Description:

From Publishers Weekly

The murder in Paris of a Gypsy man who may know the whereabouts of Nostradamus's lost prophecies propels this so-so thriller, the first in a trilogy, from Nostradamus expert Reading (Nostradamus: The Top 100 Prophecies). American writer Adam Sabir, the prime murder suspect, soon finds himself on the run through France and Spain, accompanied by the dead man's sister, a Gypsy witch, in a search for prophecies left in the Gypsies' care by Nostradamus centuries earlier. In hot pursuit is Achor Bale, an assassin with "freakishly clotted eyes" who will let nothing stand in his way to secure possession of the hidden secrets and who plays stalking horse for French police captain Joris Calque, who thinks Sabir is innocent. Readers will find all the usual Da Vinci Code elements--a remorseless hunter, forgotten knowledge, ancient conspiracies, malevolent cults, a steeple chase from clue to clue. Only the atypically insightful and competent Calque offers respite from an entirely predictable variation on a familiar theme. (Dec.)
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From

Already a best-seller in the UK (where its sequel, The Mayan Codex, has already been published), this fast-paced novel should appeal to fans of thrillers involving ancient mysteries and modern-day conspiracies. The premise: Nostradamus, the sixteenth-century prophet, wrote 1,000 quatrains predicting various future events, but only 942 survived. Or so history said; now it appears that the lost quatrains have resurfaced. And two very different men are hot on their trail: Adam Sabir, writer of a popular book about Nostradamus (and desperately in need of a follow-up hit), and Achor Bale, who belongs to an ancient society (guardians of the “Three Antichrists” prophesied by Nostradamus: Napoleon, Hitler, and their as-yet-unknown successor). This is an exciting thriller, with two well-drawn central characters and plenty of action. Reading, author of a few nonfiction books about Nostradamus, is a talented storyteller. The book is refreshingly free of the cluttered dialogue and lengthy expository passages that can bring any novel—but especially one about ancient mysteries—to a screeching halt. A definite winner. --David Pitt