"Altar of Eden" Review

Altar of Eden

By James Rollins

10/10

My Synopsis:

Following the fall of Baghdad and the looting of the city zoo, exotic animal smuggling to western nations was in full swing.  Seven years later, veterinarian Lorna Polk is called in by the U.S. Border Patrol to aid in the identification and relocation of some of these black market animals from an abandoned shipwreck.  When she arrives, she realizes these are no ordinary animals: all looking different than normal with a high level of intelligence.  She and agent Jack Menard must search for not only an escaped animal but also for answers to some questions:   Why are these animals deformed yet super intelligent?  Where are they being transported from?  Why, after years of burying the past, has fate brought Lorna and Jack together again?

My Opinion:

I found this book in a super bargain bin and upon reading the back cover, knew I was going to pay whatever I had to in order to get this one on my nook.  It was so worth it.  Altar of Eden is an awesome book.  No matter where I was in the story, the book was difficult to put down when real life called.  It is full of action and adventure that doesn’t stop.  Just when you think the story will lull into a calmness – something else happens.  The writing was smooth to read.  Every word seemed to have a definite place and there weren’t parts that were irrelevant or unnecessary.  I loved the characters I was supposed to love and hated the characters I was supposed to hate.  They were all well written in my opinion.  There is a good amount of graphic violence and gore (some descriptions left me pale and questioning if my lunch would stay down) but I felt all of that sensationalism was integral to the plot – a plot full of twists and turns, revelations and realizations.  All of the technical scientific/genetic engineering details were well explained so they could be understood but honestly, even if I hadn’t understood it, I still would have kept reading.  It was just that good.  Even the subplot of Lorna and Jack was interesting.  I enjoyed this book so much that I was sad when it ended.  I was very pleased with the ending and the epilogue gave me chills.  Makes you wonder if this work of fiction could some day be a reality.  Kudos to Mr. Rollins.  I will be checking out his other literary endeavors.  10/10