ufalme.”

“The Kingdom of Bones,” Gray said.

Tyende stared across the expanse. “Both names are equally true. As you will see.”

Even though I don’t normally read military thrillers, the Sigma Force novels have been a guilty pleasure for me over the years. They usually do a nice job of blending the action sequences with interesting history and science. Yes, they’re formulaic, and the bad guys are irredeemably eeeeeeevil while the good guys are effectively invincible. Usually one team is working on a problem in the present, often involving the kidnapping of a person uniquely important to this book’s plot. Meanwhile, on a different continent, the other team is investigating a historical approach to solving the problem. And sooner or later there will be a traitor because ... there’s always at least one traitor.

And Kingdom of Bones stays pretty true to that formula. There’s a disease outbreak in the Congo that is putting humans into a lethal stupor, while at the same time rendering animals more dangerous. A mix of new and old characters are on the ground trying to understand the disease (and eventually getting kidnapped 🤣), while a team of new and old characters led by Gray follows historical clues that may lead to the source of the outbreak, and potentially a cure.

The explanation for the disease felt pretty farfetched to me, and I can imagine some readers being unable to roll with it. But otherwise, I thought Kingdom of Bones had a pretty good balance between the history and the science. And I don’t know exactly when this book was sent to print, but reading it in 2023 and seeing the obvious villain described as “the Elon Musk of mining” perfectly communicated the villain’s obnoxious villainy. Entertaining, and one of the better entries in the series. Recommended.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars is usually good for most authors but for Rollins, it’s a bit disappointing.

And we are now at 3 books in a row that just failed to grab me like his old stories used to.

Obviously this is far from his worst novel and it was an improvement over The Last Odyssey however Kingdom of Bones still failed to measure up to classics like Amazonia, Ice Hunt and Bloodline.

I’m not gonna go as far as to say Rollins has lost his touch (like Robinson or even Reilly), but after 3 straight Sigma books that didn’t resonate with me, I’m wondering if it’s time to go back to some stand alone novels…

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of his better stories, IMHO.

[Lydia Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Rollins is such a great and well known author. I have enjoyed every book he has written. I truly enjoyed yet another intriguing book. The Congo is the setting and the villain is an enormously wealthy viper that is preying on the people of the Congo. He disregards environmental safety and humanity. A UN relief team is in a small village in the Congo where villagers have come down with a paralytic sickness which leaves them nearly catatonic. Before the group can begin to diagnose the camp is overrun by giant ants, and wild baboons. Rollins knocked it out of the park with this one, with a captivating ride from start to finish. Mr. Rollins does not fail to tie it all together, superb. Highly recommend.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A giant thank you to William Morrow for sending me a physical advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I've been a big fan of James Rollins since I randomly picked up Map of Bones to have something to read in the car on a road trip with my brother - that should tell you how long I've been following this series!

This one had a breakneck speed - the story hits the ground running and doesn't really ever stop. I very much enjoyed some of the new characters that were introduced. Even though they might just be one-offs, I hope we get to see some of them again!

Definitely pick this one up. There's a bit of backstory that you'll miss out on if you haven't read the rest of the series, but it's not 100% vital to have done so. Maybe 80% vital? :)

Highly recommend this series!

[Pierre Tassé (Enjoying Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book a little tired and, given the COVID discussions of the last 2 plus years, the book just didn't cut it in painting a story line similar to what was/is going on. Maybe it's just me but 3 stars because of the characters, the action that was awsome.

[Stephen Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant book, I think it's one of the best in the series. Gray and the whole team are back in action on what could be their toughest mission yet.

This book explores what happens when greed and man's neglect for the environment cause Mother Nature to fight back with terrifying consequences.

The action is non-stop and the story flows.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Lee Child, Blake Crouch, and Brad Meltzer ever collaborated on a novel, the result would end up something like a James Rollins novel. Rollins deftly combines action/adventure, hard science, and well-researched history in his contemporary pulp novels that are reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard, if Burroughs and Haggard were actually decent writers.

“Kingdom of Bones” is the 16th book in Rollins’s Sigma Force series, but it is the first of the series that I have read. Basically imagine if G.I.Joe routinely worked with Fringe Division to solve international X-Files cases, and you kind of have an idea of what Rollins is going for in these books.

