Altar of Eden: A Novel

I’ve seen the teasers for Alter of Eden here at onlinebooktips.com for quite some time before it became available, and suddenly, out of the blue, the amazon vine program offered me (for the first time) a copy of a Rollins book before it was released. Being the slow reader that I am, I didn’t finish it until it actually came out, but I had a good head-start, which I am very grateful for. Being a James Rollins fan now sure makes waiting for the NEXT novel sometimes difficult, but 2009 has been quite a busy year for him. By my count, he’s given us ‘The Doomsday Key’, the first ‘Jake Ransom’ and now ‘Alter of Eden’ in an 11th hour final pitch. Fine with me. All things considered, I’d rather wait for a great novel than be semi-satisfied by churning out one sub-par novel after another like some factory (James Patterson, are you listening?!?).

While Mr. Rollins produced more than usual this year, I simply cannot see where we the readers had to suffer one iota as a result. Writers rarely get a chance at a year like this (well, not the GOOD ones anyway) very often, so its nice to see how it all works out in the end for an author who deserves the attention and stepped up to the plate and brought three runs in without breakin’ a sweat.

One thing Rollins fans can expect is a healthy dose of science in his books…and that is on full display here. One thing he has been adding to his last group of novels at the end is a sort of explanation of the realities of what we have just finished reading…truth or fiction? On more than one occasion I was a bit surprised to discover just how REAL the science actually IS in his books. Fascinating and more than a bit scary at the same time. I enjoyed how we finally get to see an adventure featuring a career that Mr. Rollins knows well: a Veterinarian.

Action, twists and a fair share of surprises certainly place AoE definitely ahead of the vast majority of action/adventure thrillers available and easily one of Mr. Rollins’ best stand-alone books to date. Without adding any spoilers (which I HATE) let me say this: if genetic manipulation doesn’t frighten you, then read this book and maybe it will (it really should). As with ALL of his earlier stuff (all of which are awesome), expect a roller coaster ride traveling to exotic places and introducing us to a lot we probably never heard before. I believe one of the major talents that James Rollins has is the ability to ‘dumb down’ the science so almost anyone can grasp the significance of what you’re reading and why its so terrifying. Michael Crichton managed to pull it off in many of his books, but failed in a few as well…from my perspective Rollins does it much better.

Once again it is my supreme fortune to be able to HIGHLY endorse another thriller from Mr. Rollins. I do so gladly here yet again. If you couldn’t tell, I really, REALLY love his stuff. Kudos yet again, and here’s to an even better 2010!

Review by Jeff Edwards

Author: James Rollins

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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