Amazonia

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Summary: Grabs you from page 1
Review: Like all of James Rollins' books it presents a fascinating premise within the first couple of pages. One of the things I like about his writing is that there is very little "fluff", that is he sticks to the story and keeps it moving along at a fast clip. Every chapter was different and fascinating.

I like the way he often uses actual places in his books (although the Amazon doesn't seem too mysterious". In this book, I assume the plants and shaman medicines described are real, as are many of the dangers normal to that part of the world.

The only negative comment is that this book (as well as Subterranean) stretches the imagination a bit too much for my liking. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the read and finished the book in a few days, I have a hard type imagining a 100' long alligator, for example.

Don't let this deter you though. If you enjoyed any of his other books you'll not be disappointed with Amazonia.

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Summary: Science vs Imagination....too close for comfort
Review: This is the best book by James Rollins thus far. I simply could not put it down....much to the dismay of my children and husband...I was totally engulfed in the Amazon. What really got me hooked was the part about the piranha with legs. I thought Mr. Rollins had gone a little overboard with the imagination on the piranha. On the nightly news here in Texas that night, the announcer warned Texas fisherman to not throw back a certain type of fish that had a red dot on it's tail. It seems this fish destroys all the other fish, has legs and can live on land for up to three hours. Now I can't trust what is truth and what is fiction......and that is really scary! Thanks for a great book, Mr. Rollins, and keep them coming!

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Summary: Indiana Jones meets The Hot Zone meets the X-Files
Review: This novel starts out running and barely slows. High jungle adventure, high technology, mysterious plague threatening the world, lost tribes of natives, mutated animals, really evil villians...this book has it all. As with his other novels, Rollins takes a science headline and expands on it to it's logical conclusion...and then goes a few steps beyond that. This novel and Deep Fathom are Rollins' best to date. I'll be looking for the next one. Recommended.

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Summary: GREAT!!!!
Review: IT is a great BOOK AND IT IS A MUST READ. I have read all of his books and can not wait to read his next one.
The only thing I can say this wrong with it is that I read the book to fast, I just can not put it down once I start it.
It is GREAT BOOK
Keep up the good work JAMES!!!

Rating:
Summary: Another cracker of a book from James Rollins
Review: There are very few authors that I can't wait for their books to come out in paperback; James Rollins is one of them (in fact this is the first time one of his books has come out in hardback).

The book is gripping and exciting right from the start and you almost feel as if you are there amid all the action.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good adventure story well told.

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Summary: Keeps you turning the pages!
Review: This is the first book that I've read by James Rollins and it will not be the last. I'm not going to bother summarizing the plat for you. that's what the book jacket is for. This ia an adventure story set in the Amazon jungle. The character's are fairly well developed. The story just flys! After about the first two pages you wont be able to put it down until it's finished. My only complaint is that some o the things in the book seem pretty far-fetched, even for this time of book. Pirhanas that come out of the water onto land?? As far as new authors go, Rollins ranks just below Jack DuBrul and just above Matthew Reilly. Amazonia is well worth the money, like I said it will keep you turning the pages.

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Summary: AN AMAZONIAN ADVENTURE!
Review: James Rollins' newest adventure tale takes us on a thrill ride filled with wonders of Mother Nature and freakish creatures. This was an all around good read, but SUBTERRANEAN to me, was far better in action, adventure, and pace.
Now dont get me wrong, this novel is chock full of that too, but to me personally, it just did not reach that "fever pitch" that his 1st novel gave off. This one read very much like a very good movie at the theater than a novel.
But, thats just my opinion. James Rollins always gives us a good romp in either genre in which he chooses to write, some are just better than others. This newest is by far better than last year's DEEP FATHOM though, and I know he has not yet reached his peak. Read this one for the sheer pleasure of an adventure story, but I warn you - the best is yet to come from this author! E-mail me Mr. Rollins/Clemens, you know I'm right.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible, You will love it!
Review: Amazonia by James Rollins is one incredible book. It grabbed me from the start and the action and intrigue didn't stop until the end. Just when you think you know whats going on, there's another twist. This book is entertaining and a definite page turner. You will want to read it in one sitting. Good luck trying to put it down. This book is incredibly well researched. Anything that seems almost unbelievable in the story is so well described and explained that it becomes very believable. I don't want to give away the story but it is an adventure from beginning to end! Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Amazonia for yourself and while you're at it, pick up Excavation, Subterranean and Deep Fathom. You will not be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Amazon Amazing
Review: I didn't mean to stay up until 1:30 in the morning, especially since I had to be up at 6:00 am to get to work on time, but I just couldn't stop turning the pages of this book until I reached the back cover. Thanks a lot, James, now please call my boss and explain why I showed up late, with bags under my eyes!