The plot of this novel—-like most Rollins novels—-is too detailed and convoluted to go into, other than to say it is set in the heart of the Republic of the Congo, and it involves a supervirus, mutated baboons, a lost kingdom of gold, a legendary Congolese Christian king, pygmies, aardwolves, robotic killer dogs, and a life-giving Mother Tree that may have provided the genetic material that helped in the jumpstarting of the evolution of humanity. There’s also, of course, a stock Bond-type villain who is plundering the Congolese natural resources for his own avaricious desires. There’s also a lovable military dog named Kane.

It’s not totally necessary to know the main characters. They are all kind of cardboard cut-out Action Heroes with names like Grey, Frank, Tucker, and Kowalski. These are the recurring characters, and I don’t know their back-stories.

Despite its silliness, “Kingdom of Bones” is an exciting action thriller with a lot of fascinating science and African history to keep you turning the pages, assuming the heroic dog isn’t enough to do that.

I “read” this as an Audiobook on CD. It was narrated wonderfully by Christian Baskous.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Book #16 of the Sigma Force series has the team responding to a panicked call from a Doctors without Borders camp, where a zoonotic jungle plague is making people catatonic and turning animals/insects into killers. The local doctors are kidnapped, along with a research specialist in nearby Gabon, by a Belgian billionaire and his mercenaries, who have built enormous wealth raping the land and enslaving the people. Tucker Wayne and Kane return to supplement Monk, Pierce Gray, Kowalski to pursue the bad guys and track the source of the deadly virus. Rollins does his usual integration of scientific and historical research and fictionalization to create a wild ride, full of death and destruction. Some local folklore, shaman remedies, and African legends, including the story of missionary Prester John, lead part of the team towards finding the cure, deep in the heart of darkness, even as the evildoer uses military technology to delete evidence of his crimes. The only thing missing was Seichan, who will be back for the next Sigma adventure.

[Uroš Novaković · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a person who read all of Sigma Force novels to date, I can say without a doubt, that this is the worst one yet.
This is sad to me because I used to adore this series. This series has been, for the most part, on the decline since the end of the Guild.
And Kingdom of Bones is no exception. This novel is too big for the story it's trying to tell. The first half of the book is absolute nothingness. There's almost no Sigma at all in the first half of the book. Just random, unimportant sentences to increase that page count. I assume James is getting paid by the number of pages. So yeah, the pacing is terrible.

There is nothing original in this book. We've seen it all in the previous entries, and to make it worse, it was all done better in the previous novels.
Kingdom of Bones is the definition of recycled content and repetitiveness.
We have, yet again, Monk getting kidnapped only to be able to use his C4 prosthetic to escape the situation. I don't think there's been a single book where he didn't do that after he got the arm.
And of course the rest of the group uses the built in GPS to track him down, revealing the enemy HQ. That never happened before (sarcasm).
Yet again, Sigma prides itself on being the first on the scene. And it literally never is. And even on rare occasions when they are, it doesn't really matter.
Kowalski says something dumb only to be followed by "Grey ignored him". If I got a penny for every time Grey ignored him...

This book is just so boring that even Seichan decided not to be in it. The only good thing about KOB are the few Tucker and Kane parts.
And don't even get me started on the cast in this book. Half of the people here are just named cardboard cutouts. And that goes for both the people on the "good" side and the "bad" side. You can literally write out at least 5 characters from this book and nothing would change in this story.

This book is a result of an author who is also tired of writing these, but they are what he's known for so he kinda has to since none of his other projects picked up in popularity.
The Sigma Force well has officially dried up. Time to move on.

== Potential semi spoilers ahead ==

Charlotte is one of those named characters in the book that do absolutely nothing. The only thing she does is to say how she remembered the promise she made to Disanka and her child. She says that at least 40 times in this book. We don't have amnesia, we remember James. That's her only role in this story.
There are a few others who were literally just people with a name. I don't even remember if some of them died or made it til the end from how unimportant they are.

