Oaths and Miracles

"Oaths and miracles are usually followed by deceptive statements." FBI Manual * 30 year old English major/ FBI agent stalks his ex-wife with lovely romantic notes and goofy drawings while trying to connect the dots between the Mafia and a biotech firm. *The widow of a brilliant, philandering, narcissistic geneticist as a only a trained journalist whose father is a retired teacher of Physics and Chemistry and whose hobby is writing a history of the saints. (And they live in Troy, NY.) * A construction worker and ex-Marine who waits to spend to two hours every other week with his kids who live in a religious compound outside Gloversville, NY dedicated to an obscure Celtic saint who may have also been a Franciscan brother hundreds of years later martyred by the Indians. * A former Las Vegas showgirl now attending University of Michigan whose best friend was murdered, as was her mobbed- up boyfriend saying "Cadoc Verico Cadaverico" This novel is a thoroughly likeable combination of FBI thriller and mystery with ten minutes into the future genetics and sf and a bit of religious thought. I thotoughoughly enjoyed Kress' Beggars books and look forward to Stinger, the further adventures of this odd and likeable g-man. (And I hope there's more in the next book about Upstate New York!)

The first book I read by Nancy Kress was "Stinger," which is the sequel to "Oaths and Miracles," and the only unfortunate aspect of that is that I didn't have the opportunity to meet Robert Cavanaugh here first."Oaths and Miracles" transcends the genre of thriller fiction by containing characters of real depth and interest. Where most popular fiction of this type is populated by very thin characters, Nancy Kress does an excellent job of drawing the reader into her story by helping us care about the people in it. In addition to the characterizations, the plot weaves from delicate, disparate strands into a cohesive juncture that leads to a satisfying conclusion. If there's a weak spot, it's in the pacing of action sequences, but that's a minor quibble, and not enough for me to rate this book lower than five stars.I read a lot, and it's very rare that I find a book I have trouble putting down, but I could not put this book down until I'd finished it.

I must say that I was amazed to see this book with an average rating of only 3 stars. Gotta have my eyesight checked, I guess, or my memory, because that's actually my favorite Nancy Kress novel. I love her short stories, but usually I find her novels somewhat tedious and predictable (especially the endless Beggars cycle). Here we have some twists, some turns, some unflinching looks at violence - even as a thriller per se, it's really above average. But it's also a nice novel about damaged relationships, and perhaps it was that aspect I liked most. Anyhow, in my opinion this book is great. End of story.

If you like the X-Files you will enjoy this book. More a mystery with sinister biochemistry overtones than sci-fi, it gives you the creeps and ultimately leaves things unresolved. Our fearless FBI guy keeps trying to make the pieces fit. It takes 6 months and a lot of coincidences, but finally it all comes together. I found this an exciting read with lots of page turning suspense. The lingering meanace at the end made the premise more credible. And my hat goes off to anyone who can set a story in Newark, NJ.I am a Nancy Kress fan and have read several of her books including the Beggars series. This is quite different, no really awesome science or brave new future world. A good read for someone just starting out in science fiction and not wanting too much sci-tech.

If you have a penchant for near-future thrillers in the vein of, say, Robert J. Sawyer's masterpiece The Terminal Experiment, don't miss Oaths and Miracles! It doesn't have the philosophical edge of the former but is just as much an amazing page-turner with a set of likable main characters (some of them said to reappear in one of Kress's following novels), and quite a few chilling moments. Last book in a long time that kept me reading when I should have been long asleep...