This book is pure adventure–it starts out with a man walking out of the Brazilian jungle in a delirium and dying soon after. There are two things puzzling about this: a strange tattoo covers his chest and he has two arms. The tattoo is from a tribe that no one knows anything about, except for strange rumors, and one of his arms has regrown. He entered the jungle with one arm.
This obviously creates a lot of interest, and multiple expeditions are quickly launched, one by a drug manufacturer and one by–you guessed it–the villains. Rollins has plenty of horrible surprises in store for both parties. From killer frogs to poison smoke to giant leopards, the pace is furious. The villain’s mistress, a beautiful killer, who likes to walk around naked will give you a few chills. And there are a few more “obstacles” that I left out, for your reading pleasure.
The secret is eventually found, and it’s quite a revelation. James Rollins is no Michael Crichton, so the science is a little muddled, but in the telling of a superior adventure, it’s worth overlooking.