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The Oracle
A monster lurks in the house next to the ancient ruins of Cumae where, in 427 BC, a young girl was chosen by the gods to become the Sibyl--oracle of the Greco-Roman people that enhabited the area. Though she lived to fulfill her mission, it is written that the chain of oracles, passing from one young girl to another, will continue forever. Now, American author David Jeffrey is killed along with his teenage daughter, Angelica, when a fire breaks out in their Naples, Italy, home. When David’s brother, Jake, decides to leave Michigan with his family to visit his brother’s widow, Jennifer, strange things begin to happen in the modeled, castle-like home near the ancient ruins of Cumae.
218 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2014
1 person is currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Michael H. Sedge
9 books4 followersMichael H. Sedge is an American journalist, author, marketing specialist, and entrepreneur. He founded the marketing company Strawberry Media and co-founded the U.S. small business, Michael-Bruno, LLC, which offers architectural design, engineering services, and construction management to the U.S. government in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. His non-fiction book, The Lost Ships of Pisa, won the President of the Italian Republic's Book of the Year Award for a Foreign Author and the "Rusticcello di Pisa" International Journalism Award from the city of Pisa.
Sedge was born in Flint, Michigan, and graduated with a Bachelor of History and Government from University of La Verne in La Verne, California. In 1973 Sedge started his service in the United States Navy, and was soon assigned to Southern Italy for what was meant to be a 48 month stay. He was assigned to diverse locales in Europe until 1977. Eventually Sedge, who also speaks Italian, took up permanent residence in Naples, Italy to pursue writing, journalism, and ultimately as an international businessman.
Worldwide, Sedge is credited in more than 4,000 articles, several audio tape scripts, children's plays, some 30 books (combined collaborations as well as solely authored), and four television documentaries. His topics often cover expatriate affairs, United States and NATO military, archaeology, the London theater beat, the business of freelance writing, and Italy. In June 1998 Sedge was hired as the special assignment writer for the Alexandria, Egypt production of the Discovery Channel's Cleopatra's Palace. The project entailed a book and a documentary. In 2003 Sedge was a contributing editor to the "Armed Forces Journal International," publishing such features as "Not-So-Friendly Fire War in Iraq Shows Fratricide Remains an Enduring Problem". It was a report on casualties of friendly fire during the U.S. led war in Iraq, including causes of friendly fire incidents and technical solutions to the problem.
Publications
As foreign correspondent
* The Associated Press (military correspondent for Mediterranean, Middle
East, Northern Africa)
* Newsweek (military correspondent)
* Armed Forces Journal International
* Scientific American - Discovering Archaeology (Mediterranean/Africa
editor)
* Family Magazine (travel editor)
* R&R Magazine (travel writer)
* International Living
* Internetnews.com
* Diplomat (UK)
* Off Duty Publications (Mediterranean editor)
* Cardiology World News
* International Travel World
Other contributions
* Los Angeles Times
* New York Times
* Robb Report
* International Daily News[5]
* Club International
* Earthwatch
* Time-Life
* Writer's Digest[17]
* Newsweek International[2]
* Compass (regular contributor to Mobil Oil's corporate magazine)[13]
Books
* Commercialization of the Oceans (1987)
* Adventure Guide to Italy, 1988 (1988)
* Selling Books to the Military Market
* Double Your Income through Foreign Sales[7]
* The Writer's and Photographer's Guide to Global Markets (1998)
* Marketing Strategies for Writers (1999)
* Successful Syndication: A Guide for Writers and Cartoonists (Allworth
Press, 2000)
* The Mediterranean Diet, Origins and Myths (2000)
* The Photojournalist's Guide to Making Money (2000)
* Successful Syndication (2000)
* The Lost Ships of Pisa (2002)
* The Oracle (2014)
He authored the screenplay "The Vatican Diary", several non-fiction books including Ascent to Failure, and his latest novel, The Oracle. His next work, co-authored with former Navy Chief Journalist Joel Jacobs, Death Watch was being considered by four major film production companies. He also founded the "Dolce Vita Writer's Holiday" workshop in Italy
Awards
His non-fiction work The Lost Ships of Pisa won the President of the Italian Republic's Book of the Year Award for a Foreign Author. The "Rusticchello di Pisa" award from the City of Pisa and the Italian Transportation and History Price for Literature.
