The latest in contemporary fiction's secret code sweepstakes, a debut from Florida attorney Forrest, incorporates a host of mysteries. These include the I Ching
, Fibonacci sequences, pi, Zipf's law, magic squares, the Bible Code, ancient civilizations (Mayan, Egyptian) and pretty much every other enigma littering the wilder shores of the Internet. Dr. Joshua Ambergris discovers a message embedded in our DNA that comes from the very dawn of humanity. A secret group known as the Order kill him rather than have it revealed. Ambergris's two assistants, Christian Madison and Grace Nguyen, set out to reconstruct the message and find the killers. There are engaging digressions into math and science, but too many shopworn plotlets intrude on the main business: a bomb is set to explode; a ninja-like assassin lurks; power struggles wrack the Order; various stock characters appear and play out their agonizingly familiar roles. The writing abounds with clichés (“Suddenly a shot rang out”) and the final kicker is anything but. (Aug.)
