Trust no one by James Rollins

This book by Rollins is not part of the famous Sigma series and is a standalone one. It has all ingredients of a typical Rollins novel in a lighter dose. More of Rollins latte i would say. The book begins in the usual template format of Rollins, with a situation involving a famous historical figure and a real one at that, with a slight dose of fiction in such a way that, you wouldn't be able to differentiate between fact and fictitious account of that incident. Count Saint Germaine, a supposedly controversial figure, capable of performing magical things and always had a mysterious aura about him, leaves behind a book with one lady, who was the assistant to the famous queen who was executed during French revolution, something that was predicted by Germaine several years before. She doesn't seems to be a big fan of him but still keeps up her word in securing the book, which becomes the bone of contention between two groups, one of whom are followers of the cult or Germaine himself, while others being a group dead against all the activities of Germaine. But still the book, promising techniques to keep one immortal, draws attention of both the parties who chase behind it for centuries. The keeper of the book is always kept a secret by the Guardians (followers of Germaine) and the heroine of the novel happens to be the 13th keeper of the book. How she ends up solving centuries old puzzle at the drop of a hat aided by her bumbling friends, each of whom seems to be experts on the very skill needed to decipher the book and having combined forces at the exact time when all chaos befall the heroine, with police forces across France, UK and Italy on their hot pursuit, forms the rest of the story line. The ending sequence, where the group manages to resolve the third quest criteria, gaining access to the steps for achieving immortality would put Famous five and Secret seven novels to shame. And the idea of achieving immortality that leads to the fourth quest which is an open ended one is quite funny to say the least, for it consists of going through archives of knowledge articles that are kept hidden under a church, as always, under water (!!??? seriously), in a well that is more of a bottomless pit. The best part being, one of the gang members drops a glow stick inside that well to see how deep it is!!! Arivu kozhunthu would've been an apt term for him and Germaine must be kicking himself in his grave for having entrusted the ocean of such critical knowledge with such kirukku pasanga. The final sequence involving a mysterious person curing the talking ravine of Tower of London, yes ravines speak as good and even better than parrots (as per this book) sheds a doubt if Germaine was even dead and could possibly be alive even in this era. Aprum edhuku andha booka olichu vachu..ithana paadu??? Fictional storynaalum oru nyayam venama!!! And one of the villain is Indian shows growing might of India. When the next Bond villain is Indian ... Kandippa naama vallarasaagitomnu artham.

Gils verdict - As the title says, Trust no one, when it comes to book reviews and ratings. Read and figure out yourself. Caveat emptor is all i say.