The magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ child; their bones may bring destruction to the world, if they are allowed to remain in the hands of the thieves who stole them, for these bones may not be bones at all. They may be something much more terrible and deadly, as Map of Bones, his second SIGMA Force novel published in 2005, suggests.
From the book
A S MIDNIGHT approached, Jason passed his iPod to Mandy. ―Listen. It‘s Godsmack‘s new single. It‘s not even released in the States yet. How cool is that?‖ The reaction was less than Jason hoped. Mandy shrugged, expressionless, but she still took the proffered earphones. She brushed back the pink-dyed tips of her black hair and settled the phones to her ears. The movement opened her jacket enough to reveal the press of her applesized breasts against her black Pixies T-shirt. Jason stared. ―I don‘t hear anything,‖ Mandy said with a tired sigh, arching an eyebrow at him. Oh. Jason turned his attention back to his iPod and pressed Play. He leaned back on his hands. The two were seated on a thin grass sward that framed the open pedestrian plaza, called the Domvorplatz. It surrounded the massive gothic cathedral, the Kölner Dom. Perched on Cathedral Hill, it commanded a view over the entire city. Jason gazed up the length of the twin spires, decorated with stone figures, carved in tiers of marble reliefs that ranged from the religious to the arcane. Now, lit up at night, it held an eerie sense of something ancient risen from deep underground, something not of this world. Listening to the music leaking from the iPod, Jason watched Mandy. Both were on summer holiday from Boston College, backpacking through Germany and Austria. They were traveling with two other friends, Brenda and Karl, but the other two were more interested in the local pubs than attending tonight‘s midnight mass. Mandy, though, had been raised Roman Catholic. Midnight masses at the cathedral were limited to a few select holidays, each attended by the Archbishop of Cologne himself, like tonight‘s Feast of the Three Kings. Mandy had not wanted to miss it. And while Jason was Protestant, he had agreed to accompany her. As they waited for the approach of midnight, Mandy‘s head bopped slightly to the music. Jason liked the way her bangs swept back and forth, the way her lower lip pouted out as she concentrated on the music. Suddenly he felt a touch on his hand. Mandy had shifted her arm closer, brushing her hand atop his. Her eyes, though, remained fixed on the cathedral. Jason held his breath.
For the past ten days, the two had found themselves thrown together more and more often. Before the trip, they had been no more than acquaintances. Mandy had been Brenda‘s best friend
since high school, and Karl was Jason‘s roommate. Their two respective friends, new lovers, hadn‘t wanted to travel alone, in case their budding relationship soured while traveling.
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