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SPQR XII Oracle of the Dead The SPQR Roman Mysteries John Maddox Roberts 9780312380939 Books

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SPQR XII Oracle of the Dead The SPQR Roman Mysteries John Maddox Roberts 9780312380939 Books

Fans of John Maddox Roberts SPQR series should enjoy this installment in the series, up to a point: the ending. I thought it was a dud. Predictable and not very interesting. Quite a letdown. As with other Decius Caecilius Metellus stories, this one is breezy, informative and entertaining. At this point in his career, Decius is a magistrate. Therefore, we learn a good bit about that part of Roman life our hero is now immersed in professionally. It's a neat way to cover all the bases incrementally and entertainingly.

That much is all good. So too is the story line about the rivalry between Decius's relative Julius Ceasar and Pompey Magnus, which is about to come to a head. True to form, he has no taste for such imbroglios and gladly heads for the hills. It's both true to character and believable--not everyone cared about outcomes of the very powerful, just that they were well positioned, whatever it might be. The detail about old v. new gods holds some interest but not lots--our hero is far too cynical to invest belief in either. Far too early in Oracle of the Dead I was able to surmise the ending. That was disappointing. Roberts usually has more possibilities that are plausible and therefore keep the reader guessing.

Not this time. Enjoyable but predictable.


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SPQR XII Oracle of the Dead The SPQR Roman Mysteries John Maddox Roberts 9780312380939 Books Reviews

Overall
I am giving "Oracle of the Dead" by John Maddox Roberts 3.5 stars. The book is a very quick and entertaining read. The style is basically the same as the other books in the SPQR series. However, the parts where keys pieces of information get figured out only indicate that Decius has figured something out which makes it fairly easy to figure out who the bad guys/gals are.

I am curious to see how John Roberts will wrap up the story now that the Republic is about to be destroyed by Julius Cesaer. The civil war between Cesaer and Pompey is just about to be begin. Thankfully, Decius is smart enough to run away to the south.

Characters
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Decius does not develop much as a character. He does grow up a bit and starts to take more seriously his political rank and the associated rights / responsibilities. A nearly successful assassination attempt helps to get him back in shape and prepare for the hard times ahead of the Republic.

Julia is not developed much but she does show a bit more understand on how to work with Decius. Decius does show more appreciation for Julia's skills.

Misc. cast of characters there is a large group of colorful characters in the story which help round out the scope of the events quite well. I would like to have more red-herring characters to help obfusicate who the killer(s) is/are.

Story
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The story revolves around a mass murder of all the priests in the Temple of Apollo. The Temple of Apollo sits above a temple of Hecate. The followers of Hecate claim to have a oracle of the dead in their underground complex. The situation is complicated by the rising tensions between Pompey's faction and Cesaer's faction...overlayed on local issues between natives of the areas and the Romans who forcibly settled in the area.

The question of religious practices and superstitions are raised quite a bit. But, ultimately, it comes down to human nature.

Action
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The action in the book was limited compared to the other books. Decius is more of a supervisor than an actual worker. The level of disconnectedness comes through in the story which is unfortunately as one of the main reasons I enjoy Decius is that he has been a very hands on type of person. He is not a "seagull manager" but a person who you want to work for.

Prose
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The style is nearly identical to the last 3 or 4 books in the series.

Characters 2.5 stars
Story 3 - 3.5 stars
Action 2.5 - 3 stars
Prose 2.5 stars
Overall 3.5 stars -- the combination of characters, setting, roman culture, action is better than the sum of the individual parts
Throughly enjoyed this mystery that took Decius out of his beloved Rome...usually you don't get two set in same circumstances but this and Book 11 both occurred when he was Praetor...

There was some personal info that created sympathy for Decius and Julia--the author never really spends any time on their more intimate exchanges or insights and Decius is more Stoic than Roman in keeping his grief and true disappointments to himself...so you have to really read between the blatant details and assess any emotions since Decius is not the kind of person to reveal anything without a dram of sarcasm/irony and more than a little wine...

Hermes has become someone who could have continued these stories if the author had wished to--but I can only assume he decided not to go down that path for some reason...

The mystery itself is artfully woven and juxtaposed with enough Roman history to keep a nice balance between the two.There are other reviews with more details so I don't feel the need to trod that ground...while I did intuit the results almost from the initial complications, it was extremely enjoyable being taken down the path of Decius's unraveling...

I will be very sad to finish this series...it is rare that an author can keep a series interesting and of similar quality in each book...Elizabeth George certainly has not nor has Peter Robinson and they are both probably considered "better" authors than John Maddox Roberts...
But his Decius has become one of my favorite characters--
along with Elizabeth Bennett, Harry Bosch, Jane Tennyson, and a few others...and I think I will enjoy rereading some of these novels from time to time--just as I do others on my library or even in real text form...
Fans of John Maddox Roberts SPQR series should enjoy this installment in the series, up to a point the ending. I thought it was a dud. Predictable and not very interesting. Quite a letdown. As with other Decius Caecilius Metellus stories, this one is breezy, informative and entertaining. At this point in his career, Decius is a magistrate. Therefore, we learn a good bit about that part of Roman life our hero is now immersed in professionally. It's a neat way to cover all the bases incrementally and entertainingly.

That much is all good. So too is the story line about the rivalry between Decius's relative Julius Ceasar and Pompey Magnus, which is about to come to a head. True to form, he has no taste for such imbroglios and gladly heads for the hills. It's both true to character and believable--not everyone cared about outcomes of the very powerful, just that they were well positioned, whatever it might be. The detail about old v. new gods holds some interest but not lots--our hero is far too cynical to invest belief in either. Far too early in Oracle of the Dead I was able to surmise the ending. That was disappointing. Roberts usually has more possibilities that are plausible and therefore keep the reader guessing.

Not this time. Enjoyable but predictable.