Altar of Bones

Generations of women, called Keepers, guard a strange cave in SIberia that contains an alter made of human bones and supplies a potion capable of bestowing immortality. The downside is that the potion also bestows madness in the forms of paranoia and megalomania. Zoe learns she is the latest Keeper and with the help of Steven Seagal act-a-like Ry goes on the run to find her origins and protect the Alter and its secret. Unbelievable, no?

Carter does a great job of drawing us into the story by dropping us right into the action. He provides plenty of surprises and twisty turns, weaving in three of the most iconic events of the 20th century. This is all done at a pretty fast pace with little or no downtime for philosophizing or interpersonal show more growth. When our heroes get down to rutting, as we knew they would, it is definitely more rescue flare than Yankee Candle.

This is a long book, but does not seem it because the balance of action and narrative reality is kept just-so and we swoop along with it, always interested and always wanting to see what happens next. The Ry character is an all-action cipher, but Zoe has some interesting quirks and displays the fear that must swallow all of us when we are pushed into situations where we must act in ways we never knew we could.

Pulitzer Prize winner this ain’t, but well worth a deep dive from the comfort of a soft, sunny beach. show less

First Line: Rosie knew the stranger had come to kill her as soon as he walked into the circle of light cast by their fire.

Starting with an escape from a Siberian prison camp in 1937, Altar of Bones travels to the present day in a non-stop deadly quest for two items that several groups will stop at nothing to possess. San Francisco lawyer Zoë Dmitroff receives a letter from the grandmother she never knew telling her that she's the "keeper" of an ancient secret concerning a Siberian cave known as the Altar of Bones. At his father's death, government agent Ry O'Malley learns that the old man knew the location of a film that would rock the entire country. The two team up to stay alive and to get their hands on the secrets that others are show more killing to find.

This is the type of book that is difficult to review without giving things away, so I'm heading straight for my reactions. The first two thirds of the book was an endless chase scene involving our two intrepid heroes, and the fact that stealth was not in the bad guys' vocabularies bothered me a bit. These people were conducting high speed chases at all times of the day and night firing endless rounds of ammunition from an assortment of guns. They did not care how many witnesses were around or how high the body count was. (Perhaps they counted on local police departments' budgets being cut so drastically that there would be no investigations.)

I tired of the chase, primarily because of the psychotic conducting most of the chasing. At this stage of my life, my tolerance for fictional characters who love inflicting pain and death is practically nil. They turn my stomach, and they make me extremely angry. (I may seem to be a mild-mannered book blogger, but I do have a very nasty temper.)

I was also amazed at how lucky Zoë was. She headed to Europe, using her credit cards all along the way, and wondered how the bad guys always knew where she was. She may not watch much television or read much crime fiction, but she specializes in defending battered and abused women and getting them away from their boyfriends and husbands. She knows something about flying beneath the radar. The relationship between Zoë and Ry was inevitable and made parts of the book sound like an erotic romance. However, even though characterization is not the prime directive in a thriller, Zoë and Ry were well-drawn enough for me to care about what happened to them.

Even though I tired of the bad guys and the drawn-out chase scenes, I found that Zoë, Ry, and the dual prizes of the Altar of Bones and the film kept a grip on my imagination through to the end of the book. Hopefully the author's next thriller will contain a little less formula. show less

Zoe Dmitroff is a San Francisco attorney whose grandmother was just found murdered. Zoe learns that she is the new Keeper of the Altar of Bones, a real-life fountain of youth deep in the wilds of Siberia.

Ry O’Malley is a DEA agent whose brother was just found murdered. Ry learns that he is closely related to the person that really killed JFK.

Thrown together in a race for their lives, Zoe and Ry must trust each other if they’re going to be able to save themselves and the whole human race.

Altar of Bones by Philip Carter is James Bond meets the Amazing Race and the ultimate prize is life everlasting.

Meticulously researched and vividly described, this fast paced page turner is definite edge-of-your-seat excitement.

Suspense, espionage, show more romance, mystery...the list goes on and on. Altar of Bones has something for everyone!
4 ½ stars

http://centralcaligrrrl.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-blog-tour-for-alter-of-bones-b...

(Received complimentary copy for review purposes only.) show less

Despite a slow start, a likable pair of protagonists make this story somewhat enjoyable, and they hooked me before the many insanely improbable plot elements could get me to walk away. I just had to see how things turned out for those two, and they were by far the best thing about this one. Which, in retrospect, wasn't enough to carry the day. Overall, the pacing is extremely inconsistent, with the narrative bogging down more often than not whenever the bullets aren't flying. Even the writing itself seems to be a cooperative effort here, with some chapters suggesting a masculine hand and some a more feminine touch. Nowhere is this more evident than in some of the more risqué passages, with some seeming to come from a mature feminine show more hand and others from a twelve-year-old boy. The dust jacket says that "Philip Carter" is a pseudonym for an internationally known author, which leads me to wonder if it's not really a collection of authors. In terms of plot, as is too often the case these days, "thriller" here seems to mean things like "over-the-top, eye-rolling action scenes" and "don't settle for a simple kill or murder when an attention-grabbing assault requiring multiple clips of ammo is available." Things like that. In short, there's an interesting premise behind this one, but it tends to get lost in the silliness. As for the characters, pretty much everyone beyond the aforementioned two principals seems to be one-dimensional, and that's assuming that they're given anything more to do beyond serving as a means for advancing the plot. All in all, a disappointment, and I kinda wish I'd been able to walk away from this one at around page 100. show less

FIRST SENTENCE: Rosie knew the stranger had come to kill her as soon as he walked into the circle of light cast by their fire.

