"Lucifer" by Michael Cordy

Dr Miles Fleming is a neuroscientist working on a device capable of reading human brainwaves, enabling paralyzed or even comatose subjects to communicate with the outside world. It all takes a turn for the weird when Flemings brother contacts him through the device, despite having been dead for six minutes. The sceptic and atheistic Fleming, while trying to find a reasonable, scientific explanation to the strange event, gets tangled up with a religious group who wants the device for their quest to prove the existence of an afterlife and ultimately, God.

Not being a huge fan of crime and conspiracy-fiction in general, I picked up Lucifer by Michael Cordy mostly due to the lack of anything else to read (I found two of Cordy's books in a pile of paperbacks my mum left me a while back) but also because of a bright red sticker on the cover saying in block letters :

”As good as Michael Crichton or your money back!”

Well, since the book was a few years old by then I wasn't really expecting a refund. What I also wasn't expecting was to be genuinely entertained by the story, and to my utter surprise I found myself not only finishing the book in record time, but even enjoying it so much I read the second of the books right after I finished the first. Despite a plot that reeks of Hollywood blockbusters and characters that are little more than bland stereotypes, Lucifer manages to present a scenario of plausible technology with some less plausible metaphysics and enough twists and thrills to keep one entertained throughout. Sure, its not very original and the focus is heavy on action and plot rather than characters and mood, but then again, this is not classical literature, but mainstream thriller, and as such, Lucifer does pretty well for itself.

Summary:

I like to think of Lucifer as a blend of James Bond and The Da Vinci code that presents readers with a easy yet entertaining read that manages to stand out of the crowd of mainstream thrillers by the smallest of margins.

And no, its not really better than Michael Crichton. Can I have my money back now?

6/10