And then you have Benjie, a character who pretty much solved 90% of the issues in this novel. An autistic genius. The other 10% of puzzle solving was Gray.
Yes, Gray Pierce got outsmarted in this novel in almost every single scene. The guy who is literally in Sigma because of his ability to see patterns and solve puzzles.
They should hire Benjie instead because next to him Gray felt like a side character in this whole novel.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I have mentioned in other reviews Rollins is an author I read for entertainment, for fun. He is an author I follow and whose books I collect. While this might be true I have not spared him criticism when it is due. If you doubt then read my recent review of Rollins’ latest project The Starless Crown which only got 2 stars and was a major disappointment to this fan. I say all this because this book will really be hard to review though I give it a grudging 4 stars. My difficulty is based on the fact that reading this book was literally exhausting. Rollins writes very good thrillers with an emphasis on the thrills but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. The good guys in this book are faced with one calamity and catastrophe after another and frequently before the previous catastrophe has been resolved. And the mishaps and terrors are so frequent and so over the top that the reader’s ability to suspend logic is sorely taxed. Yes, this is fiction so liberties with reality are expected but if it is done too much and to extremes then the story is threatened with becoming silly and beyond even a fictional acceptance of reality. In this story I think Rollins went too far and came dangerously close to silliness. But what is the story about?

Like all of Rollins’ Sigma Series the stories are based on science and the science is spun into a story of great peril. In this book the science involved is about viruses and DNA. Considering our present reality a very timely subject wouldn’t you think? A group of humanitarian doctors and scientists operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) discover people who are afflicted with an unidentifiable disease that renders them lethargic and progress to almost a zombie like condition. The facility the humanitarians are working at is then attacked by a tribe of crazed baboons but a local tribal shaman arrives and uses strange powder to repel the baboons. As this is happening hoped for rescue arrives in helicopters but the rescuers are actually there to kidnap the scientists for their employer an uber rich Belgian. This Belgian has a very James Bond type villain operation in the central DRC. Once the Sigma team arrives on the scene it is decided that one team goes after the kidnapped scientists while another group goes into the jungle to learn about the origins of the shaman’s powder. From this point the book follows the storyline of the two teams.

As I have already stated the perils faced by the Sigma teams is more than a bit over the top and can leave the reader out of breathe and exhausted but you will keep turning pages. The team going after the doctors and scientists is more of a conventional Sigma story while the team looking for the shaman’s powder starts conventionally it then meanders into borderline fantasy in my opinion. Clearly this book allowed Rollins to harken back to his early books in which he created monstrous and terrifying creatures. I also can’t help but feel this book coupled with what was contained in The Starless Crown indicates that Rollins is traveling in a direction I do not care for. Creepy creatures were fun in the 1950’s when I was a kid but not today. This book had more than its fair share of such creatures and was part of the excess that I think Rollins exhibited in this story.

On a positive note, like all Sigma Series books you will also learn things. In this book the reader will learn about the DRC and some of its history as well as quite a lot about viruses and DNA and just how important and dangerous they are to all living things. I give the book 4 stars but I can only offer a cautious recommendation of the book. Some will love the book while others may find it silly. Whatever your opinion, enjoy.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love James Rollins' books...what else can I say? And you are very sneaky James Rollins! I read Amazonia this winter and you did get your way and incorporate the you know what into Africa! Bravo! I like the facts and fiction mixed into a tale that somehow doesn't seem to far fetched anymore.

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expect the typical Rollins action scenes along with a story involving the secret world of viruses that is guaranteed to get under your skin.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

Weird stuff centering around a virus is happening in The Congo. Sigma Force gets on the scene. Finds Prester John's kingdom, and assorted other strangeness.

Reminded me of a cross between Congo, and the old French novel, The Pathless Trail.

Actually less frightening than the current pandemic.

[John Paxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad but not Rollin's best. It took me the first 200 pages to start getting interested which is nearly half the book. Very slow start after the inevitable back story. If I wasn't such a Sigma fan, having read every single book in the series, I wouldn't have been so forgiving. Hope the next can come up with a new type of villain and not so repetitive themes.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* Another adventure for the Gray Pierce and Sigma Force. This time they are sent to Congo to investigate a debilitating new disease. They discover it's a never before seen virus and embark on a quest to find where it came from and how to cure it. For those who have read this author's works, we get the typical action-packed scenes. There's also a mystical element centering around the legend of Prester John. The usual cast of characters are there minus Seichan. It is entertaining and fast-paced.
My main takeaway from this book though is that nature is beautiful and wonderful, but can also be violent and deadly. One of the characters said something to the effect of what if these viruses and diseases are Mother Nature's way of ridding herself of humans? It's not like we have been great stewards of the planet. Definitely something to ponder.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Dave Wickenden · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a strange illness is shows up in the Congo interior that puts people in a near comatic state yet turns animals into rabid aggressors. Sigma is called in. Following clues from a early missionary, Gray tries to get to the origin of the virus while the rest of the team investigate an evil billionaire who wants to use the pandemic to steal more resources from the country.