Af
Sedge was born in Flint, Michigan, and graduated with a Bachelor of History and Government from University of La Verne in La Verne, California. In 1973 Sedge started his service in the United States Navy, and was soon assigned to Southern Italy for what was meant to be a 48 month stay. He was assigned to diverse locales in Europe until 1977. Eventually Sedge, who also speaks Italian, took up permanent residence in Naples, Italy to pursue writing, journalism, and ultimately as an international businessman.
Worldwide, Sedge is credited in more than 4,000 articles, several audio tape scripts, children's plays, some 30 books (combined collaborations as well as solely authored), and four television documentaries. His topics often cover expatriate affairs, United States and NATO military, archaeology, the London theater beat, the business of freelance writing, and Italy. In June 1998 Sedge was hired as the special assignment writer for the Alexandria, Egypt production of the Discovery Channel's Cleopatra's Palace. The project entailed a book and a documentary. In 2003 Sedge was a contributing editor to the "Armed Forces Journal International," publishing such features as "Not-So-Friendly Fire War in Iraq Shows Fratricide Remains an Enduring Problem". It was a report on casualties of friendly fire during the U.S. led war in Iraq, including causes of friendly fire incidents and technical solutions to the problem.
Publications
As foreign correspondent
* The Associated Press (military correspondent for Mediterranean, Middle
East, Northern Africa)
* Newsweek (military correspondent)
* Armed Forces Journal International
* Scientific American - Discovering Archaeology (Mediterranean/Africa
editor)
* Family Magazine (travel editor)
* R&R Magazine (travel writer)
* International Living
* Internetnews.com
* Diplomat (UK)
* Off Duty Publications (Mediterranean editor)
* Cardiology World News
* International Travel World
Other contributions
* Los Angeles Times
* New York Times
* Robb Report
* International Daily News[5]
* Club International
* Earthwatch
* Time-Life
* Writer's Digest[17]
* Newsweek International[2]
* Compass (regular contributor to Mobil Oil's corporate magazine)[13]
Books
* Commercialization of the Oceans (1987)
* Adventure Guide to Italy, 1988 (1988)
* Selling Books to the Military Market
* Double Your Income through Foreign Sales[7]
* The Writer's and Photographer's Guide to Global Markets (1998)
* Marketing Strategies for Writers (1999)
* Successful Syndication: A Guide for Writers and Cartoonists (Allworth
Press, 2000)
* The Mediterranean Diet, Origins and Myths (2000)
* The Photojournalist's Guide to Making Money (2000)
* Successful Syndication (2000)
* The Lost Ships of Pisa (2002)
* The Oracle (2014)
He authored the screenplay "The Vatican Diary", several non-fiction books including Ascent to Failure, and his latest novel, The Oracle. His next work, co-authored with former Navy Chief Journalist Joel Jacobs, Death Watch was being considered by four major film production companies. He also founded the "Dolce Vita Writer's Holiday" workshop in Italy
Awards
His non-fiction work The Lost Ships of Pisa won the President of the Italian Republic's Book of the Year Award for a Foreign Author. The "Rusticchello di Pisa" award from the City of Pisa and the Italian Transportation and History Price for Literature.
Af
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 9, 2014
ARC courtesy of Net Galley and The Sedge group in exchange for an honest review
Bell, Book & Candle | The Oracle Review
I grew up being fascinated with Greek mythology. So when I came upon a book called The Oracle, I thought, how bad could it be? On one hand the history of Italy and the descriptions were fascinating and seemed spot on as if the author really did his homework. Aside from that, everything else was average.
First off the prologue was quite enticing with the Oracle taking down the looters. But the murder a certain “someone” committed made me take a pause for the cause- it was intense. Everything after that was kind of “meh”.
The purpose of Jake and his family is still unclear to me. Maybe it's to investigate what happened- I don’t know - but it made the story-line way too convoluted. Predictably I knew who the creature was but what still puzzles me is how this ties in with the Oracle? I'm still not seeing it. Anyways this is an average read.
Bell, Book & Candle | The Oracle Review
I grew up being fascinated with Greek mythology. So when I came upon a book called The Oracle, I thought, how bad could it be? On one hand the history of Italy and the descriptions were fascinating and seemed spot on as if the author really did his homework. Aside from that, everything else was average.
