The Last Oracle: A Sigma Force Novel

I finally succumbed and accepted an invitation to go diving with sharks. Suffice it to say, I still have all my arms and legs. I’ve also done some traveling in Russia, including into some zones marked with radiation signs. And so far, I’m not glowing in the dark. At least not yet.

In this book, a group of children are on the run from a menagerie of genetically enhanced beasts, but they have a companion at their side: Marta, an elderly chimpanzee who has a few secrets of her own.

In this book, a group of children are on the run from a menagerie of genetically enhanced beasts but they have a companion at their side: Marta, an elderly chimpanzee who has a few secrets of her own.

As frightening as that all sounds, it’s all true. The toxic legacy of the Cold War is still with us today and it’s aticking time bomb. There is a lake in the Ural Mountains of Russia that is so radioactive that if you stand at the shore for an hour, you’ll be dead a week later. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the concepts and details that are incorporated throughout The Last Oracle.

Most of The Last Oracle is rooted in fact.  I spend the last few pages of every book separating fact from fiction in my novels. I talked about autism earlier, but here are a few of the interesting and factual tidbits that were incorporated into this novel: Newer studies prove that men and women have the general ability to see three seconds into the future. How? We don’t know, but they’ve proven that we do! Humans are “natural-born cyborgs.” Einstein met an Indian woman who could solve a mathematical equation even before he could finish asking the question. There is a lake in Russia that is so radioactive that if you stand on the shore for an hour, you’ll be dead a week later. And the prophecies of the Greek Oracle of Delphi did indeed change the course of human history.

In addition to the current theories about autism and autistic savants, I delve into the organic source of human intuition (does it exist, and if so, where does it arise?), along with some cutting-edge research into the bioengineering of the human brain.  That’s on the science side.  The book also explores historical mysteries – like the true origin of the Gypsy clans and the tragic fate of the ancient Greek oracle of Delphi.  More topically, the novel also broaches modern global threats.  For example, few people realize the extent of the nuclear legacy left behind by the old Soviet-era war machine.  In fact, there is a lake in the Ural Mountains of Russia that is so radioactive that if you stand at the shore for an hour, you’ll be dead a week later.  That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the concepts and details that are incorporated throughout The Last Oracle.

I believe we are not far off from this possibility (if we’re not already there). The new frontier of neurology is the exploration of the brain with more and more sophisticated electrodes, some so small that they can be inserted into individual neurons. Already neurologists have inserted silicon chips into the brains of quadriplegic patients that allow them to manipulate computers to move a cursor, to surf the Internet by their thoughts alone. So how long will it be until we learn to harness the brain’s full potential and scarier, how long until we learn to control that in another person?