As with all of Rollin’s stories, the pages turn themselves with blistering speed and are filled with both historic and scientific facts in understandable terms. Very satisfying read!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these James Rollins thrillers...Cover to cover thrills abound as Rollins brings two of his popular series together, the Sigma Force plus Tucker and Kane...They team up to investigate a strange, dangerous viral outbreak in the Congo region of Africa...As always, Rollins provides lessons in African history and virology in this thrilling page-turner...Love 'em all!

[Sahitya · Rating 4 out of 5]

CW: pandemic, virus affected animals, violence, pet injury, destruction of nature.

It’s always fun getting back to a new installment in this series and while I couldn’t read it immediately upon release, I’m glad I caught up soon.

I usually never even bother reading the summary of a Sigma Force because I will read it anyway, so imagine my surprise when I open it and realize it has a pandemic. I’m actually pretty astonished that this is my third or fourth book with a pandemic and it’s aftermath premise since Covid started and I’m willingly reading them. I didn’t think I had it in me. But this is also not the first pandemic story in this series, so I somehow felt it easier to read because I can kind of guess the beats of this story.

I’m not gonna talk much about the writing or action because they are always fun to read when written by Rollins and this is no different. I however, liked that the author brought his veterinarian experience into this book which features many many different creatures, both real and genetically different, and it was all quite terrifying to read. The author also throws light on the colonization of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the two wars which devastated it, and how even now, other countries and corporations try to exploit the country for its rich natural resources while its people suffer under the atrocities of warlords, poachers, militias and many more.

But the one thing I will take away from this book is how the author manages to describe Mother Nature as a sentient force who won’t always remain silent in the wake of unfathomable destruction, deforestation, pollution and exploitation of natural resources conducted by human beings. We as a species have only been part of this world for a tiny amount of time and when we tip the balance too far, it won’t be surprising if Mother Nature decides to retaliate and wipe us off. It’s undeniable that we are seeing some forms of her indignation in how climate change is ravaging the world, maybe only in its nascent stages with more devastation to come; and how the havoc Covid caused across the world, helped along by incompetent governments and illogical responses by people, has wiped off millions of people in just a couple of years.

We have many scientists and intellectuals warning us that things will get worse in the future unless we do something and I feel this book is one among many fictional stories urging us to consider the same. If we continue with the take, take, take attitude, we’ll have nothing but ourselves to give up in the future.

[Ronie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only James Rollins can make you fear the flutter of butterfly and moth wings ... A good read. I always enjoy Sigma Force stories, especially beloved character, Kowalski.

[Madlen Mesrobqn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Знам, че не на всеки допада тематиката във книгите на Ролинс. Харесва ми как лавира между минало и настояще, история, която се вплита една във друга. Но си заслужава всяка една история от тази поредица "Сигма".

[Michele Bartholomew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic combination of history, medicine, action, and friendship!

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a total thrill ride from beginning to end. The science in it was fascinating to me and added to the story rather than distracting from it. The fast pace made the book very hard to put down.

The characters in the Sigma series are what keeps me coming back for more. I will have to admit that I have become very attached to certain of them. This book featured some of my favorites such as Kowalski, Tucker, and Kane. I also really enjoyed Benjie, the biologist. Towards the end when everything was so uncertain, I actually got weepy.

[Shawna Coronado · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED KINGDOM OF BONES!

This is one of James Rollins absolute best - a nail-biting, riveting, smart thriller based in the Congo. I loved the book and felt it was a 5 out of 5 stars from the moment I popped the front cover. Truly a combination of 007 secret spy mixed with commando adventure and science. Best read this year!

When it is discovered that the population have taken on a zombie-like catatonic state and Mother Nature has erupted in an unnatural way, it is up to Commander Pierce as well as Tucker and Kane (the military trained man/dog partner team) to tackle the issue with Sigma Force.

If you love adventure combined with science-based thriller action, and a healthy dose of buddy friendship, this book is a MUST READ. You will love it!