Audio Book Review: Oracle

Oracle

By:  David Wood, Sean Ellis

Publish Date:  September 23, 2014, Audiobook October 6, 2015

Format:  Audiobook - 9 hrs 11 mins
Narrated By:  Jeffrey Kafer

Genre:  Paranormal

Series:  1st in Jade Ihara Adventures series

Impression:  Archaeological action adventure with a supernatural twist.

Synopsis:
Sometimes, knowing the future is not enough…. For more than a millennium, the Oracle of Delphi guided kings and conquerors with stunningly accurate visions of the future. But, with the rise of a new God, the Oracle faded from memory. Now, the power of the Oracle is about change the world once more.

While excavating a previously uncharted passage beneath the ancient city of Teotihuacan, archaeologist Jade Ihara makes a startling discovery: enormous stone spheres, arranged to resemble a model of the solar system, slowly orbiting a golden sun. Even more fantastic, when Jade attempts to move one of the spheres, she catches a glimpse of the future…a premonition that will save her life and launch her into a desperate race to unlock the mysterious secret of the oracular orbs. Jade is accompanied by her old friend, former Navy SEAL Pete “Professor” Chapman, and pursued by a relentless secret society intent on burying the secret of the Oracle forever.

Return to the world of the Dane Maddock Adventures in the first book of a thrilling new series, as Jade crosses the globe in pursuit of the secret of the Oracle.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles

Audible


My Thoughts and Summary:
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

Jade Ihara is back at doing what she enjoys, working in her field of expertise on an archaeological dig. None of the craziness that comes with the treasure hunting as she had with her ex, Dane Maddock. However, when the site opens to a mysterious room in a pyramid to find a working solar system, things take a turn. Jade and her friends are now on the run to find and stay alive from the Norfolk Group, a group of people working to remove the supernatural entities from the world to prevent any other disasters from occurring. Jade goes on an expedition to find the missing moon stone from the working solar system, that leads her to think through a few magically touched times of history and where those places happened. Then to the biggest mysterious site of current times. Jade is working hard to find and save the stone surrounded with dark matter, but others will make her have to make a difficult decision.

I've listened to Jeffrey before, and could listen to him speak on going. Jeffrey has something with his voice, tone, that hooks me each time I listen to him. He doesn't do drastic different voices for each character but subtle ones that you get to know as you listen to the story, more with personality expressions for each character. His voice is clear and with pacing that makes the story easy understand and follow.

This story is set in a world created in Dane Maddock Adventures series. I didn't know this when I volunteered to review the book. I saw it was the first in a new series that caught my attention and wanted to read (listen) to it. There is personal and personal business that is addressed at the beginning to tie yet separate this book from the Dane Maddock series. I had no problems picking up with this book and Jade's adventures. Actually, I'm kind of curious about her past with Maddock because we do get glimpses of missions and her live with Maddock, and went looking for those books too.

There is lots of mythical thinking with history and science here. Both are used to bring the characters to their conclusions on where to head next in their search. Things get a bit technical, and I don't understand it 100% all the time, but I get the drift and know what's going on. The characters are specialists in their field, so they do come across that way. But at times it's mind baffling.

There are different groups working in the world that searches for powerful items like what Jade is finding in this story. The Dominion is a dangerous group that Maddock's crew has tangled with. Maddock and his crew joined the Myrmidons to stop the Dominion, and Jade didn't want to join. So she went on her own. Jade and Professor come up against a new group, the Norfolk Group. They are who Jade has to work against in this book, and who are determined to eliminate any and all powerful items from the world to prevent destruction.

We get the story through Jade's eyes, but at times we get to see things through Professor's eyes along with a few other characters. Our main characters we spend much of the book with are Jade, Professor, Paul Dorion, and Hodges. Jade is who the series is focused on. She's a strong woman but has a few things she's still working through personally, and she's doing it. By the end of the book, I feel she's made a huge step in the right direction. Professor, I do enjoy Professor. He's a great companion through the story for Jade. He knows her corks and works with her where others get frustrated with her control. He complements Jade nicely, and I have hopes for the man. Paul Dorion is one that is here because of his scientific knowledge. He is important at the dig site, and important through the story. We grow found of him and start to see him as a great part of the team. Hodges, well Hodges is the eyes on the other side of things.

I found it interesting the way the story takes history and twists it with a touch of science explaining to give it a magical feel, turning the history around to make educated deductions. As I listened to this story I thought that fans of J.F. Penn might enjoy the adrenaline rush of danger as "they" run from different organizations, all wanting the powerful artifacts for different reasons. This is very similar with a bit more science mixed in with the mythical history.