From World Domination to Identity Theft
By JON LAND
Ever since James Bond uttered the now famous line, “World domination, same old story,” to Dr. No, shadowy cabals and power- mad conspiracies have defined the thriller genre. But nobody does them better than James Rollins, whose wildly energetic latest, The Last Oracle (Morrow, 448 pages, $26.95), gives new meaning to the old tried-and true-standbys.
This time out Rollins’ elite Sigma Force, under the leadership of Gray Pierce, finds itself up against a group of renegade scientists known as the “Jasons” who are trying to turn autistic savants into messiah-like prophets. The plot, the origins of which lie with the Oracle of Delphi, spans the globe in a wild, non-stop race as lofty goals morph typically into nefarious ends threatening a billion lives.
Rollins doesn’t just take us to the edge of our seats. He sweeps us off them into his finely etched world of masterminds and master plans where anything can happen and usually does. You don’t have to be a prophet to know he’s become the modern master of the action thriller and The Last Oracle is flat out great.
World domination also plays a role in Lee Child’s Nothing to Lose (Delacorte, 408 pages, $27), this time at the hands of cult-like fanatics serving under a true megalomaniac. Good thing Child’s nomadic hero Jack Reacher is there to lay waste to an entire town that had the bad sense to ask him to leave. That town, not coincidentally, is called Despair and Reacher spends most of the book traveling back and forth between it and a neighboring town called Hope.
The allegorical implications of Nothing to Lose not withstanding, the book swiftly evolves into the gunslinger-like Reacher righting wrongs and dispensing his own brand of justice. His path winds its way to a hellish metal recycling plant whose owner plays like the devil incarnate. Thankfully, Reacher is equally adept with his wits as his fists, putting the pieces of the Despair puzzle together and those who confront him into hospital beds.
Nothing to Lose solidifies Child’s status as a preeminent novelist as well as storyteller. If you can only read one book this summer, this is it.
No plots aimed at world domination can be found in The Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver (Simon & Schuster, 432 pages, $26.95), but that doesn’t make his latest to feature quadriplegic detective hero Lincoln Rhyme any less timely or terrifying. Indeed, The Broken Window features the most unusual serial killer in years. Call him the Hannibal Lecter of the digital age.
Known only as “522,” a great moniker considering his passion for numbers, Deaver’s splendidly villainous creation steals the identities of those he sets up as patsies for his own crimes. The perfect modus operandi until 522 makes the mistake of targeting Rhyme’s cousin. Working as always with his partner and lover Amelia Sachs, Rhyme races to distill clues from 522′s twisted pattern that could strike anyone at anytime.
That helps turn The Broken Window into a brilliant and harrowing commentary on how vulnerable we all find ourselves today. It’s easily Rhyme’s most challenging effort since he debuted in The Bone Collector, as Deaver officially eclipses Thomas Harris and sets the standard for the serial killer novel for years to come.
Jon Land ( jonlandauthor@aol.com) sets the standard for Rhode Island thriller writers, having published 25 so far, plus one film script and another in the works. Jon Land ( jonlandauthor@aol.com) sets the standard for Rhode Island thriller writers, having published 25 so far, plus one film script and another in the works.
Originally published by JON LAND, Special to the Journal.
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