THE LAST ORACLE

THE LAST ORACLE
Author: James Rollins
Copyright: June 2009
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-06-123095-0
Paperback $7.99
462 pages
Fiction, Action-adventure

Running. When you read THE LAST ORACLE your eyes are actually running while hoping to discover how Commander Gray Pierce stops a worldwide crisis.
Commander Pierce works with a secret organization for our government, Sigma housed in the basement of the Smithsonian Castle in Washington D.C. As he returns to work in the early afternoon, he glances across the Mall and sees what seems to be a homeless man running towards him. Gray looks in his wallet but unfortunately finds that all he has are twenty dollar bills. He decides to give one to the beggar but surprisingly the man has a large coin about the size of a fifty-cent piece that he is attempting to give to Pierce. As the man leans towards Pierce, he actually falls on top of him. Quickly he realizes that the man is bleeding and that someone is shooting at the man. Instinctively he rolls with the man to safety and immediately takes out his own gun. Not seeing who is shooting or where it is coming from, he also grabs his cell phone and calls for help.
Being that things are seldom as they seem, the homeless man who died was actually the creator of Sigma, Professor Archibald Polk whose body is now radioactive. The coin was actually an old Roman coin from the second century. On the coin is a woman’s face on one side and an engraving of the Temple of Delphi with a big E in the center on the other. While trying to decode whatever message the Professor had been attempting to communicate, Pierce informs the Professor’s daughter of his death. Unfortunately, at the same time, someone with extensive resources is also searching for the same thing and seems to want both Pierce and the Professor’s daughter to be dead. This begins the race with no obvious finish line.
This is an unusual novel in that many non-related topics are combined logically into one novel. From The Greek Oracle of Delphi, to the genetics and history of gypsies, to secret organizations that do exist such as The Jasons, to studies about the brain’s ability to tell fortunes, to Project Stargate (that does not really include the Sci-Fi channel and going to other planets), to autism and savants, to strange weapons, and the possible ecological problem of the radioactivity in Russia from Chelyabinsk region in the Ural Mountains which includes the area of the Chernobyl disaster.
James Rollins is a doctor of veterinary medicine who enjoys scuba diving and spelunking in his home in the Sierra Nevadas.
The pacing is intense and fast, The characters are realistic. What I found disturbing is the realization of a disaster that could easily have an effect worldwide that I personally had not realized existed. A good book, even fiction, should educate you in some way. THE LAST ORACLE does that in a fast-paced adventure.