Sandstorm (Sigma Force, #1)

by James Rollins

Where the Delta Force had been established as an antiterrorist squad, Sigma was started to protect and maintain the technological superiority of the United States. No matter the cost.

With this quote, let's get to the origin of this series. For the longest time, I resisted doing a series. All of my earlier works were stand-alone thrillers. I balked at a series due to what I call the "Jessica Fletcher Syndrome." Now Ms. Fletcher (from the tv series Murder She wrote) was always stumbling over dead bodies, murders to solve. I've never tripped over a corpse. So what was her problem? It eventually strains the suspension of disbelief. Likewise, it's hard to maintain jeopardy in a series character like Ms. Fletcher. If another character points a gun at her head, you know the trigger will never be pulled as another episode of Murder She Wrote airs next week. So I kept resisting a series, until I discovered Sigma Force in SANDSTORM. I never thought this novel would be the launchpad for my first thriller series. But when I finished this book, I missed Painter and Coral and the rest of the Sigma clan. Then I realized I didn't have to say good-bye to them. I could build a series around a GROUP of characters rather an individual. That way the threat could come from any direction and I could maintain jeopardy, as no Sigma member was necessarily safe. I could knock off a major character...because Sigma could always recruit a new member. And thus the Sigma Force series began!