First off the prologue was quite enticing with the Oracle taking down the looters. But the murder a certain “someone” committed made me take a pause for the cause- it was intense. Everything after that was kind of “meh”.
The purpose of Jake and his family is still unclear to me. Maybe it's to investigate what happened- I don’t know - but it made the story-line way too convoluted. Predictably I knew who the creature was but what still puzzles me is how this ties in with the Oracle? I'm still not seeing it. Anyways this is an average read.
June 21, 2015
This review and more over at The Bibliophile Chronicles!
A dark and interesting tale about the mysticism of Greek mythology.
Synopsis:
David Jeffreys is a best-selling American author, he moves to Naples with his wife and daughter in order to serve out his retirement in peace. But his wife harbours a deep resentment towards him, feeling abandoned as he focuses on his writing and his daughter. She begins a series of affairs, and when Jeffreys finds out, the night spirals out of control, resulting in the murder of Jeffreys and his daughter. Several years later David’s brother Jake and his family decide to take a vacation in Naples, visiting Jennifer, the widow of his dead brother. The vacation starts out glorious, but things in the house begin to make the guests feel uneasy, and Jennifer is acting very strange, what exactly happened the night of David’s death?
Review:
I love Greek mythology and the opening prologue about the oracle dwelling in a deep cave was very enticing. The first few chapters too when there are hints of mythology and magical goings on, but then it turns towards a crime thriller, the messy death of the family and the subsequent reveal of the truth many years later. It kind of felt like the prologue didn't fit with the rest of the story, and the mythology aspect did not seem as integrated as I had anticipated it to be.
Despite this, it’s still an interesting story. The reveal at the end of the story is a fairly unsurprising one, you can guess early on what’s going to happen, but it’s well written and still enjoyable to read. In terms of plot, it kept me interesting without seeming boring and it wasn't too fast paced either.
One thing I really did enjoy was the setting, it was very well described and it really felt like the author knew Italy well, I could easily imagine the places he was describing. If you regard the book purely as a mystery thriller - disregarding the earlier chapters, it makes for an exciting mystery thriller, but it wasn't particularly what I was expecting. I am on the fence about the book in general as the story itself is a pretty interesting one but the integration of the mythology was a big issue for me. I kept waiting for some sort of link to tie everything together, but that didn't appear.
I liked the characters well enough, it was easy to follow. I particularly liked Jake’s connection to archaeology, and I expected a lot more to come from that, rather than just background information. It makes for an all round enjoyable but average read, but if you enjoy mystery thrillers the book is self-published and is available on Net-Galley for free, happy reading!
A dark and interesting tale about the mysticism of Greek mythology.
Synopsis:
David Jeffreys is a best-selling American author, he moves to Naples with his wife and daughter in order to serve out his retirement in peace. But his wife harbours a deep resentment towards him, feeling abandoned as he focuses on his writing and his daughter. She begins a series of affairs, and when Jeffreys finds out, the night spirals out of control, resulting in the murder of Jeffreys and his daughter. Several years later David’s brother Jake and his family decide to take a vacation in Naples, visiting Jennifer, the widow of his dead brother. The vacation starts out glorious, but things in the house begin to make the guests feel uneasy, and Jennifer is acting very strange, what exactly happened the night of David’s death?
Review:
I love Greek mythology and the opening prologue about the oracle dwelling in a deep cave was very enticing. The first few chapters too when there are hints of mythology and magical goings on, but then it turns towards a crime thriller, the messy death of the family and the subsequent reveal of the truth many years later. It kind of felt like the prologue didn't fit with the rest of the story, and the mythology aspect did not seem as integrated as I had anticipated it to be.
Despite this, it’s still an interesting story. The reveal at the end of the story is a fairly unsurprising one, you can guess early on what’s going to happen, but it’s well written and still enjoyable to read. In terms of plot, it kept me interesting without seeming boring and it wasn't too fast paced either.
One thing I really did enjoy was the setting, it was very well described and it really felt like the author knew Italy well, I could easily imagine the places he was describing. If you regard the book purely as a mystery thriller - disregarding the earlier chapters, it makes for an exciting mystery thriller, but it wasn't particularly what I was expecting. I am on the fence about the book in general as the story itself is a pretty interesting one but the integration of the mythology was a big issue for me. I kept waiting for some sort of link to tie everything together, but that didn't appear.
