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The 6th Extinction

(Sigma Force #10)

James Rollins (Goodreads Author)

4.07 · Rating details · 14,796 ratings · 1,145 reviews

In a masterful epic of timeless mystery and ripped-from-the-headlines scientific intrigue, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes mankind to its endpoint, to a fate written in rock and ice in an event known as The Sixth Extinction.
A remote military research station broadcasts a frantic distress call that ends with a chilling message: Kill us all. When so ...more

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ebook, 608 pages

Published August 12th 2014 by William Morrow

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Sep 05, 2014 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: library, thriller, flaming-winnebagos, science-fiction

I realized something when reading this book, something that should have hit me long before now: James Rollins writes awesome female characters. And if you read thrillers as much as I do, you know what a rarity that is. They're smart and competent, compassionate and driven. Yet they're not cookie cutter-similar, either. Seichan's my favorite, but Jenna's a great addition to the team. It's great to open one of Rollins' books and know that if a woman ends up in a dangerous situation, she'll do her ...more

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Dec 18, 2013 Magdalena aka A Bookaholic Swede rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2015

The 6th Extinction is book 10 in the Sigma series and you don't need to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy this book. Although it wouldn't hurt to read them in the right order. Mostly because the series is good and it's interesting to follow the character lives throughout the books.

This book starts with the destruction of a remote military research station that not only kills every single scientist in the facility, but also every living thing within fifty square miles. Animals, The 6th Extinction is book 10 in the Sigma series and you don't need to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy this book. Although it wouldn't hurt to read them in the right order. Mostly because the series is good and it's interesting to follow the character lives throughout the books.

This book starts with the destruction of a remote military research station that not only kills every single scientist in the facility, but also every living thing within fifty square miles. Animals, plants, and yes even bacteria are killed and the infestation is spreading. Now, they must find a way to stop it.

This book takes us both to the jungles of South America and the icy world of Antarctica as the agents of Sigma has to find a way to stop the spreading that kills everything in its way.

The book is split into two parts; Commander Gray Pierce and others travelers to Antarctica looking for the answers below the ice and Painter Crowe and his group is going after the scientist that created the scourge and who was kidnapped when the military research station was destroyed. I preferred the Antarctic part of the book, it was most interesting with the lost world under the ice and also the one that felt most adventurous.

Meanwhile, Crowe and his team are trying to find the scientist that was kidnapped by the evil man that wanted to destroy the world that we know. The problem for me with the storyline was that It just got to scientific sometimes, too much scientific babble that dragged the story a bit. It was fundamentally interesting the idea that something could be so devastation dangerous that it could kill everything alive, but it just sometimes felt like the scientific babble just went on and on. That could really be why I just preferred what was going on with Pierce and the others because they had to fight for their lives constantly in Antarctica and the world below was so fantastic and dangerous. Yes, there was danger in Brazil, but I just felt less interested in the storyline.

I liked the book, I think it is well-written and fascinating to read. Yes, sometimes the science went above my head, but that only makes me more impressed because it does make the book feel very well researched. Although it did now and then go on a bit too long for my taste. But still, in essence, a really good book. ...more

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Nov 26, 2017 Barbara rated it liked it

3.5 stars

In this 10th book in the Sigma Force series two civilian scientists - one in California and one in Brazil - are trying to develop 'outside-the-box' solutions to counteract humankind's destruction of the Earth. Unfortunately the cures are worse than the disease. The book can be read as a standalone.

FYI: Sigma Force is a secret division of the U.S. Department of Defense, composed of former Special Forces officers who've been trained in various scientific disciplines.

*****

The story: In a ...more

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Jun 16, 2017 Leslie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: action, technology

This is the 10th book in the series but I can't see any reason it isn't a stand alone. This book should come with a five point restraint since once the actions starts it never stops and you just careen from one dangerous situation until the next. And the story is like the Stand meets Jurassic Park if written by Tom Clancy.