The early chapters seemed reminiscent of his other three books, and I didn't want to see the people and setting change, but the basic story remain the same as some of his earlier works. I'm glad that I decided to reserve judgment. This story is a unique work unto itself, and it really gripped me.

Now, I'm not a reviewer who will summarize the plot for you (if I tell you everything that happens, why would you then need to read it??). But I will tell you that James creates a very real picture of the Amazon in his story telling, and then adds a sense of the fantastic (personally, I loved the Piranhas with legs who ravenously chase our heroic team through a terrifying night!). He reveals rich knowledge of botany and holistic healing in his story telling that balances the art of the shaman with the quest of major pharmaceutical companies all over the world. The amount of research work that went in to building this story is apparent, and suggests quite a bit of dedication on Mr. Rollins' part toward his chosen occupation.

In fact, when I finished the book, I turned back to the front to read his acknowledgements, and was surprised to see an acknowledgement for someone who assisted him with the French phrases in the book (which consisted mostly of 'mes amis' and 'mon dieu'), but no acknowledgement for the indigenous Amazon Indian phrases he uses--so are they real? I would have loved to seen a prologue to the book giving us more detail on some of his work on in. Maybe next time? In the meantime, I recommend this book very highly! One of the best reads I've had in quite a while. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Summary: Another fine adventure to the oft-visited Amazon forest...
Review: It seems to me that the jungles of the Amazon rainforest are being frequented a lot as of late...just in the past couple of years I have read quite a few adventures which take place in South America and deal with either a primitive lost tribe, or the wonders of the ancient civilizations and how they constructed pyramids the equal to those in the Giza Plateau in Egypt...namely 'Link', 'Domain', 'Excavation' (also by James Rollins) 'Temple' and now 'Amazonia' (just to name a few). Now I don't mean to infer that treading upon this road is getting old in any way, on the contrary, I have enjoyed ALL of the above mentioned novels, all unique in their own ways and all quite fun to read.

'Amazonia' begins with a man emerging from the jungle only to collapse and die at the foot of a missionary trying in vain to save his life. We soon discover this man to be Gerald Clark, a man who had disappeared in a jungle trek 4 YEARS before with no trace. The most significant thing about Gerald was that he started that adventure with only one arm...lost to a snipers bullet some time before...but as he returns from who knows where he has BOTH arms intact. What in the WORLD could this possibly mean? Scientists for decades have been suggesting that buried somewhere in the rainforest of the Amazon lies cures to everything from cancer to the cold...but the regeneration of lost limbs? Well NOBODY had considered that even a remote possibility. In short order an expidition is arranged to pick up where the ill-fated previous group was last known to have reported in with the hope of being able to figure out this puzzle and maybe figure out what happened to the first group.
This is where the tire hits the pavement in this particular novel. Rumors of an Amazon tribe with virtual supernatural powers comes to the surface, and before long, the expidition is attacked by piranhas...or ARE they? Carnivorous locusts which appear to show up ONLY where this mysterious tribe leaves their mark of death...prehistoric sized Crocodiles...Unnaturally large Jaguars (which seemed almost too similar to Matthew Reilly's 'Temple' if you ask me) and the distinct feeling of being watched is just a small part of what happens to the 2nd group.

While this group is having difficulties on their trek in the jungles, the body of Gerald Clark has unwittingly unleashed a plague of biblical proportions back in the States...with a 100% mortality rate among the elderly and the young, this threat begins to consume America and the Center for Disease Control doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to cure it, let alone contain it.

James Rollins handles all the loose ends just fine, although I felt that the plague portion of the story was reduced a little too much for my tastes, which is odd since normally novels tend to be too long if anything and hardly EVER not long enough. The lost tribe and their strange ways...the mysterious tree which can restore a lost limb...the plague that threatens to kill millions...and whatever happened to that original expidition? All these questions and more are answered quite well, and all without sounding corny--which is a remarkable feat when you stop to consider the story after you've finished it. All in all, 'Amazonia' was a fun, thrilling adventure well told. I DO believe that it wasn't nearly as fast paced as Rollins' first 3 books, and I think I may be in the minority with that opinion, but I also feel this is a much more mature story than his previous novels and overall a more satisfying story. Rollins is most definitely an author to watch. If you have read any of the books I mentioned above with similar themes, you may want to give 'Amazonia' a try, it certainly made me feel as though my money was well spent.