I liked the characters well enough, it was easy to follow. I particularly liked Jake’s connection to archaeology, and I expected a lot more to come from that, rather than just background information. It makes for an all round enjoyable but average read, but if you enjoy mystery thrillers the book is self-published and is available on Net-Galley for free, happy reading!
June 21, 2022
I love Greek mythology and was really looking forward to reading this book. The book started out strong, talking about the actual Oracle, the Sybil. Unfortunately, after that, I have no idea how the story related to an Oracle! There was violence, there was sex, there was boring everyday life, there just wasn't any tie between any of this an an Oracle! The writing was fine, the characters were okay, it just wasn't the book described in the synopsis.
2/5 stars.
*** I would like to thank NetGalley and Michael Sedge for the opportunity to read and review this book.
2/5 stars.
*** I would like to thank NetGalley and Michael Sedge for the opportunity to read and review this book.
August 20, 2017
I enjoyed the mythology, but the storyline was disappointing. I think this is the first time I've just quit reading a book.
December 27, 2014
I still don’t know whether I liked this book or not. On one hand the history and archeology in the story is really intriguing. On the other the plot was a bit of a hot mess of disjointed elements.
The prologue focuses on the Sybil/Oracle and how that came about and it’s a good lead-in to the story but it’s really the only thing holding it all together. Outside of that it’s really a grandiose haunted house story with a psychological twist. The Oracle is effectively a non-entity in its own story. By the time I was about three quarters of the way through this shorter than average book I was really starting to get worried that it wasn’t going to resolve itself. I mean the build-up lasted forever and those strange things mentioned in the blurb don’t start happening until about two-thirds of the way through the book.
The setting is a good one. While I’ve been to Naples I didn’t really explore it beyond the bay area and reading THE ORACLE I felt like I was there. The scenery was rich and it came across that the author knew what he was talking about and I believed him about not only the Naples area but the history. For the most part it all felt naturally involved in the plot (except for when the divers got involved and then it got a little contrived but it didn’t last long).
The story itself is also pretty interesting. Like I said, the oracle concept is really a non-issue for about 98% of the book. As a creepy story it definitely does its job as that. That’s why I’m so torn on how I feel about this book. I liked the story. It kind of creeped me out. But in the grander scheme of the blurb it just didn’t make a lot of sense and was really thinly strung together.
The oracle is mentioned in the prologue, which is a handful of pages long, and then not again until the last few pages. There’s a hint of it leading up to David Jeffrey’s death but, like the rest of the plot, it’s thin. I don’t know if Cumae, the place itself, it supposed to be enough to string this device along or what but it didn’t work for me. There was just too much of a gap to bridge to connect the oracle to the current plot. Even the hint is circumstantial at best. But outside of those elements there’s nothing keeping the Sybil/Oracle at the relative forefront of the story.
This is a weird one. It really is. Not to mention it’s ultimately self-published. The Sedge Group is a separate entity publisher owned by the author that only happens to have this one author in its ranks and has only published said single author’s books. So yeah, self-published. Not much vetting going on here. I really, REALLY, need to start paying more attention when I request books from NetGalley.
Remove the oracle part (which is pretty easy to do since anything of significance bookends the story) and you have a pretty creepy story that I did genuinely like. But within the context of the oracle element I just didn’t see the point. It was shoved out of its own story for most of it so its relevance is insubstantial at best. It lessens the story for me because it’s supposed to be about this BIGGER THING but this thing doesn’t mean much to its own story, so why should I care?
2 1/2
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The prologue focuses on the Sybil/Oracle and how that came about and it’s a good lead-in to the story but it’s really the only thing holding it all together. Outside of that it’s really a grandiose haunted house story with a psychological twist. The Oracle is effectively a non-entity in its own story. By the time I was about three quarters of the way through this shorter than average book I was really starting to get worried that it wasn’t going to resolve itself. I mean the build-up lasted forever and those strange things mentioned in the blurb don’t start happening until about two-thirds of the way through the book.
The setting is a good one. While I’ve been to Naples I didn’t really explore it beyond the bay area and reading THE ORACLE I felt like I was there. The scenery was rich and it came across that the author knew what he was talking about and I believed him about not only the Naples area but the history. For the most part it all felt naturally involved in the plot (except for when the divers got involved and then it got a little contrived but it didn’t last long).
