The Curious Case of the Missing Head
Page 48
Jack held up his hand. ‘This brings me to the little surprise Isis mentioned earlier,’ he said. ‘It has taken a great deal of planning, ingenuity and cunning, and most important of all, a careful circumnavigation of baffling bureaucracy, rules and regulations to make this possible. And, I forgot to mention, a private jet and a trip across the Atlantic. Curious? I hope so!’ Jack turned to Lola sitting next to him. ‘Would you, please?’
‘With pleasure.’ Lola stood up and quickly left the room. Moments later, one of the doors opened and she returned with Gizmo by her side, straining at his lead and pulling her towards the wheelchair. Lola stopped and let him off the lead. Gizmo ran up to Stolzfus and began jumping up and down, his tail wagging madly.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ said Jack, holding up his glass, ‘now that the guest of honour has arrived, please charge your glasses and be upstanding. To Professor Zachariah Stolzfus, the newly appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics! May his extraordinary mind keep travelling through time and space to the far reaches of the universe, dazzle us with new insights and discoveries, and so bring us a little closer to knowing the mind of God.’
Afterword
Dr Hubert, director of the CIA, had a long memory. Acting on the report submitted by Major Andersen just before she perished in that fiery crash on the Endeavor, and supported by recent intelligence received about Alessandro Giordano, she knew it was time to act.
After the destruction of the H Cartel in Colombia, Chief Prosecutor Grimaldi had all but wiped out the drug culture in Florence with the help of Cesaria Borroni and the Squadra Mobile. This had hit the Lombardo family particularly hard because they had depended on the Colombian drug supply to sustain their business. A growing resentment and open animosity had developed between the Lombardos and Giordanos, but the latter had also found it easier – and more lucrative – to adapt to the new situation by moving into legitimate businesses, both in Italy and overseas.
After his father retired to a small farm in the country, Alessandro remained in Florence and was now running the thriving family business empire and was rapidly expanding his influence and Mafia domination there.
When CIA operatives, through their Italian agents, provided the Lombardos with proof that Alessandro had been instrumental in the destruction of the Colombian drug supply behind their backs, and were given the impression that this had been deliberate and part of a carefully planned strategy to ruin them, Alessandro’s days were numbered.
Two weeks after Professor Stolzfus took up his appointment as the new Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, Alessandro decided to spend a week on the Nike with his girlfriend. Twenty minutes after the Nike left Fontvielle harbour, there was a huge explosion on board. The luxury yacht was obliterated and sank. There were no survivors. It was rumoured the Lombardos were behind it all, but no evidence to that effect was ever found, nor were the authorities particularly troubled by this.
Aladdin and Silvanus refused to talk and were eventually put on trial in Italy, convicted of Jack’s abduction in Florence and sent to jail. This had only been possible because of the evidence provided by Jack and Tristan, as the previous Nike crew had remained silent and refused to cooperate in any way.
Shortly after the trial, the Americans secured extradition arrangements with Italy. Both Aladdin and Silvanus would be extradited to the US after serving their sentences to face multiple terrorist-related charges in connection with the assassination of the US ambassador in Istanbul a few years earlier. It was almost certain they would spend the rest of their lives in jail.
Agabe’s application for asylum in France was successful, and with the help of Countess Kuragin he was put in charge of the charity operating the Caritas out of Malta. Generously supported by the Isis Foundation and Rahima’s money, the Caritas had been refitted and was one of the best-equipped hospital ships operating in Africa.
Staying discreetly in the background, Rahima directed a large network of charitable donations from Madame Petrova’s apartment in the retirement home for aging celebrities and impecunious artists. She enjoyed her close proximity to Countess Kuragin, who became a close friend, and, of course, Jack when he was staying at the countess’s chateau – which was quite often, especially when he was writing.
A Parting Note from the Author
Because a lot of cutting-edge science and medical subjects have been incorporated into the multi-layered storylines of this book, a few observations are definitely warranted to put that material into its proper context.
For me as a writer, authenticity and accuracy are paramount. Without that, it isn’t possible to create a seamless storyline where the boundaries between fact and fiction are blurred, so that the reader is never quite sure where one ends, and the other begins. This is quite deliberate, as it creates the illusion of truth and reality in a work that is pure fiction. In my view, a successful work of fiction is a balancing act: reality must rub shoulders with imagination in a way that is both entertaining and plausible, and this can only be achieved through meticulous research and attention to detail.
All the material touching on physics, cosmology, technology and science generally, has been carefully researched and is, to the best of my knowledge, based on the latest findings and theories accepted by scientists today. The same can be said about the cutting-edge medical subjects, especially surgery, dealt with in the text. That said, please keep in mind that I am not a scientist, nor a doctor, but a fiction writer with a legal background whose aim is to entertain and tease your intellect and imagination with questions and scenarios that are both realistic and plausible, but are of course pure fiction.
