Much has been made of the Chinese fixation with the number eight at these Summer Olympic games; the opening ceremonies officially began, after all, on 08/08/08 at 08:08:08.

Anyone who read my first book, Waking Lazarus, knows I have a particular fondness for patterns of eight myself. So the first thing I thought, after watching Phelps win his last gold medal, was: how fitting.

In an eight-obsessed Olympics, Phelps is taking home eight gold medals.

Cue the creepy woo-woo music. Or, if you prefer, the creepy conspiracy theorists.