... and, just like that, you are tossed giddily headfirst into a world where a homeless woman holds the keys to an ancient secret and to one not-so-ancient, a world where the KGB, the Russian mafia, Marilyn Monroe, the Kennedy brothers, and a CIA double-agent somehow all become tied together with "the altar of bones", which is rumored to contain a true fountain of youth.

If this all sounds too implausible, the author writes in such a fashion that it all makes perfect sense. When Father Dominic O'Malley visits his dying father, Michael, a taped deathbed confession puts his life and that of his brother, Ry O'Malley, show more a former Special Forces operative now working for the DEA, in peril.

Across the country, Zoe Dmitroff, an attorney who represents battered women, herself the daughter of Anna Larina Dmitroff, a Russian mafia boss working out of California, learns that a homeless woman has been murdered. The coroner found a piece of paper in her throat that she had apparently tried to swallow before her murder, and the paper had Zoe's address on it. After an unenlightening visit to her mother, Zoe herself meets a would-be-attacker, and on her return to her ransacked apartment, she also finds a package waiting for her, with a riddle on a riddle written in the hand of the grandmother she never knew.

As we visit Paris, Budapest, St. Petersburg, and full circle to Siberia (where Zoe's great-grandmother Lena Orlova helped a prisoner escape many years ago), dodging would-be assassins along the way, the secret is finally revealed.

This is the sort of thriller that you don't want to put down, with lots of supporting characters, action, and a plot that keeps you sitting on the edge of the seat. There are the good guys, and some very, very bad guys, including a powerful billionaire named Miles Taylor and his female "personal assistant" and Israeli-trained assassin. With a wonderful interplay that ties so many seemingly unrelated occurrences together, the author does what a good thrill writer SHOULD do. You can feel yourself riding on the back of a motorcycle in the Paris streets, the bumps, the turns, the near-spills, the danger ...

I honestly felt totally drawn in to the story, and if you like thrillers, you'll love this one. I highly recommend it.

QUOTES

"What baloney. No God worth his salt is going to let puling sinners worm their way back into his good graces just by kissing his a**."

I kept seeing Marilyn the way we'd left her, sprawled naked on her white satin sheets, her hand clutching the telephone as if there were still time for her to make one last, desperate call for help. That poor, pathetic hand, with its cracked nails and shipped polish.
She would've hated the thought of dying like that, not looking her best.

Zoe laughed. "You know what I like about you, Ry? You not only speak fifteen languages, but everywhere we go you know 'a guy.' A guy who can get us guns. A guy who can make us fake passports. A guy who is a U. S. senator."

Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Plot: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Characters: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Reading Immersion: 4.5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING: 4.125 out of 5 stars show less

This mystery starts off at a run and never really slows down. I read this exciting and fast paced book in one sitting. This is a tale of what people have sought since the days of Ponce de Leon - a fountain of youth. But in the case of this story not everyone wants it for the good of mankind.

The book flashes back between three generations of women - the Keepers of the secret of the Altar of Bones. As the story progresses the mythology builds as the current Keeper, Zoe Dmitroff (our heroine) learns about her history and the importance of her role. Ry O'Malley (our hero) learned some horrifying history about his father at his death. Acts from his father's past have come forward send Ry's life into a tailspin. He uses all his training as an show more undercover DEA officer to delve into his father's secrets and to work with Zoe to - all together now - SAVE THE WORLD.

I did enjoy this book immensely. It kept me riveted and turning the pages as fast as I could. The mythology was a new one which was nice; Siberia is an interesting place to have chase scenes and the like. The protagonists also found trouble in San Francisco, Paris, Budapest and just about anywhere else they set foot. The Russian mafia, corrupt politicians (really?!) and megalomaniacs all had prominent roles in this fun read. There are also a few good guys. There must be balance. The hero and heroine were well enough fleshed out to make their romance believable and of course, there are several steamy sex scenes along with the threats of poking eyes out with stiletto knives.

If you are looking for a thrilling suspense novel with a novel bit of folklore at its center this would be the book for you. show less

I got this book as a preview copy from the bookstore where I work. I thought it was a lot of fun. I felt like the author was doing a riff on all the thriller/adventure books ever written...including every possible trope- super evil killers, equally talented hero, who of course falls in love with the heroine, a religious icon, immortality, corrupt millionaires (is there any other kind), the Russian mafia, & even the Kennedy assissination. I loved it; it really made me laugh. I hope that was what the author intended!