The best way to illustrate this is by way of a few examples. Let’s begin by examining Professor Fabry’s cephalosomatic anastomosis (CSA), the controversial in vivo human head transplantation that is the centrepiece of the storyline. One could be forgiven for thinking that this is futuristic medical fantasy. Not so. Such an operation is definitely feasible and within reach, and is being contemplated right now. In fact, it may have already been carried out in China, where medical teams have been exploring the possibility of transplanting a human head for some time.
Only quite recently, Sergio Canavero – an Italian scientist – was in the news about planning such an operation on Valery Spiridonov, a patient with Werdnig-Hoffman disease. Canavero was working with Chinese surgeon Xiaoping Ren at Harbin Medical University to perfect the complex operation at the time. The surgical procedures described in the book are accurate, based on detailed research, and set out the main steps involved in such a complex, groundbreaking operation.
The extraordinary brain implant to facilitate communication with a computer via thought alone, is based on a recent technological breakthrough that has made this a reality. Technological advances to help incapacitated patients like Stolzfus have moved at a breathtaking pace, and Stolzfus’s extraordinary wheelchair and his ability to speak and operate a computer assisted by technology and artificial intelligence software alone is not only feasible, but available today.
Another example is Professor Fabry’s fictitious Our Bodies exhibition, which he used as a vehicle to raise money for his charity and clandestine work. The idea of such an exhibition is in fact anchored in real life. It does exist and features real bodies preserved in a unique, totally original way. It is based on a hugely successful travelling exhibition touring the world right now, called Real Bodies. I have seen this extraordinary, controversial exhibition just recently in Sydney.
Finally, all the concepts, theories and ideas relating to theoretical physics and cosmology featured in the book are based on the work of the late Professor Steven Hawking, who passed away in March 2018. I have followed the work of Professor Hawking for the past thirty years, and have admired his extraordinary insights and discoveries that have elevated theoretical physics to an entirely new level, and became the inspiration for this book.
More Books by the Author
Jack Rogan Mysteries Starter Library
The Disappearance of Anna Popov
The Hidden Genes of Professor K
Professor K: The Final Quest
Jack Rogan Mysteries Box Set Books 1-4
Jack Rogan Mysteries Starter Library
So, what exactly is a STARTER LIBRARY? I hear you ask. Well, it’s a way to introduce myself and what I do, to new readers, and create interest in my writing. How? By providing little insights into my world, and the creative process involved in becoming an international thriller writer.
The Starter Library consists of four short books:
1. Letters from The Attic – a delightful collection of auto-biographical short stories;
2. The Forgotten Painting – a multi-award-winning Jack Rogan novella;
3. The Kimberley Secret – a much-anticipated prequel to the Jack Rogan Mysteries series;
4. The Main Characters Profile – provides some exciting background stories and insights into the main characters featured in the series.
The Starter Library is available right now, and can be downloaded for FREE by following this link: Click Here to Get Started!
Please share this with your friends and encourage them to download the Starter Library.
In 2013, I released my first adventure thriller – The Empress Holds the Key.
The Empress Holds the Key
A disturbing, edge-of-your-seat historical mystery thriller
Jack Rogan Mysteries Book 1
Dark secrets. A holy relic. An ancient quest reignited.
Jack Rogan’s discovery of a disturbing old photograph in the ashes of a rural Australian cottage draws the journalist into a dangerous hunt with the ultimate stakes.
The tangled web of clues – including hoards of Nazi gold, hidden Swiss bank accounts, and a long-forgotten mass grave – implicate wealthy banker Sir Eric Newman and lead to a trial with shocking revelations.
A holy relic mysteriously erased from the pages of history is suddenly up for grabs to those willing to sacrifice everything to find it. Rogan and his companions must follow historical leads through ancient Egypt to the Crusades and the Knights Templar to uncover a secret that could destroy the foundations of the Catholic Church and challenge the history of Christianity itself.
Will Rogan succeed in bringing the dark mystery into the light, or will the powers desperately working against him ensure the ancient truths remain buried forever?
The Empress Holds the Key is now available on Amazon
Encouraged by the reception of The Empress Holds the Key, I released my next thriller – The Disappearance of Anna Popov – in 2014.
The Disappearance of Anna Popov
A dark, page-turning psychological thriller
Jack Rogan Mysteries Book 2
A mysterious disappearance. An outlaw biker gang. One dangerous investigation.
Journalist Jack Rogan cannot resist a good mystery. When he stumbles across a clue about the tragic disappearance of two girls from Alice Springs years earlier, he’s determined to investigate.
