James Rollins has produced one of his most exciting and entertaining thrillers with The Last Oracle. The story revolves around a Russian plot to use the descendants of the Oracle of Delphi in a sinister plot to bring the world to its collective knees. The usual cast of Sigma Force players are present and used to good effect in this gripping thriller.
The story begins when a stranger bearing a mysterious coin is killed virtually at the doorstep of Sigma headquarters. The plot unfolds from there, with Sigma Force members Gray Pierce following the trail and Painter Crowe dealing with threats and intrigue back at home, along with one other major plot line. Rollins intersperses just enough scenes from the "bad guy" point-of-view to create suspense without revealing too much.
The Last Oracle has all of the elements that make for a great adventure story: a historical mystery, at least one ancient ruin, action and escapes that are thrilling without being cartoonish, a complex plot that unfolds bit-by-bit, villains with absolutely no connection to the Knights Templar, and a few twists that surprise the reader without taking suspension of belief too far.
Only a few bits of the story are difficult to swallow. The pseudo-cliffhanger from Rollins' previous novel, The Judas Strain, carries over to this story, but is done in a way that is a stretch. A few of the developments are a bit hokey, but considering the tropes of the genre, are not sufficiently "out there" to jolt the reader or distract from the story. Rollins also provides a few pages of explanation at the end of the story defending the plausibility of some of the plot elements, which in itself makes for an interesting read.
What Rollins does best in this book is surprise the reader. The "sinister plot" is kept a mystery, but when it is finally revealed, we learn that there's more... much more. He also drops a small bomb at the end of the story, leading us into the next book. The Last Oracle is one of Rollin's best efforts and sure to be one of the top thrillers of the year. Don't miss it!
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