Altar of Bones [Hardcover]

Philip Carter (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 8, 2011

“They didn’t have to kill him…He never drank from the altar of bones.”  

Cryptic dying words from a murdered homeless woman in present day San Francisco unlock a decades-buried secret that changed history.  Now a pair of ruthless assassins are sent to cut the few living "loose ends."  And a young, resourceful woman on the run encounters a determined man with his own connected past and vengeful agenda.  Forced to partner for survival and answers, a fast-paced and deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, taking them across the globe from the winding streets of Paris to the faded palaces of Budapest to the frozen lakes of Mongolia...where destiny, passion, and further betrayal await them.  

The Altar of Bones has it all: The Russian mob.  KGB spies.  Presidential assasination.  A doomed Hollywood legend.  Deathbed confessions.  Corrosive power.  Shattered families.  Guardians of an ancient religious icon housing a secret others will kill to possess.  The dark promise of immortality. And it delivers on its ambitious premise to leave you stunned and breathless at the end.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This conspiracy thriller from the pseudonymous Carter opens in 1937 with a rousing Siberian prison camp escape, but the present-day action soon turns predictable. After the murder of Katya Orlova, the grandmother of San Francisco lawyer Zoe Dmitroff, a letter written by Katya reaches Zoe informing her that she's now the "Keeper" of an ancient secret involving a Siberian cave known as the Altar of Bones. Many people try to wrest the secret from Zoe, including her own mother, a mysterious business tycoon, and the Russian mob. Ry O'Malley, a hunky tough guy, signs on to protect Zoe, and soon they're on the run. Zoe and Ry prove to be amazingly lucky, to the point that by the time the unsurprising ending rolls around, all suspense has been drained from the action. Readers should be prepared for prose typical of erotic romance fiction (e.g., "He tried to gentle his kiss, but then she tangled her fingers in his hair and sucked on his tongue, pulling it deeper into her mouth, making love with their mouths, sucking, tonguing, and he was lost"). (Mar.)
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Review

“Comparisons to Steve Berry, Dan Brown, and James Rollins are inevitable and not unmerited. But Carter’s Altar is anything but derivative. A corkscrewing, looping roller coaster of a reading experience, it definitely belongs in the hands of thriller fans who crave speed.” -- Booklist (starred review)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books (March 8, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439199086
• ISBN-13: 978-1439199084
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #997,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great concept fizzles into sub-par historical fiction. March 16, 2011

By Ray J. Palen Jr. VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Philip Carter is the admited pseudonym for an internationally renowned author. I spent most of the novel trying to figure out who it was but the style was different than many of the historical fiction writers working today.

THE ALTAR OF BONES starts with an ancient secret in Siberia where the actual altar is revealed and may indeed hold the key to the fountain of youth and immortality. As the novel jumps to present day we find a dying homeless woman representing the answer to unlocking the decades-buried secret of this altar and the magical elixir it produces.

The heroes of this tale are Zoe Dmitroff, the grand-daughter of the first Keeper of the Altar of the Bones. She is paired with Ry O'Malley --- an ex Special Ops officer whose father's past is the gateway to understanding the power of the altar. The back-story about Ry's father --- who is implicated in both the assassination of JFK as well as the murder of Marilyn Monroe --- takes the story on a speculative leap that is both fun and unbelievable.

Unfortunately, after the secrets of their families pasts are revealed the novel devolves into a very standard chase novel as Zoe and Ry jaunt from country to country and will inevitably end up in Siberia where the original altar may still lie. A good beach book --- but no Steve Berry or James Rollins here!

34 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Add this book to your "absolutely must read" list... March 2, 2011

By Jason Frost TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

If you have any doubt about whether or not to read this book; stop. Just do it. This is one heck of a damn good book! I enjoy books that "lead" you in one direction and then switchback so hard your spine cracks. `Altar of Bones' is a puzzle of a thriller that will keep you up late for many nights. Course, if you're a fast reader it'll keep you up hours. What you have here is a fast paced book that interweaves history and fiction with the infamous bad boys of the Cold War, the Russians. They have heard a rumor that there is a very real "fountain of youth" somewhere in Siberia. They know it's near a lake, they know this lake has a waterfall; they know the lake is in the middle of nowhere, but they don't know it all...

Zoe has no idea she's the last in an ancient and storied line of the "Keepers". All women, all with strong physical features, all tasked with keeping a deadly secret, and all apparently horny. This adventure starts off in San Francisco, jumps back in time to a brutal prison camp in Norilsk, Siberia, then to present-day Texas. Ry is a black ops guy on a sabbatical of sorts when he runs into Zoe. Luck or fate? There is so much to this book. A Louisiana gumbo of secret signs, hidden clues, brutal hit men, sexual tension thrown in for good measure, and enough suspense and action to make Avery Books happy. This altar of bones is rumored to have unimaginable power but no one truly knows if it's real or just a myth. Despite not knowing 100%, a few evil souls feel that it's worth killing over. And kill they do. The players in this puzzle are some of the most demented leaders the world has known. Yes, they are world leaders and if that doesn't impress and shock, then you'll be severely impressed when you read how the assassination of JFK and death of Marilyn Monroe play into this story.

Somehow by some lining up of the cosmos I (without choice) seem to pick a reading theme at the start of every year. 2011 seems to be the year of the thriller because I've read some that are total bad-ass! This one fits in that group.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading this book is like watching a movie! March 9, 2011

By Juanito

Format:Hardcover

Reading this book is like watching a fast-paced movie! The mystery is better than Da Vinci Code, and the action is better than Bourne Identity. Female readers will not be disappointed either, as I'm sure nobody would mind some steamy romance between our heroine Zoe and hero Ry.