James Rollins · 2005 · thriller

James Rollins's 2005 Sigma Force novel opens with the theft of the bones of the Magi from Cologne Cathedral and follows a trail through the relics and lost Wonders of the old world. The route runs from Sigma's American base to Cologne, Rome and Milan, across the Mediterranean to Alexandria, and back to Avignon in France.

1. 1
   Fort Detrick

   From Sigma's command at Fort Detrick the team is dispatched to Europe after a massacre in a German cathedral.

2. 2
   Cologne

   At Cologne Cathedral, hooded intruders slaughter a congregation and steal the golden reliquary of the Three Magi.

3. 3
   Rome

   The trail leads to Rome and the Vatican, to the tomb of Saint Peter and a secret order of alchemists hidden within the Church.

4. 4
   Milan

   In Milan, at the first shrine of the Magi, another clue in the labyrinth of relics is uncovered.

5. 5
   Alexandria

   In Alexandria the hunt turns to the vanished Wonders of the ancient world and the riddle beneath the harbour.

6. 6
   Avignon

   At Avignon, seat of the exiled medieval popes, the trail ends at the Gold Key and the secret the Dragon Court would kill to possess.