The book starts off with a nice park ranger and her dog are overseeing a school trip to a lake outside of Bodie, CA. https://www.bodie.com/ in a weird bit of coincidence I had ...more

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Aug 06, 2014 Lori L (She Treads Softly) rated it it was amazing

The 6th Extinction by James Rollins is the very highly recommended 10th Sigma Force Novel, but more importantly, it is a terrific thriller that will deliver an action packed ride to the suspenseful end. This is not a leisurely read. It is a "stuck overnight at the airport book," meaning The 6th Extinction will keep you up, awake, and entertained with minimum trips to find coffee or a distraction. In fact, you will be a toe-tapping, nail-biting mess trying to read fast enough to find what will ha The 6th Extinction by James Rollins is the very highly recommended 10th Sigma Force Novel, but more importantly, it is a terrific thriller that will deliver an action packed ride to the suspenseful end. This is not a leisurely read. It is a "stuck overnight at the airport book," meaning The 6th Extinction will keep you up, awake, and entertained with minimum trips to find coffee or a distraction. In fact, you will be a toe-tapping, nail-biting mess trying to read fast enough to find what will happen next. (And I literally was a toe-tapping, nail-biting mess reading while waiting for my car's oil to be changed today.)

A distress call comes out of an old military station in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, by Mono Lake, asking for someone to, "Kill us all!" Jenna Beck, a California State Park Ranger and her dog, Nikko, go up to investigate and quickly become part of something much larger than anything she could anticipate. It appears everything near the site is dead - and then commandos in black from a ubiquitous black helicopter fly in to finish the job. The site is blown up, releasing a man-made pathogen that kills everything.

The Sigma Force is called into action to find out what the pathogen is, where the scientist in charge has been taken, who is attacking them and the scientists, and where the genesis of the pathogen can be found. Their teams must travel from California to Brazil to Antarctica in a race to discover the answers and stop the madness before it causes the 6th extinction, this time of the human race.

Rollins always delivers the goods!

This thriller benefits from all the real science and research Rollins does to enhance the book. (Those who miss Michael Crichton's books, take note.) The 6th Extinction is full of science and history. Rollins clues you in at the end what science and research is real, what research or beliefs the scientific debates and theories are based on, and where the science is heading, along with other information. I love that about his books. Rollins not only provides us with an excellent, electrifying thriller full of action and adventure, he also treats his readers with respect and a nod to their intelligence and comprehension.

Having read all the Sigma force novels (or almost all of them), I could easily follow along with the many characters and the action. I really think that you could jump into the series and still finish the book with just as much enjoyment. Of course, then I'm predicting that you'll then want to go back and read the other Sigma force novels - and everything else Rollins has written.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of HarperCollins for review purposes. ...more

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Jul 21, 2014 Amy Rogers rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-thrillers

ScienceThrillers.com review: If you're a fan of science-themed or techno-thrillers but you don't know author James Rollins and the Sigma Force series, it's past time to join the party.

Rollins is easily one of the top three writers of science-themed action thrillers working today. The phrase "the next Michael Crichton" has been horribly overused, but Rollins has a legitimate claim to the title. The Sixth Extinction, his newest Sigma novel, is a masterpiece of imaginative, suspenseful storytelling ScienceThrillers.com review: If you're a fan of science-themed or techno-thrillers but you don't know author James Rollins and the Sigma Force series, it's past time to join the party.

Rollins is easily one of the top three writers of science-themed action thrillers working today. The phrase "the next Michael Crichton" has been horribly overused, but Rollins has a legitimate claim to the title. The Sixth Extinction, his newest Sigma novel, is a masterpiece of imaginative, suspenseful storytelling with plenty of science and science fiction elements.

The Sixth Extinction is as good as or better than any other book in the Sigma Force series. I was particularly entranced by the science themes, which focus on synthetic biology and bioengineering. (Bringing microbes and molecules into a story is always a plus with me!) Strange life forms, both micro and macro, aren't the only newcomers to this Sigma novel. Rollins introduces Jenna Beck, a California State Parks ranger who has brains, courage, resourcefulness, and a search-and-rescue dog named Nikko. (Rollins, who was a veterinarian in his previous life, has started writing great dog characters. Check out his Tucker Wayne stories, featuring military dog Kane: Bloodline (Sigma Force), Tracker: A Short Story (Sigma Force Novels), The Kill Switch: A Tucker Wayne Novel (Sigma Force Novels).)

As readers expect in Sigma tales, the action in Sixth Extinction is wild and nonstop and set in several exotic locales. In this installment, Antarctica and the Brazilian Amazon are key settings. My favorite setting is actually the one least exotic to me: California's eastern Sierra Nevada, including Mono Lake, the village of Lee Vining, and the ghost town Bodie.

Readers will recognize strong echoes of Crichton's Jurassic Park and Micro in this novel. Rollins displays impressive creativity in constructing worlds teeming with predators that are believable and terrifying. He also uses his story to thoughtfully explore some important issues about how humans might or are responding to what many believe is a real-life sixth great extinction happening right now. See his notes at the end of the book for discussion.

There is generally less development of Sigma team member life stories in this volume (though there are wedding bells in the air) but there is a setup for more stories to come.

In his Sigma Force thrillers, Rollins is known for mashing together crazy mixtures of real science and history and turning them into action-packed plots. Sixth Extinction is no exception. What I found particularly appealing about this installment of the series is the science focus on biotechnology. I'm a sucker for DNA stories. Rollins plays games with real science, taking bits of truth and sometimes stretching them into pure science fiction. In this book, the stretches are shorter, maybe because (as he points out in the end notes) science reality in the field of synthetic biology is perilously close to fantasy. Hence the 4 biohazards rating, higher than Sigma usually gets from me. Rollins actually had me looking some stuff up (CRISPR-Cas technology, to be precise) and I enjoyed learning about the new technology.

In short, take it as a given that if you follow the ScienceThrillers website, you should be reading James Rollins. The Sixth Extinction may not be the best place to start, given the long history of the characters in the series, but then again, it's a fabulous page-turner and who cares if you don't know all the details? Pick up whichever Sigma novel you can get your hands on and get started. ...more

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Nov 30, 2014 Frances rated it liked it

It’s Alright.
Have been a fan of James Rollins since reading one of his first books Map of Bones. In The 6th Extinction, once again, there is only a matter of hours to save the world. The book jumps around quite a bit and near the end I started skimming and even skipping. Eventually got tired reading about all the killer monsters, what they looked like, what they did, etc. etc. However, for a first time reader of this author it should prove to be an entertaining read. But after reading many of hi ...more

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Aug 20, 2014 Veronica rated it it was ok

Gah!! At 75% mark I lost all interest. Too stupid and way too predictable. The science in this one went too far. I much preferred the earlier books. Shame...

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Jul 28, 2016 Jon Kurtz rated it really liked it

This is the 10th Sigma Force novel by James Rollins. All the members of the team are back, including Commander Grey Pierce, Dr. Lisa Cummings, Painter Crowe, and Kowalski. Two other main characters Jenna Beck and Jason Carter play prominent roles.

As he does with all his novels, Rollins weaves his fiction with threads of actual science and history. What makes his work interesting is the possibility that some or all of the cataclysmic events depicted could come true. This formula along with fast p ...more

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Jun 26, 2014 Shannon rated it really liked it

I felt like this book was a bit lacking in originality and shared many of the same info as James Rollins' other books. A few examples: this book has the underworld of Antarctica component of Subterranean, the throwback animals of Alter of Eden, the deadly virus component of The Judas Strain, and the scary flora and fauna of the Amazon like in Amazonia. If one were to mix up all those ideas into one book, it would be The Sixth Extinction. That said, it was a fairly good read, if slightly more bor ...more

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Feb 01, 2014 Michael Hicks rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: library

I’ve been a fan of James Rollins for a number of years now, and yet I can’t help but feel that his series of Sigma Force novels are getting a little long in the tooth.

His tenth iteration, The 6th Extinction, carries with it a whiff of ‘been there, done that’ malaise and the typical Rollins formula has been reduced to a simple template. If you’ve read the series thus far, you know exactly what you’re getting. Frankly, that’s a shame. There’s no surprises, to the point that you can predict exactly I’ve been a fan of James Rollins for a number of years now, and yet I can’t help but feel that his series of Sigma Force novels are getting a little long in the tooth.

His tenth iteration, The 6th Extinction, carries with it a whiff of ‘been there, done that’ malaise and the typical Rollins formula has been reduced to a simple template. If you’ve read the series thus far, you know exactly what you’re getting. Frankly, that’s a shame. There’s no surprises, to the point that you can predict exactly what happens when and where in the narrative with striking efficiency. From an author that used to keep me glued to the pages and in constant suspense with an adrenaline-fueled read, this book only managed to inspire boredom and apathy.

SPOILER WARNING FROM HERE ON OUT

Going in, you know that the Sigma team will be split in half, with the A-team and B-team focusing on their own A and B stories before converging for the finale. You know that there will be good guy scientist commandos versus merciless bad guys intent on devastating the world and siccing their own army of commandos against the Sigma boys and girls. There’s a Dog in Danger subplot, and since The 6th Extinction is all about a man-made renegade virus that could potentially eliminate the human race, you know that dog will get infected and that he will make a full recovery. When the book opens with Painter and his fiance prepping for their wedding day, you can rest assured that their lives will be quickly interrupted with a crazy global threat, but that everything will get resolved just in time for their happy nuptials to take place. You know that Gray will be dealing with his father’s Alzheimer and agonizing over the choices he must make to care for his dad, simply because that’s become an ingrained part of his story for ten novels now. I know Alzheimer is a rough and awful disease and that it is not the least bit simple for those dealing with it, or their family. But reading the same schtick for ten books now has grown into a frustration, right down to Gray repeating a decision from an earlier book under the auspices of Second Chances. I wish Rollins either had something new to say about Gray, his father, (or even the rest of team Sigma for that matter) or would just freaking move on already. There’s even multiple ticking-time bomb scenarios, stacked one atop the other in the forms of an actual nuclear bomb, a rampaging virus, and multiple infections that could spell death for these unfortunate ancillary one-off characters if a cure isn’t found in a matter of hours. About the only cliche not stuffed into The 6th Extinction is the tired ‘days away from retirement’ device.

While I completely dig the science and sense of authenticity Rollins is able to breath into these thrillers thanks to meticulous (or at least seemingly meticulous) research, it’s heavily lacking in other areas. While the plot elements of rogue genetic engineering, biohacking, and ancient, almost alien-like lifeforms surviving in shadow ecologies are ridiculously strong and interesting, the story element surrounding these devices is pretty blah. Particularly the characters, who may get shot or dismembered from time to time, only to bounce back virtually unaffected or any worse the wear. It was cute at first, but now lacks even a glimmer of interest. Which is compounded further, since this is a book centered on a mad, perilous viral threat to all of life on Earth as we know it, but there’s never really any true sense of danger. Rather than moving along at a breakneck, frenetic page, it feels bloated and sluggish under its own weight. There’s no surprises here, and the stakes don’t feel much at all like stakes because you know everything’s going to be OK. This may be Rollins’ most risk-averse formulaic comfort-read effort yet. Sadly, I found myself far too bored far too often.

At this point, one Sigma Force book is pretty much the same as the next, just swap out one bit of cutting edge science for another, change the name of the mysterious far-flung locale hiding Mother Nature’s deepest, darkest secrets, slap a new cover on it, and hit the bestseller lists. I’m sure Rollins is contractually obligated to turn out new stuff in this series for his publisher since it’s a no-brainer cash grab for both of them, but still, these stories need to get seriously shaken up and the author desperately needs to break the mold.

Or, maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m just too tried of prolonged, open-ended, never-ending series reads. Maybe I’m just too old for this stuff, or maybe I’m just growing more finicky with the books that fill my scare free time for reading. I obtained this book from my local library, and maybe the time that elapsed between requesting it and obtaining it meant a swing in desire and this just wasn’t the right book at the right time for me. Maybe. Just maybe.

Right now, I certainly don’t find myself in any rush to read Rollin’s next effort, The Bone Labyrinth. I’m sure I will one day, in the hopes that his books can excite me the way they did when I first stumbled upon Ice Hunt quite a while back. I used to buy his books religiously, but I think those days are at an end. For now, I’m quite content with waiting for an ebook copy to turn up in the check-out queue at my library, or for it to hit that sweet $1.99 price point. Or maybe this was just a misfire for Rollins and he can rediscover his groove and remind me why I used to enjoy his cunning romps around the world and into the corners of lost dark continents. ...more

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Mar 04, 2015 Albert rated it really liked it

Fasten your belt, pull down the roll bar and hang on! The 6th Extinction by James Rollins starts fast and then picks up speed, twisting and turning on a dime as it takes you on a ride into the science of biogenetics and the reality of mass extinction looming above us all. Rollins does not let up in this novel, the 10th in the Sigma Force adventure series.

A distress call is received from a military research station deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains -

"...This is sierra, victor, whiskey. There's Fasten your belt, pull down the roll bar and hang on! The 6th Extinction by James Rollins starts fast and then picks up speed, twisting and turning on a dime as it takes you on a ride into the science of biogenetics and the reality of mass extinction looming above us all. Rollins does not let up in this novel, the 10th in the Sigma Force adventure series.

A distress call is received from a military research station deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains -

"...This is sierra, victor, whiskey. There's been a breach. Fail safe initiated. No matter the outcome: kill us...kill us all..."

When help finally arrives they find everyone dead. Not only at the research station but for fifty square miles around. All life. Animal or plant. All dead.

To confuse matters even more, there is a firefight going on the mountainside. A park ranger and her rescue dog are pinned down by a paramilitary group. She is rescued and the story she relates is even more frightening as the leader of the research station is kidnapped, taken alive before the station was breached.

Only one group, Sigma Force, has the capability and scientific know how to unravel this mystery and fight off what may be a catastrophe up global proportions. A madman with an environmental agenda has gotten a hold of the most powerful virus on the planet. A virus no plant of animal has an immunity against. A virus which can be used to bring out the 6th Extinction.

Rollins is a thrill writer and his novels move so fast that they are meant to be devoured over the span of hours, not days and not weeks. The 6th Extinction is no exception to this rule. It is fast. It is exciting and it is smart. Very smart. Rollins has stepped into the void left by the passing of Michael Crichton. There are shades of Andromeda Strain here but unlike most of Crichton novels, there is no dull interlude as the science is explained. Here the science is fast and furious. Bill Nye on speed dial. You will understand it and you will want to not believe it possible but like most truly frightening aspects of good fiction, there is a great deal of truth to it all.

Another winner by a gifted storyteller at the top of his game. ...more

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Aug 04, 2014 Vicki Elia rated it it was ok

Audiobook Review
2 1/2 Stars
Narrator Christian Baskous

Rollins, what were you thinking? What might have been a rip-roaring excellent novel that transports you to a phantasmagorical world of alternate life engineered by mad scientists landed flat like a genetically mutated fish. Rollins reworks his storyline and characters from Subterranean, adds far to0 many groups of characters, profoundly confusing the reader with a choppy story line lacking cohesion.

Read by Christian Baskous, what should be a 1 ...more

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Oct 10, 2014 Skip rated it really liked it

Shelves: thriller

Seomthing deadly escapes from a secret government research lab in Northern California, along with a message to "kill us all." A local Park Ranger and her dog go to investigate, and miraculously survive to be joined by Painter Crowe and his fiancee, who are nearby planning their wedding. One team (Gray Pierce) heads off to Antarctica followng a lead from an assault on a major lead, to discover a land of strange beasts survivng under the polar ice cap. The other team (Painter) ends up in northern ...more

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Apr 12, 2019 itchy rated it really liked it

Shelves: electronic

if i'm not mistaken, every main sigma force book up to now has religious shit all over, except this;
on the other hand, the science in this one is a bit difficult to follow, for me at least

p82: using the claw-toothed hammer, he pried open the inner door of the elevator.

p288: "jason, on my signal, you haul ass toward me."
he looked terrified, but he gave a firm nod.
gray shifted his rifle away from the water and pointed it at the roof. he hoped the noise in the confined space didn’t knock jason out, ...more

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Jan 26, 2015 J Stanley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: thriller-mystery

I love the authors mix of science, history, thriller, and I would call a little sci-fi. To hear at the end of the book that many of the issues that were covered are true today. That blew me away. The possibility of doing bio-hacking in your home, or make shift lab is hard to believe. There is a machine out there that a novice could use to splice genes is scary.

