JUDAS STRAIN, THE

This exciting but complex and overlong sequel to Rollins's Black Orderrevolves around the government's super-secret Sigma Group, which consists of scientists and military types determined to prevent terrorists from devastating the country and the planet. This time, life on Earth is threatened by the recurrence of an ancient and incredibly vicious and lethal virus, the Judas Strain, which may have been responsible for eco-disasters in millennia past. Sigma is out to halt the virus, but Sigma hasan enemy, an equally shadowy group of terrorists called the Guild. Ironically, both want to prevent a catastrophe, but Sigma wants to save humanity, while the Guild wants to control it. Action abounds on almost every page, as the characters from theprevious novel range over the globe. There are murders, disfiguring diseases, pirates, cannibals, and, oh yes, people who glow in the dark. As with all Rollins books, this book is great good fun, if readers suspend their disbelief and sense of logic. Recommended for larger thriller collections.