James Rollins · 2015 · thriller

James Rollins's 2015 Sigma Force novel traces the origin of human intelligence across 50,000 years and four continents, with a genetically gifted gorilla at its heart. The route runs from Atlanta to a Neanderthal chapel in Croatia, to Rome and Beijing, and down into the ancient tunnels of Ecuador.

1. 1
   Atlanta

   Outside Atlanta a primate research lab is stormed and a gifted young gorilla named Baako is seized, part of a hunt for the roots of human intelligence.

2. 2
   Croatia

   In a Croatian cavern shaped like a chapel lie the bones of a Neanderthal woman and paintings of a war older than history.

3. 3
   Rome

   In Rome, the archives of the Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher yield the first thread of the ancient mystery.

4. 4
   Beijing

   In Beijing a secret Chinese programme presses Baako and his keepers into a ruthless race to master the evolution of the mind.

5. 5
   Ecuador

   In the tunnels beneath the Andes of Ecuador, a bone labyrinth and a lost necropolis hold the answer, and the resurrected evil that guards it.