Great story!!! Loved every minute of it and can't wait for the next Sigma Novel. ...more

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May 02, 2016 Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dark, creatures, fiction, ymmv, information-heavy, five-stars, romance, relationships, thriller, books-i-read-in-2016

This book was pretty good. Good enough for five stars.

The plot was great. Great writing. I nerded out on science fiction. I liked the characters.

The action never let up. The pacing could have been better. It feels like I could barely catch my breath while reading this.

...more

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Mar 18, 2018 Hari Hara rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 / 5 stars

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Jul 20, 2014 Horror Bookworm Reviews rated it it was amazing

The Sixth Extinction by James Rollins

Beginning with the cursed continent of Antarctica, this story unfolds with tales of demons that haunt its dark depths and ready to eat the hearts of the living. When an emergency 911 call is made from a military research site financed by the U.S. Developmental Test Command, an unbridled discovery is made. With the involvement of Dugway Proving Grounds, a nuclear, chemical, and biological test facility, rumors of extraterrestrial research run rapid among other

The Sixth Extinction by James Rollins

Beginning with the cursed continent of Antarctica, this story unfolds with tales of demons that haunt its dark depths and ready to eat the hearts of the living. When an emergency 911 call is made from a military research site financed by the U.S. Developmental Test Command, an unbridled discovery is made. With the involvement of Dugway Proving Grounds, a nuclear, chemical, and biological test facility, rumors of extraterrestrial research run rapid among other theories. When biologist Dr. Kendall Hess is kidnapped, the military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that deal with global threats of technological nature is called upon. Sigma Special Forces soldiers comprise this organization. The historical background of Hess involves a career of studying rare bacterial species that thrive in toxic and hostile environment and are capable of existing in foreign worlds. With his knowledge, Hess has become an immediate target for others to gain from technologies intersecting between biology and physical science encompassing everything from genetic engineering to synthetic biology. Hess's radical research provides information on unusual biochemical molecular processes forming exotic life forms. A power struggle ensues between good and evil to prevent the end of the human race and civilization.
Mass extinction has become the newest subject matter created by James Rollins. The creation of over a thousand new aggressive XNA species using biological experimentation represents the threat of annihilation on our present ecosystem. Completion of this undertaking comprises a man made disease that dulls and corrodes the human brain. It strips away intelligence making humans inhuman. With the continuation of eliminating many species by humans trampling the environment and causing a rise in pollution, mankind has become the driving force behind a certain road to apocalypse where nothing survives. Rollins skillfully forges true statements with fictional writing to create an underlying message that civilized intelligence can save ourselves from destruction. Continuing his action packed adventure style of writing, Rollins balances scientific facts with the fragility of life. This latest endeavor will undoubtedly place the reader neck deep in the Sixth Extinction. ...more

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Oct 18, 2014 Tony rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, reviewed, fiction, series

This was a very weak entry in the series, missing most of what made the earlier books a notch up from the standard conspiracy-thriller fare. Granted, even at their best, they're still just trashy fun, firmly in Michael Crichton-meets-Dan Brown territory, but they're still usually fun. This one wasn't. The plot was much too simplistic, whilst also straying too far beyond even the normal levels of suspension-of-disbelief required; the villain was lifted from the Bond-movie reject pile; and the int ...more

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Sep 18, 2014 Peyton rated it it was ok

Shelves: own

Not bad, but Rollins js getting more and more formulaic. It felt like he was stealing bits and pieces of his stand-alones, and not doing it nearly as well as he used to write them. I felt like he missed some good opportunities with adding Jason as a character, and not having Seichan—or, really, an of the formerly significant female characters (except Lisa)—was a loss to the team. The new, guest-starring women were rather dull.

Maybe he should quit with all the crossovers from his stand-alones; it ...more

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Jul 15, 2014 Reading Reindeer 2021 On Proxima Centauri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: a1-i-own-books, armchair-mid-atlantic, apocalyptic-dystopian-futuristic, a1-edelweiss-reviewed, 2014_reads, all-sci-fi-my-challenge, armchair-antarctica, armchair-california, july-2014_reads

Review: THE SIXTH EXTINCTION by JAMES ROLLINS

A riproaring adventure thriller with unstoppable chills, terror, and fatality (not to.mention fatalism), THE SIXTH EXTINCTION presents a very near future of unimaginable horror. I am fond of praising the concept of Implacability in horror, but I think.the premise here beats it all out. One need only view headlines and do some research to comprehend that the consequences in this novel are far beyond Probable.

James Rollins' trademark excellent carries t ...more

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Mar 24, 2015 Joseph M. O'Connor rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Booooorrriiinnng!

For all the "imagination" Rollins supposedly has, I would think he could do better than put random books from Conan Doyle, Crichton, Tom Clancy, Ian Fleming, Stephen King and Robin Cook into a blender and actually sell the carp that came out. This is just too much all at the same time. Genetic manipulation and lost worlds and evil geniuses and big-breasted anti-heroines and the Nazi legacy and global warming and impending extinction... all in one hodge-podge package with airhead ...more

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Sep 01, 2014 Tim rated it it was ok

Kids, dogs, kidnapping, shootouts, bad guys, good guys, the environment. Its all here and a lot of it is unnecessary and confusing. Hard to keep track of who is doing what for the common good. While rated as "ok," this only deserves 3 of 10 stars. ...more

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Aug 12, 2014 S7 rated it liked it

I honestly expected a lot more from this Sigma novel...But it just wasn't as captivating as some of the previous ones. ...more

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Mar 29, 2020 Chris rated it really liked it

I have read a number of James Rollins books and this one stood out for me. It was hard to put down and I found the story very compelling. Synthetic biology, evolution machines, extremophiles, Yosemite Park, Antartica, a bioengineered ecosystem and a threat to humanity - this book has it all. A fun, exciting ride with the usual Sigma characters and a number of new players. It would make a great movie.

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Mar 20, 2018 Charlie Lewis rated it it was amazing

Personal Response

The 6th Extinction was the second best book I have ever read. I loved the suspense and sense of impending doom throughout the book. My favorite part was the end were cutters invention was used to help instead of hurt.

Plot

The book starts out with Charles Darwin on a ship with most of the crew and two Indians near Hellscape, Antarctica. Antarctica was covered with a lush, green forest and had a blood red, saltwater river running through it. A team in a rowboat came back to the s ...more

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Aug 20, 2014 Chiranth Ashok rated it liked it

2 and a half really.
Everybody is talking about the impending extinction of the human race and genetic engineering and the related science will play a big role. Dan Brown came out with his latest and now this.
As Dan Brown pointed out, I am probably in denial too. I just can't take the extrapolation of genetic sciences seriously.. Tell me the next biggest WMD is a thousand times bigger than the current one, I'll bite it. Tell me it's a modified virus or bacteria which will rip through life on ea ...more

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Aug 24, 2014 Marialyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: james-rollins-who-i-love-books

It always amazes me how Mr Rollins can blend history, science, and fabulous characters into a novel that is so fast paced and super enjoyable. This book is no exception. Using the frozen world of Antarctica, we and the Sigma crew travel to the unknown region where different species roam and terrify and plants are bred to be killers. Interspersed with that is the jungles of South America where a hell bent scientist is trying to bring the human species down to the level of a Neanderthal so that th ...more

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Oct 26, 2013 Keri rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2014-read, suspense-action, suspense-horror

James Rollins has the knack of tapping into world events that can sure scare the pants off of you. This Sigma Force novel is absolutely no exception, as something gets released into the air from a miliary research station that soon preceeds to kill everything in its path. Sigma gets split over parts of the globe, as they fight to find a cure for the invasion. Or is this the extinction of mankind as we know it? Really well written and I am glad that James is moving Painter and Lisa into the next ...more

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The 6th Extinction: A Sigma Force Novel by author James Rollins

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About James Rollins

James Rollins

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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.” ...more

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Quotes from The 6th Extinction

“We need religion, government, and laws to force a level of control over our baser natures. I intend to strip away the disease that is intelligence, to rip away the deception that allows humanity to believe itself mightier and more deserving of this planet.” — 7 likes

“Throughout history, knowledge rises and falls, ebbs and flows. What once was known is forgotten again, lost in time, sometimes for centuries, only to be rediscovered ages later.” — 6 likes

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The 6th Extinction

(Sigma Force #10)

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