A fire in a Copenhagen bookstore ignites a relentless hunt across four continents. Commander Gray Pierce dives headlong into a mystery that dates back to Nazi Germany--and to horrific experiments performed in a now-abandoned laboratory buried in a hollowed-out mountain. Meanwhile, madness ravages a monastery in Nepal, as Buddhist monks turn to cannibalism and torture. Lisa Cummings, investigating the atrocity, is suddenly a target of a brutal assassin working for forces that want the affair buried. Lisa's only ally is a hidden pilgrim, Painter Crowe--director of SIGMA Force, an elite command of American scientists and Special Forces operatives--who is already showing signs of the malady that destroyed the monks. Now Pierce must save both Painter and Lisa, and a world in jeopardy--as SIGMA Force races to expose a century-old plot that threatens to destroy the current world order--and alter the destiny of humankind forever.--From publisher description.