Sandstorm

By: James Rollins

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum and the race begins to determine how it happened, why it happened, and what it means.

Lady Kara Kensington's family paid a high price in money and blood to found the gallery that now lies in ruins. Her search for answers leads Kara and her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery's curator, into a world they never dreamed existed. Evidence exposed by the tragedy suggests that Ubar, a lost city buried beneath the Arabian desert, is more than mere legend...and that something astonishing is waiting there.

The two extraordinary women and their guide, Omaha Dunn, are not the only ones being drawn to the desert. Former U.S. Navy SEAL Painter Crowe, a covert government operative and head of an elite counter-espionage team, is hunting down a dangerous turncoat and the trail is pointing him toward Ubar.

What is hidden below the sand is more than a valuable relic of ancient history. It is an ageless power that lives and breathes. Many lives have already been destroyed by ruthless agencies dedicated to guarding its mysteries and harnessing its might. The end may be at hand for Kara, Safia, Crowe, and all of the interlopers who wish to expose its mysteries, as it prepares to unleash the most terrible storm of all...

Performed by Dennis Boutsikaris

©2004 James Rollins; (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers

Got confusing

Engaging story at the beginning, but the end was chaotic. I had a hard time keeping up.

Brilliant

Such a fun book to listen to! I loved the details, thoughtful insights and inventive descriptions.

Had a hard time with this one

It has lots of action but little substance. Perhaps it a result of the abridgement, but it seems that the characters are flat and formulaic. The author?s overuse of descriptive words is distracting. When you are told that the best soldiers are obtained for a team at length, you don?t need to refer to them as a crack team of commandos several times. It?s an OK story, but seemed to be ripped off from Indiana Jones and several other action novels/movies. One of the main characters is named Omaha, hmm original.

Stomached it

The abridgment lost fidelity, and the performance was grating. I had much higher expectations for an author of this caliber.

Nice action listen

I found the book to be a good listen. The action continued throughout it so I didn't get bored.