The Last Oracle

Rollins's latest novel is reminiscent of the work of Dan Brown in its scope and convoluted plot. But it lacks the compelling and likable characters and dramatic twists that make Brown's works so successful. The result is a lackluster story about the dangers of bioengineering and human genetics, along with a little ancient history, myth, and mystery. Narrator Peter Jay Fernandez gives a reading that offers little in the way of dramatization and settles for stereotypical characters who make the story even more unbelievable. Everything seems rehashed and oddly familiar in some way. Fernandez sounds as though he's done it all before. L.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

May 12, 2008
At the start of bestseller Rollins's rousing fifth Sigma Force novel (after The Judas Strain
), the group's leader, Cmdr. Gray Pierce, encounters a homeless man as he's crossing the Mall in Washington, D.C., near Sigma Force's secret lair far beneath the Smithsonian Castle. The man, who's really an MIT neurology professor, collapses in Pierce's arms and dies after passing him a strange coin, thus kicking off a far-flung adventure whose plot threads include the Oracle of Delphi, autistic savant children with strange implants behind their ears, Gypsies, power-mad Russians bent on unleashing enough radioactivity to poison the world, rogue American spy agencies and genetically enhanced wolves and tigers. Lots of absorbing scientific information and tantalizing sentences like “With two rifles strapped to his back and a boy and a chimpanzee in tow, Monk marched down the pitch-black tunnel” keep the pages flying by. 10-city author tour.

August 25, 2008
SIGMA force returns in Rollins’s latest high-tension mystery that plays out in the slums of India, ancient temples in Greece and even the diseased remnants of Chernobyl now in Ukraine, all in search of the Greek Oracle of Delphi. There are plenty of historical references and a plethora of pulse-pounding action, and narrator Peter Jay Fernandez makes good use of it all to create a compelling and fun listening experience. He reads with a solid voice that is straightforward, honest and rich. There is a mysterious, almost foreboding element in his tone that carries the story forward into deeper and darker territory, while bringing listeners to the edge of their seats. Fernandez offers layered characters who engage his audience and ground the far-fetched plot. A Morrow hardcover (Reviews, May 12).