Joining forces with his New York literary agent, a retired Aboriginal police officer, and Cassandra, an enigmatic psychic, Rogan enters the dangerous and dark world of an outlaw bikies gang ruled by an evil and enigmatic master.
Entangled in a web of violence, superstition and fear, Rogan and his friends follow the trail of the missing girls into the remote Dreamtime-wilderness of Outback Australia – where they must face even greater threats.
Cassandra hides a secret agenda and uses her occult powers to facilitate an epic showdown where the loser faces death and oblivion.
Will Rogan succeed in finding the truth, or will the forces of evil prevail, taking even more lives with them?
The Disappearance of Anna Popov is now available on Amazon
My next book, The Hidden Genes of Professor K, was released in 2016. Here’s a short sample to pique your interest:
The Hidden Genes of Professor K
A dark, disturbing and nail-biting medical thriller
Jack Rogan Mysteries Book 3
“Outstanding Thriller” of 2017
Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards
A medical breakthrough. A greedy pharmaceutical magnate. A brutal double-murder. One tangled web of lies.
World-renowned scientist Professor K is close to a ground-breaking discovery. He’s also dying. With his last breath, he anoints Dr Alexandra Delacroix his successor and pleads with her to carry on his work.
But powerful forces will stop at nothing to possess the research, unwittingly plunging Delacroix into a treacherous world of unbridled ambition and greed.
Desperate and alone, she turns to celebrated author and journalist Jack Rogan.
Rogan must help Delacroix while also assisting famous rock star Isis in the seemingly unrelated investigation into the brutal murder of her parents.
With the support of Isis’s resourceful PA, a former police officer, a tireless campaigner for the destitute and forgotten, and a gifted boy with psychic powers, Rogan exposes a complex web of fiercely guarded secrets and heinous crimes of the past that can ruin them all and change history.
Will the dreams of a visionary scientist with the power to change the future of medicine fall into the wrong hands, or will his genius benefit mankind and prevent untold misery and suffering for generations to come?
The Hidden Genes of Professor K is now available on Amazon
My Latest book, Professor K: The Final Quest, was released in October 2018. Here’s a short sample to pique your interest.
Professor K: The Final Quest
An action-packed historical medical mystery
Jack Rogan Mysteries Book 4
Gold Medal Winner in the Fiction - Thriller - Medical genre!
2019 Readers’ Favorite Annual Book Award Contest
A desperate plea from the Vatican. A kidnapped chef. An ambitious mob boss. One perilous game.
When Professor Alexandra Delacroix is called in to find a cure for the dying pope, she follows clues left by her mentor and friend, the late Professor K, which lead her on a breathtaking search through historical secrets, some of them deadly.
Her old friend Jack Rogan must step in to assist while also searching for kidnapped Top Chef Europe winner, Lorenza da Baggio.
He joins forces with his young friend and gifted psychic, Tristan, a dedicated mafia hunting prosecutor, a fearless young police officer, and an enigmatic Egyptian detective on a perilous hunt for a notorious IS terrorist.
Together, they stand off with the head of a powerful Mafia family in Florence and uncover a network of corruption and heinous crimes reaching to the very top.
Will Rogan and his friends succeed in finding Lorenza and curing the pope, or will the dark forces swirling around them prevail in their sinister plots?
Professor K: The Final Quest is now available on Amazon
Jack Rogan Mysteries Box Set Books 1–4
The Jack Rogan Mysteries Box Set is now available on Amazon
New Release Bonuses
Thank you so much for ordering a copy of my new book The Curious Case of the Missing Head.
As promised, here are the New Release Bonuses:
Please click on the link below to access the download page:
https://gabrielfarago.com.au/new-release-book5
Please enter this password when prompted: BMH1126
If for any reason you couldn't download the bonuses, please let me know and we will step in to fix the problem.
My email is: gabrielfarago16@gmail.com
Once again, a big "thank you" for your support! It means a great deal to me.
Gabriel Farago
About the Author
Gabriel Farago is the international, bestselling and multi-award-winning Australian author of the Jack Rogan Mysteries series for the thinking reader.
As a lawyer with a passion for history and archaeology, Gabriel Farago had to wait for many years before being ab
le to pursue another passion – writing – in earnest. However, his love of books and storytelling started long before that.
‘I remember as a young boy reading biographies and history books with a torch under the bed covers,’ he recalls, ‘and then writing stories about archaeologists and explorers the next day, instead of doing homework. While I regularly got into trouble for this, I believe we can only do well in our endeavours if we are passionate about the things we love. For me, writing has become a passion.’
Born in Budapest, Gabriel grew up in post-war Europe and, after fleeing Hungary with his parents during the Revolution in 1956, he went to school in Austria before arriving in Australia as a teenager. This allowed him to become multi-lingual and feel ‘at home’ in different countries and diverse cultures.