• Black Order

  • A Sigma Force Novel, Book 3
  • By: James Rollins
  • Narrated by: Grover Gardner
  • Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,139 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Black Order  By  cover art

Black Order

By: James Rollins
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $28.79

Buy for $28.79

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

High in Nepal, a monastery erupts with savagery and madness. Deep in a German mine, abomination wears the innocent face of a child. Hidden in the jungles of Africa, experiments rooted in a dark past have found fertile ground again.

Across the frozen peaks of the Himalayas to the diamond fields of the Congo, from the subterranean labs of a lost era to the bright halls of the Smithsonian, Sigma Force will face its most cunning adversaries, its most daunting challenges, and its most dire threat. The very future of mankind will belong to the victor.

For any hope of success, Painter Crowe must make a pact like no other: to align Sigma Force with an old enemy, one beyond redemption. And it will be up to Commander Gray Pierce to find the balance between salvation and damnation, even if it means sacrificing those closest to him. Still, victory is far from certain, for there are riddles that even the greatest minds were never meant to solve.

©2006 Jim Czajkowski (P)2006 HarperCollinsPublishers

Critic reviews

"This is Cussler and Ludlum territory with a dash of Dan Brown, sure to please devotees of any of these authors." (Publishers Weekly)

"Why Hollywood hasn't snapped his books up yet is a mystery." (Booklist)

What listeners say about Black Order

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,203
  • 4 Stars
    640
  • 3 Stars
    211
  • 2 Stars
    58
  • 1 Stars
    27
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    953
  • 4 Stars
    417
  • 3 Stars
    141
  • 2 Stars
    35
  • 1 Stars
    18
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,001
  • 4 Stars
    416
  • 3 Stars
    110
  • 2 Stars
    28
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Absorbing and Intense

"Black Order" is a wonderful combination of suspense, history, intrigue, terror, and science. I hate using terms like "on the edge of my seat", but that pretty well describes the experience for me.

Fortunately, a scientific background is not necessary to appreciate fully it, as it provides just enough of a sprinkling of scientific fact to make the story plausible. Some of the precepts really make you think, and, if you want to learn more, Rollins provides a short bibliography at the end.

I found the plot twists unexpected (although, in truth, I don't spend much time trying to figure out "what's going to happen" -- I prefer to be surprised). I also found the characters realistic and believable, especially the "bad guys".

Grover Gardner's performance was exceptional, helping to bring the many and varied characters to life, making them seem 3-dimensional. The pace was perfect, as he slowed his rhythm during some of the scientific explanations, giving me that little extra time to absorb them. He also nicely sped up some of the action scenes, adding to the suspense and excitement of the story.

I rated it five stars, and I think James Rollins' story and Grover Gardner's reading earn every one of them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Ripped off

I feel ripped off. Black Order was a perfectly good summer read. Some Nazi discovery brought to modern day, a love story, lots of international intrique; then in the last twenty minutes the main characters discover that the antidote to the German invention is prayer and belief in God. These books ought to come wiht a warning: This author has a religious agenda! How cheap!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

This Book has Plot!

Coming away disappointed from DeMille's latest "Wild Fire" I landed here and this book has a plot that works, and is based on historical events. The plot simultaneously takes place in several locations around the world including South Africa and starts off at Everest. The story is what held me, and I actually prefer Grover as a narrator and have no problems with his narration it added to the book for me. I was particularly pleased with the scientific mysteries intertwined including the tug between Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum physics. The mystery of the retreat of the Germans and the lost infant detailed in the first chapter is revealed at the end just when you think you have it all, a suprise ending. I loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Another great listen from Rollins

I found James Rollins' work quite by accident. New to Aubible.com and wanting to try new authors, I downloaded The Judas Strain, and was hooked. I love the way Rollins starts you off with some peice of factual history and then weaves the story around it, very much like Dan Brown did with Angels and Demons and Davinci Code. The way he manages multiple threads through the story is great. If you like Dan Brown and Tom Clancy, you'll probably like this as well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Listen

This is a very good book with an interesting plot... worth a listen. The narrator has a clear authoritative voice. For a book to be 5 stars it has to keep you in the car when it is time to leave the garage. This book did not meet that criteria.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Better to read the book

I love to read James Rollin's. He is the kind of author that writes to allow the reader to escape into imagination based on science. I have read all of his books with the exception of this one which I listened to.
I have listened to hundreds of books and, because I act, I realize how hard it is to be a decent reader. With this said, I did not care for the readers performance. His reading voice and inflection irritated me to the point that I did not enjoy the book. He only used accents for certain characters and I could not tell the difference between chapters. The reader has an old style which reminded me of 1950s private investigator shows or an older radio announcer. In the first few chapters he started each sentence on the same high note and ended each sentence with the same low note, an octave difference. Also, he extended the end of each word of a sentence, drawing out the sound, which I found to be creepy. Maybe he was just out of practice because toward the end of the book he got better but at that point I had tuned out so much of the book I had lost interest. If the reader reads this I hope he takes it a constructive criticism, I do realize how hard it is to give a good performance with material that length.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Technique

This is the first book by this author that I have listened to. I was disaapointed that the advancment of the plot and creation of suspense relied on the ineptness of various members of the Sigma Force.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book

Years ago I picked up a James Rollins' book for a long flight overseas. Since that time I have become a huge fan of his books. A good description of his books' story lines would be a secret agent uses archeology and the past to save the present world. This is another Sigma Force Novel that uses some of the past characters again to tell such a story. Revealing a dark Nazi experiment from the past you get caught up adventure that takes the characters all over the globe. This is one of the best "listens" for James Rollins. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Simply Terrible

I have been happily listening to Audible offerings for years, and this is the first time I have been moved to write a review. From the laughable character names to the silly stereotype "covert agency" to the ridiculous attempt to mix scientific disciplines the author obviously did not understand at all, this book was awful! I finished it only for the chuckles and groans it provided, and to see if the end would be as bad as I feared - and it was.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fast becoming a favorite

When a doctor attempts to summit Mount Everest, a weather delay at a lower camp and her desire to help ill residents of a monastery lead her into the middle of a plot to.....well, I don't want to spoil the story. Let's just say that she ends up running for her life, working with the Sigma Force team.

The Sigma Force novels are fast becoming a favorite for me. The seamless blend of historical facts with exciting action, secret government agencies and environmental issues in many cases, make for a wonderful story.

I like the evolution of the characters from book to book although you could read only one without being lost in the back story. Each story takes you to a different parts of the world painting a lovely action packed picture.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful