The Nostradamus Prophecies

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.)