“Code Centaurus”

by Francis Lentz

When Colin Grier is ordered by a covert office in the World Health Organization to investigate a bizarre disease outbreak in New Guinea, he is introduced to a fantastic world of possibilities that he never dreamed existed. While in New Guinea, he meets a beautiful, paralyzed woman called Margo, who is travelling with her father aboard a privately funded research ship in search of an ancient Khmer temple. While onboard, Margo and Colin become fast friends, and Margo eventually discloses that she has psychic abilities. Her visions eventually lead Colin to some twelfthcentury Khmer temple ruins, where they discover part of an ancient telescope. Although the find is a major victory for anthropology, the group also discovers the source of the disease outbreak within the temple, and Colin is forced to choose between stopping the disease at its source and curing Margo's paralysis. But with an impending attack from the World Health Organization's Swat team, Colin must will he save the woman he loves or choose to stop the spreading diseaseand possibly change the course of history.

Genres: Fiction

282 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2012

Reviews

[Remy Benoit · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are entering the time when our science and our science fiction have begun to run parallel. quite literally raising questions about each other.

Code Centaurus is a fast moving, fascinating, challenging, dare I say spiraling, tour de force of a story you don't want to miss if you like history, science, science fiction, just a great read, or, well, just being alive.

This page turner is not about "contagious disease" outbreaks that we are accustomed to seeing on TV and in the movies when the CDC people, Contagious Disease Control, come in and lock down; dress in protective attire; breathe with special apparatus. In the movies there is always the person, the one who will not close the beach when sharks are obviously dining on people, always the person who is the naysayer--the one who says: 'No, no, you can't let this out;' the people - implied stupid people - will panic; we will lose money; and the undercurrent line, 'this will make me lose my job, lose me the election, not get my promotion.' Yet, there is always at least the one who demands, fights against all odds, fights against time, fights against real stupidity, there is the one or more who comes in, rescues the day, and, in so doing, saves the world.

We have entered a new time that desperately needs one, or more, who have taken the hero's/heroine's journey, accepted the challenge, and moved up to do what must be done.

And here we come to questions that this author has raised--questions that carry the heavy weight of philosophical, religious, and moral interpretations.

DNA, Deoxyribonucleic acid. Remember that double helix from high school--that macromolecule that along with RNA and proteins make all forms of life they way they are?

What happens when we alter it in opposition to Nature's ways? We don't know yet--just that simple. What happens to life, plant, animal, human if we alter DNA in one or more ways?

Let's put our WHO to work today as in the fascinating, ground breaking Code Centaurus by Francis Lentz we seem to have a bit of a problem on New Guinea, and we don't want that spreading.

Nasty suppurating skin eruptions, radical changes in behavior--and noxious death. Seems it is not the first time there has been an outbreak caused, perhaps by an archaeological dig. But they were told to close that dig. The questions are: did they; and is something coming out of the underwater dig responsible for the deadly problem?

Dr. Colin Grier is sent covertly by WHO to New Guinea to investigate by his 'my reputation and chances of promotion are hinging on you doing exactly what I tell you, when I tell you, regardless of any parameters of this situation that I might be unaware of'' "superior."

But what is there? A boat, a very, very big boat stocked stem to stern with state of the art research equipment; well, perhaps a bit above state of the art, the kind that only unlimited mega-bucks can imagine and put into reality design.

Should Dr. Grier accept the invitation to come aboard; should he go right to the island? What difference would a small piece of time mean when he could get to see all this electronic research candy? And what do we really know about time anyway? Is it quite as linear as we seem to think it is; can we bounce about in it; can we go back and visit past times, civilizations, lives, loves?

Myriad questions the monkey brain just keeps a chattering away with for Dr. Grier. Just what does the ancient Khmer inscription mean? What is the role of the Temple, and what has that role been as it has spanned centuries?

This is the time for the entrance of the femme fatale, no? You know the one with legs that never end, smart, stylish, sure of herself, dripping in health and hormones, but in today's world here in the States, no mourning hat, no black veil, and probably no cigarette holder either--a corporate head perhaps dollars devoured and poured on her wrists in sparkling tidbits from the mines of South Africa.

Well, maybe, maybe not. Maybe these lines from Dante Gabrielle Rossetti's Sudden Light:
You have been mine before,--
How long ago I may not know:
But just when at that swallow's soar
Your neck turned so,
Some veil did fall,--I knew it all of yore.

Ah, but what is really aboard the boat? Is the woman a distressed lady requiring rescue, or is it her strength that all will rely upon?

How does one choose between one life and lives on a colossal scale?

How does one balance and act upon differing messages from heart, soul, and rational/irrational brain input?

What is altering the islanders to the point of horrid deaths? When does the screaming, closed minded, closed sighted WHO bureaucrat come shoving into the scene with his flack jacketed, helmeted, heavy duty weaponed SWAT troops?

What is in the cave, what lurks under the water in the temple? Is it a gift, is it a Pandora's Box, or is it, like most of life, a bit of each? Sometimes the most well intended gift goes terribly awry, or brings great gifts.

Could there possibly be something there even more frightening and potentially dangerous than GMOs being pushed today?

If you are feeling overwhelmed, Code Centaurus offers respite with a Far Eastern mystic, a computer wizard, Daddy and Daddy's little girl. Do you dare to sit down to table with them in their on board garden; do you dare to talk to a dead man with another WHO agent who just happens, like our hero, to have an open mind and, well, yes, a sense of adventure?

Do you dare to tangle yourself with the mystery of the double helix on board, in the cave under the water; or do you need Sam Spade, Mike Hammer, Miss Marple, or Jessica Fletcher along to help find out what lies beneath both time and space? If you do, do invite them along, but whatever you do, do not invite Jessica to supper--you know what always happens to one of the guests!

And no, you will not hear Harlem Nocturne in this; but you will hear the music of universes known, and yes, still unknown to us.

What is Code Centaurus? What did it, does it, or could it, depending on your concept of time, mean to you?

Should you beware of Greeks bearing gifts; or gifts brought to ancient Greeks? Truly, you want to find out!

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! From the first twenty pages I was totally engrossed and could not put it down. The characters come alive on the page due to wonderfully crafted dialogue, and spellbinding scenic imagery that makes you feel that you are watching a wonderful movie. Chapter after chapter unfolds with twists and turns that keep the reader on the edge of their seat, bringing us on an epic journey that is well worth the ride. If you are in the mood for a page-turner this is the book for you.

[Linda Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good sci fi with some original ideas. I wonder if this was an internet release because the proofing on the book was pretty bad. There were lots of mispelled words and errors. I could definitely see this as a movie.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through goodreads first reads and although not normaaly the genre I read, I did like it.