The story itself is also pretty interesting. Like I said, the oracle concept is really a non-issue for about 98% of the book. As a creepy story it definitely does its job as that. That’s why I’m so torn on how I feel about this book. I liked the story. It kind of creeped me out. But in the grander scheme of the blurb it just didn’t make a lot of sense and was really thinly strung together.
The oracle is mentioned in the prologue, which is a handful of pages long, and then not again until the last few pages. There’s a hint of it leading up to David Jeffrey’s death but, like the rest of the plot, it’s thin. I don’t know if Cumae, the place itself, it supposed to be enough to string this device along or what but it didn’t work for me. There was just too much of a gap to bridge to connect the oracle to the current plot. Even the hint is circumstantial at best. But outside of those elements there’s nothing keeping the Sybil/Oracle at the relative forefront of the story.
This is a weird one. It really is. Not to mention it’s ultimately self-published. The Sedge Group is a separate entity publisher owned by the author that only happens to have this one author in its ranks and has only published said single author’s books. So yeah, self-published. Not much vetting going on here. I really, REALLY, need to start paying more attention when I request books from NetGalley.
Remove the oracle part (which is pretty easy to do since anything of significance bookends the story) and you have a pretty creepy story that I did genuinely like. But within the context of the oracle element I just didn’t see the point. It was shoved out of its own story for most of it so its relevance is insubstantial at best. It lessens the story for me because it’s supposed to be about this BIGGER THING but this thing doesn’t mean much to its own story, so why should I care?
2 1/2
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 30, 2015
I thought the premise of this book, with the Greek mythological aspects was very intriguing, however, I just didn't feel like the book lived up to its potential.
The book was a little all over the place to be honest, different aspects of the story just did not seem to tie in together.
I did really enjoy the setting of this book. The descriptions of Italy were beautifully written.
Overall this book was interesting but not executed as well as it could have been.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy to review.
The book was a little all over the place to be honest, different aspects of the story just did not seem to tie in together.
I did really enjoy the setting of this book. The descriptions of Italy were beautifully written.
Overall this book was interesting but not executed as well as it could have been.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy to review.
July 18, 2014
More Than Simply Worth Reading
I have given this rating based on the novelty and entertainment value of the storyline. For those of you who have not been to the Naples area, be assured that Mike's settings are all spot on and his historical data was exceptionally researched. Not something found in many novels these days.
I do not want to give anything away in this review in the way of spoilers, so I will only say that this book is not another spook or teenage horror angst novella which are so very popular now. No, this is a fun read for adults...
Thanks Mike, this was well worth reading.
I have given this rating based on the novelty and entertainment value of the storyline. For those of you who have not been to the Naples area, be assured that Mike's settings are all spot on and his historical data was exceptionally researched. Not something found in many novels these days.
I do not want to give anything away in this review in the way of spoilers, so I will only say that this book is not another spook or teenage horror angst novella which are so very popular now. No, this is a fun read for adults...
Thanks Mike, this was well worth reading.
November 1, 2015
You can find more reviews Mademoisellesnow Blog
I’ve always been fascinated with Greek mythology so when I found this book I was pretty excited to read it. I really enjoyed the ancient history parts of it and even the modern day aspects of it all. But I felt that the book would have been better if they stuck with one or the other rather than having both. This was an average read for me and the ending was a little anti-climactic.
I’ve always been fascinated with Greek mythology so when I found this book I was pretty excited to read it. I really enjoyed the ancient history parts of it and even the modern day aspects of it all. But I felt that the book would have been better if they stuck with one or the other rather than having both. This was an average read for me and the ending was a little anti-climactic.
October 26, 2014
Slightly disappointing as the original Greek Oracle wasn’t followed up sufficiently in my opinion. More could have been made of it. The mother was scary even though I did immediately realise who was in the cellar and didn’t think she had been down there long enough to turn into the creature - and why not link here to the Oracle?
November 16, 2014
This story starts out as mythology fanfiction that seems like it's written by a particularly dry academic. The author info dumps all the mythology up front, and then, when we jump to the present, we're treated to a monologue about just how quirky authors are. This is where I stopped reading because this story wasn't going anywhere near original.
September 27, 2014
Ebook from Netgalley
I always like books about ancient times and this one was pretty cool. Good mystery thriller
I always like books about ancient times and this one was pretty cool. Good mystery thriller
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews