Bøger i Sigma Force Novels serien

From the depths of the Indian Ocean, a horrific plague has arisen to devastate humankindunknown, unstoppable . . . and merely a harbinger of the doom that is to follow.Operatives of the shadowy covert organization Sigma Force, Dr. Lisa Cummings and Monk Kokkalis search for answers to the bizarre affliction aboard a cruise liner transformed into a makeshift hospital. But a sudden and savage attack by terrorist hijackers turns the mercy ship into a floating bio-weapons lab.Time is an enemy as a worldwide pandemic grows rapidly out of control. As the seconds tick closer to doomsday, Sigmas commander, Gray Pierce, must join forces with the beautiful assassin who tried to kill himfollowing the trail of the most fabled explorer in history into the terrifying heart of an astonishing mystery buried deep in antiquity and in humanitys genetic code.

In the latest riveting thriller from James Rollins, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sigma Force series, an international research station in the Coral Sea comes under siege during a geological disaster that triggers massive quakes, deadly tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. To stop the world from burning, it's up to Sigma Force to uncover a secret buried at the heart of our planet. The Titan Project?an international research station off the coast of Australia?discovers a thriving zone of life in an otherwise dead sea. The area teems with a strange bioluminescent coral that defies science, yet holds great promise for the future. But the loss of a military submarine in the area triggers a brutal attack and sets in motion a geological disaster that destabilizes an entire region.Massive quakes, volcanic eruptions, and deadly tsunamis herald a greater cataclysm to come?for something is stirring miles under the ocean, a threat hidden for millennia.As seas turn toxic and coastlines burn, can Sigma Force stop what has been let loose?especially as an old adversary returns, hunting them and thwarting their every move? For any hope of success, Commander Gray Pierce must search for a key buried in the past, hidden deep in Aboriginal mythology. But what Sigma could uncover is even more frightening?something that will shake the very foundations of humanity.

In the latest riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author, an international research station in the Coral Sea comes under siege during a geological disaster that triggers massive quakes, deadly tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. To stop the world from burning, it's up to Sigma Force to uncover a secret buried at the heart of our planet. The Titan Project?an international research station off the coast of Australia?discovers a thriving zone of life in an otherwise dead sea. The area teems with a strange bioluminescent coral that defies science, yet holds great promise for the future. But the loss of a military submarine in the area triggers a brutal attack and sets in motion a geological disaster that destabilizes an entire region.Massive quakes, volcanic eruptions, and deadly tsunamis herald a greater cataclysm to come?for something is stirring miles under the ocean, a threat hidden for millennia. As seas turn toxic and coastlines burn, can Sigma Force stop what has been let loose?especially as an old adversary returns, hunting them and thwarting their every move? For any hope of success, Commander Gray Pierce must search for a key buried in the past, hidden deep in Aboriginal mythology. But what Sigma could uncover is even more frightening?something that will shake the very foundations of humanity.

In the latest riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author, an international research station in the Coral Sea comes under siege during a geological disaster that triggers massive quakes, deadly tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. To stop the world from burning, it's up to Sigma Force to uncover a secret buried at the heart of our planet. The Titan Project?an international research station off the coast of Australia?discovers a thriving zone of life in an otherwise dead sea. The area teems with a strange bioluminescent coral that defies science, yet holds great promise for the future. But the loss of a military submarine in the area triggers a brutal attack and sets in motion a geological disaster that destabilizes an entire region.Massive quakes, volcanic eruptions, and deadly tsunamis herald a greater cataclysm to come?for something is stirring miles under the ocean, a threat hidden for millennia. As seas turn toxic and coastlines burn, can Sigma Force stop what has been let loose?especially as an old adversary returns, hunting them and thwarting their every move? For any hope of success, Commander Gray Pierce must search for a key buried in the past, hidden deep in Aboriginal mythology. But what Sigma could uncover is even more frightening?something that will shake the very foundations of humanity.

To save mankind's future, the members of Sigma Force must make a devil's bargain as they join forces with their most hated enemy to stop an ancient threat in this gripping adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins.Off the coast of Brazil, a team of scientists discovers a horror like no other, an island where all life has been eradicated, consumed, and possessed by a species beyond imagination. Before they can report their discovery, a mysterious agency attacks the group, killing them all, save one: an entomologist, an expert on venomous creatures, Professor Ken Matsui from Cornell University.Strangest of all, this inexplicable threat traces back to a terrifying secret buried a century ago beneath the National Mall: a cache of bones preserved in amber. The artifact was hidden away by a cabal of scientists?led by Alexander Graham Bell?to protect humankind. But they dared not destroy it, for the object also holds an astonishing promise for the future: the very secret of life after death.Yet nothing stays buried forever. An ancient horror?dormant in the marrow of those preserved bones?is free once more, nursed and developed into a weapon of incalculable strength and malignancy, ready to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world.To stop its spread, Commander Grayson Pierce of Sigma Force must survive a direct attack on the island of Maui. To be there first has always been the core mission of Sigma Force, a covert team forged to be America's front line against emerging threats. But this time, even Sigma may not be able to decipher the deadly mystery, one that traces back to the founding of the Smithsonian Institution. With each new discovery, the menace they hunt is changing, growing, spreading?adapting and surviving every attempt to stop it from reconquering a world it once ruled. And each transformation makes it stronger . . . and smarter.Running out of time and options, Commander Grayson Pierce will be forced to make an impossible choice. To eradicate this extinction-level threat and expose those involved, he will have to join forces with Sigma's greatest enemy?the newly resurrected Guild?even it if means sacrificing one of his own.

#1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins delivers a masterful epic that combines timeless mystery and ripped-from-the-headlines scientific intrigue.A military research station buried in the remote Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California broadcasts a frantic distress call that ends with a chilling order: ?There's been a breach. Failsafe initiated. No matter the outcome: Kill us . . . kill us all.?When park ranger Jenna Beck arrives with her search-and-rescue dog Nikko to investigate, they discover that all of the scientists in the lab are dead and every living thing for fifty square miles is annihilated: animals, plants, insects, even bacteria. The land is completely sterile?and the blight is spreading.Only one team on earth has the scientific knowledge and military precision to handle this mission: Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma. As Pierce and his team race to decipher millennia-old secrets, they face their greatest challenge yet: stopping the sixth extinction?the end of humankind.

If the biblical plagues of Egypt truly happened?could they happen again?on a global scale?Two years after vanishing into the Sudanese desert, the leader of a British archeological expedition, Professor Harold McCabe, comes stumbling out, but he dies before he can tell his story. The mystery deepens when an autopsy uncovers a bizarre corruption: someone had begun to mummify the professor's body?while he was still alive.Professor McCabe had vanished while searching for proof of the ten plagues of Moses. And when the medical team who performed the man's autopsy falls ill with an unknown disease, a disturbing question arises. Are those plagues starting again?Seeking answers, Commander Grayson Pierce and Sigma Force travel from the plague-ridden streets of Cairo, to an ancient tomb buried under the sands of the Sudan, to a remote Arctic engineering complex housing a mad genius. But time is running out to confront a threat born of the ancient past and made real by the latest science?a danger that will unleash a cascading series of plagues, culminating in a scourge that could kill all of the world's children . . . decimating mankind forever.

The bones lead to ancient mysteries and present-day terror . . . To follow them means death.During a crowded service at a cathedral in Germany, armed intruders in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and destruction. But the killers have not come for gold; they seek a more valuable prize: the bones of the Magi who once paid homage to a newborn savior . . . a treasure that could reshape the world.With the Vatican in turmoil, Sigma Force under the command of Grayson Pierce leaps into action, pursuing a deadly mystery that weaves through sites of the Seven Wonders of the World and ends at the doorstep of an ancient, mystical, and terrifying secret order. For there are those with dark plans for the stolen sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind . . . when science and religion unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time.

In a thrilling masterwork that will make you rethink your perceptions of life and death, #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes you to the edge of medicine, genetics, and technology, revealing the next evolutionary leap forward: immortality . . .Galilee, 1025. A Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure in an ancient citadel?a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power.A millennium later, Commander Gray Pierce of Sigma Force is dispatched to the African jungle, teaming up with former Army Ranger Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane, on a covert mission to rescue the U.S. President's pregnant daughter from Somali pirates. But Pierce fears the kidnapping masks a far more terrible terrorist agenda?a suspicion proven true in a fiery ambush and a deadly act of betrayal . . . and by the firebombing of a South Carolina fertility clinic half a world away.Suddenly Gray Pierce and Sigma Force are in a frantic race to save an innocent unborn baby whose very existence raises questions about the nature of humanity. And behind it all is a deadly cabal that has been manipulating events from the shadows throughout history . . . and a devastating conspiracy rooted in human genetic code that Pierce must expose before it alters humanity forever.

A heart-stopping novel of adventure and suspense from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins--the first in his critically acclaimed Sigma Force seriesA freak explosion in the British Museum in London ignites a perilous race for an earth-shaking power source buried deep beneath the sands of history. Painter Crowe is an agent for Sigma Force, a covert arm of the Defense Department tasked with keeping dangerous scientific discoveries out of enemy hands. When an ancient artifact points the way toward the legendary "Atlantis of the Sands," Painter must travel across the world in search of the lost city-and a destructive power beyond imagining.But Painter has competition. A band of ruthless mercenaries, led by a former friend and ally, are also intent on claiming the prize, and they will destroy anyone who gets in their way. Ancient history collides with cutting-edge science-with the safety of the world at stake.

Every James Rollins delivers mach-speed mayhem; throat-clutching suspense; high-style adventure; and a terrific story told terrifically. He makes the rest us look bad.Steve Berry, author of The Emperors TombThis guy doesnt write novelshe builds roller coasters.BooklistNew York Times bestselling thrill-master James Rollins is back with The Devil Colony, another electrifying combination of suspense, history, science, action, and ingenious speculation. In The Devil Colony, Sigma Force stalwarts Painter Crowe and Commander Grayson Pierce must investigate a gruesome massacre in the Rocky Mountains and root out a secret cabal that has been manipulating momentous events since the time of the original thirteen colonies. Once again, Rollins delivers a spine-tingler that will leave fans of Michael Crichton, The Da Vinci Code, and Indiana Jones breathlessas he exposes the dark truth behind the founding of America.

One of the most inventive storytellers writing todayLincoln Child, bestselling co-author of Gideons CorpseThe modern master of the action thriller.Providence Journal-BulletinNobodyand I mean nobodydoes this stuff better than Rollins.Lee Child, bestselling author of the Jack Reacher novelsBloodline, a breathtaking Sigma Force thriller from the phenomenal James Rollins, is further proof that, when it comes to explosive adventure and nail-biting suspense, this New York Times bestselling author is one of the very best in the business! Bloodline is a lightning-paced, unputdownable international thriller chock-full of the trademark elements that have propelled Rollins to the top of virtually every national bestseller list: cutting-edge science ingeniously blending with history and nonstop action. A relentlessly exciting tale that races across the globe, Bloodline ensnares popular series hero Commander Gray Pierce in a deadly conspiracy involving Somali pirates, the kidnapped daughter of the U.S. Vice President, and a dark secret hiding in the human genetic code. This is mystery, suspense, surprise, and ingeniously inventive storytelling as only James Rollins can do it.

In Washington, D.C., a homeless man takes an assassin's bullet and dies in Commander Gray Pierce's arms. A bloody coin clutched in the dead man's handan ancient relic that can be traced back to the Greek Oracle of Delphiis the key to a conspiracy that dates back to the Cold War and threatens the very foundation of humanity. For what if it were possible to bioengineer the next great propheta new Buddha, Muhammad, or even Jesus? Would this Second Coming be a boon . . . or would it initiate a chain reaction that would result in the extinction of humankind?Vital seconds are ticking rapidly away as Pierce races across the globe in search of answers, one step ahead of ruthless killers determined to reclaim the priceless artifact. Suddenly the future of all things is balanced on the brink between heaven and helland salvation or destruction rests in the hands of remarkable children.

A sinister fire in a Copenhagen bookstore ignites a relentless hunt across four continents. Arson and murder reveal an insidious plot to steal a Bible that once belonged to Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory. And Commander Gray Pierce dives headlong into a mystery that dates back to Nazi Germany . . . and to horrific experiments performed in a now-abandoned laboratory buried in a hollowed-out mountain in Poland.A continent away, madness ravages a remote monastery high in Nepal, as Buddhist monks turn to cannibalism and torture. Lisa Cummings, a young American doctor investigating the atrocity, is suddenly a target of a brutal assassin working for clandestine forces that want the affair buried at any cost. Lisa's only ally is a hidden pilgrim, Painter Crowe -- director of SIGMA Force, an elite command of American scientists and Special Forces operatives -- who is already showing signs of the baffling malady that destroyed the minds of the monks.Now it is up to Gray Pierce to save both Painter and Lisa -- and a world in jeopardy -- as SIGMA Force races to expose a century-old plot that threatens to destroy the current world order . . . and alter the destiny of humankind forever.Combining the historic scope of The Da Vinci Code with the relentless thrills of today's best action novels, James Rollins's Black Order is a classic adventure -- an ingenious and breathtaking tour de force that explodes with revelations . . . while offering a startling new view of our place in the grand scheme of existence.

An apocalyptic vision of the day after tomorrow, of a future predicted by the distant past, of a world doomed to burn . . .The crash of a U.S. military research satellite triggers a search for the valuable cargo it holds: a code-black physics project connected to the study of dark energy, the energy associated with the birth of our universe. But the last blurry image from the falling satellite captures a chilling sight: a frightening look at the future, a view of a smoldering eastern seaboard of the United States in utter ruin.At the Vatican, a mysterious package arrives containing two strange artifacts: a skull scrawled with ancient Aramaic and a tome bound in human skin. DNA testing reveals both are from Genghis Khan?the Mongol king whose undiscovered tomb is rumored to hold the vast treasures and knowledge of a lost ancient empire.Commander Gray Pierce, and Sigma?joined by a pair of Vatican historians?race to uncover a truth tied to the fall of the Roman Empire, to a mystery bound in the roots of Christianity's origins, and to a weapon hidden for centuries that holds the fate of humanity.

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.

James Rollins, the New York Times bestselling master of nail-biting suspense and historical mystery, combines cutting-edge biotechnology with a centuries-old secret in an apocalyptic story that reveals where humankind is truly headedThe Doomsday KeyAt Princeton University, a famed geneticist dies inside a biohazard lab. In Rome, a Vatican archaeologist is found dead in St. Peter's Basilica. In Africa, a U.S. senator's son is slain outside a Red Cross camp. The three murders on three continents bear a horrifying connection: all the victims are marked by a Druidic pagan cross burned into their fl esh.The bizarre murders thrust Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force into a race against time to solve a riddle going back centuries, to a ghastly crime against humanity hidden within a cryptic medieval codex. The fi rst clue is discovered inside a mummifi ed corpse buried in an English peat bog?a gruesome secret that threatens America and the world.Aided by two women from his past?one his exlover, the other his new partner?Gray must piece together the horrifying truth. But the revelations come at a high cost, and to save the future, Gray will have to sacrifi ce one of the women at his side. That alone might not be enough, as the true path to salvation is revealed in a dark prophecy of doom.Sigma Force confronts humankind's greatest threat in an adventure that races from the Roman Coliseum to the icy peaks of Norway, from the ruins of medieval abbeys to the lost tombs of Celtic kings. The ultimate nightmare is locked within a talisman buried by a dead saint?an ancient artifact known as the Doomsday Key.

What if you could bio-engineer the next great world prophet: scientifically produce the next Buddha, the next Mohammed, or even the next Jesus? Would it mark the Second Coming or initiate a chain reaction with disastrous consequences?A master at combining historical and religious intrigue with edge-of-your-seat adventure, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins brings back SIGMA Force to battle a group of rogue scientists who've unleashed a bio-engineering project that could bring about the extinction of mankind.From ancient Greek temples to glittering mausoleums, from the slums of India to the radioactive ruins of Russia, two of SIGMA's finest must race against time to solve a mystery that dates back to the first famous oracle of history?the Greek Oracle of Delphi.

ju·das strain, n. A scientific term for an organism that drives an entire species to extinctionNew York Times bestselling author James Rollins returns with a terrifying story of an ancient menace reborn to plague the modern world . . . and of an impossible hope that lies hidden in the most shocking place imaginable: within the language of angels.From the depths of the Indian Ocean, a horrific plague has arisen to devastate humankind?a disease that's unknown, unstoppable . . . and deadly. But it is merely a harbinger of the doom that is to follow. Aboard a cruise liner transformed into a makeshift hospital, Dr. Lisa Cummings and Monk Kokkalis?operatives of SIGMA Force?search for answers to the bizarre affliction. But there are others with far less altruistic intentions. In a savage and sudden coup, terrorists hijack the vessel, turning a mercy ship into a floating bio-weapons lab.A world away, SIGMA's Commander Gray Pierce thwarts the murderous schemes of a beautiful would-be killer who holds the first clue to the discovery of a possible cure. Pierce joins forces with the woman who wanted him dead, and together they embark upon an astonishing quest following the trail of the most fabled explorer in history: Marco Polo. But time is an enemy as a worldwide pandemic grows rapidly out of control. As a relentless madman dogs their every step, Gray and his unlikely ally are being pulled into an astonishing mystery buried deep in antiquity and in humanity's genetic code. And as the seconds tick closer to doomsday, Gray Pierce will realize he can truly trust no one, for any one of them could be . . . a Judas.

James Rollinsknows adventure.Chicago Sun TimesWithThe Doomsday Keythelatest Sigma Force blockbuster fromNew York Timesbestselling author James Rollinsthe critically acclaimed thrill-master continues to dazzle with an electrifying combination of history, religion, science, and adventure. The hero ofMap of Bones, The Black Order, and other exceptional Rollins roller-coaster rides, Commander Pierce returns to solve a centuries-old secret, one coded in prophecies of doomin a story that fans of Michael Crichton, Douglas Preston, and Indiana Jones will not be able to put down!

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.

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 .

Now Sigma Force must confront a danger that will unleash a cascading series of plagues, culminating in a scourge that could kill all of the world's children .

“One of the world’s best storytellers.”—Huffington PostFor eons, the city of Troy—whose legendary fall was detailed in Homer’s Iliad—was believed to be myth, until archaeologists in the nineteenth century uncovered its ancient walls buried beneath the sands. If Troy was real, how much of Homer’s twin tales of gods and monsters, curses and miracles—The Iliad and The Odyssey—could also be true and awaiting discovery?In the frozen tundra of Greenland, a group of modern-day researchers stumble on a shocking find: a medieval ship buried a half-mile below the ice. The ship’s hold contains a collection of artifacts—tools of war—dating back to the Bronze Age. Inside the captain’s cabin is a clockwork gold map imbedded with an intricate silver astrolabe. Once activated, the moving map traces the path of Odysseus’s famous ship as it sailed away from Troy. But the route detours as the map opens to reveal a fiery river leading to a hidden realm underneath the Mediterranean Sea—the subterranean world of Tartarus, the Greek name for Hell. When word of Tartarus spreads, the phantasmagoric horrors found in Homer’s tales are all too real—and whoever possesses them can use their awesome power to control the future of humanity.Now, Sigma Force must prevent a tyrant from igniting a global war and cross the very gates of Hell.“[Rollins] is what you might end up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together.”—New York Times Book Review 

To save the world and our future, Sigma Force must embark on a dangerous odyssey into an ancient past whose horrors are all too present in this page-turning thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins that combines cutting-edge science, historical mystery, mythology, and pulse-pounding action.For eons, the city of Troy?whose legendary fall was detailed in Homer's Iliad?was believed to be myth, until archaeologists in the nineteenth century uncovered its ancient walls buried beneath the sands. If Troy was real, how much of Homer's twin tales of gods and monsters, curses and miracles?The Iliad and The Odyssey?could also be true and awaiting discovery?In the frozen tundra of Greenland, a group of modern-day researchers stumble on a shocking find: a medieval ship buried a half-mile below the ice. The ship's hold contains a collection of even older artifacts?tools of war?dating back to the Bronze Age. Inside the captain's cabin is a magnificent treasure that is as priceless as it is miraculous: a clockwork gold map imbedded with an intricate silver astrolabe. The mechanism was crafted by a group of Muslim inventors?the Banu Musa brothers?considered by many to be the Da Vincis of the Arab world?brilliant scientists who inspired Leonardo's own work.Once activated, the moving map traces the path of Odysseus's famous ship as it sailed away from Troy. But the route detours as the map opens to reveal a fiery river leading to a hidden realm underneath the Mediterranean Sea. It is the subterranean world of Tartarus, the Greek name for Hell. In mythology, Tartarus was where the wicked were punished and the monstrous Titans of old, imprisoned.When word of Tartarus spreads?and of the cache of miraculous weapons said to be hidden there?tensions explode in this volatile region where Turks battle Kurds, terrorists wage war, and civilians suffer untold horrors. The phantasmagoric horrors found in Homer's tales are all too real?and could be unleashed upon the world. Whoever possesses them can use their awesome power to control the future of humanity.Now, Sigma Force must go where humans fear to tread. To prevent a tyrant from igniting a global war, they must cross the very gates of Hell.

A war is coming, a battle that will stretch from the prehistoric forests of the ancient past to the cutting-edge research labs of today, all to reveal a true mystery buried deep within our DNA, a mystery that will leave readers changed forever .