Map of Bones [Hardcover]

James Rollins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 2005

'Shots rang out across the cathedral. Sporadic. Cries suddenly silenced. Death stalked the cathedral as the monks slaughtered the few remaining survivors...All for a sack of bones. Why? Why steal the bones of the Magi?' When a group of parishioners is burned to death in a German cathedral, the US sends in Sigma force. For this tragedy is more than a case of arson - someone has stolen the priceless treasure stored in the cathedral's golden reliquary: the bones of the biblical Three Kings. Commander Gray Pierce leads a team on the hunt for the Royal Dragon Court, a clandestine aristocratic fraternity of alchemists that dates back to the Middle Ages and seeks to establish a new world order using the mystical bones. Pierce and his team follow a trail that leads from Europe's Gothic cathedrals through the remnants of the seven wonders of the ancient world to a mystical place where science and religion unite to unleash a threat not seen since the beginning of time itself...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A mysterious biblical object, nefarious Vatican spies and a deadly centuries-old religious cabal—sound familiar? Sacramento veterinarian Rollins offers more Da Vinci Code–style thrills for the seriously addicted. In this seventh outing, hooded men invade midnight mass at the Cologne Cathedral and slaughter almost everyone present, then break open a gold sarcophagus and steal... the bones of the Three Wise Men. Grayson Pierce, top agent in the Department of Defense's covert Sigma Force, takes a team to Rome, joins up with love-interest Rachel Verona, a carabinieri corps lieutenant, and her Vatican official uncle, Vigot. It seems that the Dragon Court, a medieval alchemical cult-cell that still operates within the Catholic Church, is to blame, and it also seems that the bones of the Magi aren't really bones, but the highly reactive Monatomic gold that the group plans to use to accomplish its ultimate goal—Armegeddon. Rollins has few peers in the research department, which makes the historical material fascinating, and he keeps the dialogue believably colloquial and the incidental elements motivated—and plausible for at least short stretches. Clumsy romance is mostly overcome by lots of action. Dan Brown-ers looking for methadone will add to Rollins's usual solid numbers. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This novel about an ancient secret society and the race to find priceless antiquities is sure to be compared to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, but, in every way, it's a much better book. Where Brown's best-seller was predictable despite its compelling premise, this tale is clever and suspenseful. Where Code featured ropey dialogue and assembly-line characters, this one offers (mostly) real people engaging in (mostly) real discourse. Like Brown, Rollins makes the most of a moderately implausible premise, this one requiring that the reader accept the literal truth of a certain allegorical aspect of the Bible. But, as both books prove, a thriller can be as implausible as it likes as long as it is entertainingly developed. Fans of The Da Vinci Code will obviously want to read Map of Bones, but even those who found Brown's opus unpalatable will thoroughly enjoy the taste of this one. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060763876
• ISBN-13: 978-0060763879
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (229 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #509,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

111 of 125 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Mad Race to Thwart a Conspiracy, June 24, 2005

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Map of Bones (Hardcover)

This taut thriller about a conspiracy of (yet another) secret religious sect of the Catholic Church delivers all the punch of a well-plotted novel. Grayson Pierce, an operative for the U.S. top secret Sigma Force, is called to command a group of two other agents, Monk and Kat, to investigate the mysterious massacre of church goers in Cologne, Germany and the theft of the cathedral's relics, the bones of the Magi. They are assigned to work with an intel group from the Vatican, Monsignor Vigor Verona and his niece Rachel, a lieutenant in the Carabinieri Corps. The five quickly discover that the deaths in Cologne were carried out by the Imperial Dragon Court, a secret society dating back to the Middle Ages, and that the theft of relics in that church was just the beginning. Through Vigor's vast knowledge of church symbolism, history, and architecture, and the others' combined education in chemistry, physics, and engineering, they begin to solve the mystery that could lead to Armageddon. Their lives are threatened at every turn as they race the ruthless members of the Dragon Court to uncover the next clue.

Umberto Eco, with his novel Foucault's Pendulum, launched the literary premise of a complex religious conspiracy by a secret sect, and Dan Brown popularized it with The Da Vinci Code. James Rollins's book is much better than The Da Vinci Code because of its smooth writing and plotting and better integrated historical details. While he cannot compete with Eco in the writing and density of thought, Rollins's approach allows for a breathtakingly fast pace and incredible suspense. Sometimes the connections between the past and the riddle at hand are tenuous, although the information itself is usually fascinating. Rollins moves convincingly from one point of view to another, using all to satisfying effect, but he falls flat when trying to stir up the emotional connections between characters. Not to worry, though, since the action easily distracts the reader from this flaw. The truly intriguing aspect of this novel is that every character believes that Biblical Armageddon will occur if the Dragon Court solves the final riddle. Although the clues are solved using science, they lead to what is ultimately a supernatural mystery.

Map of Bones is billed as "the first in the exciting new Sigma adventure series" so it should be interesting to see how Rollins follows up this series debut. He'll need to deepen the characterization of his Sigma Force if he wants his readers to identify with them throughout a series, but his excellent storytelling ability will serve him well.

This novel makes fantastic escapist reading and yet delivers some intellectual depth to distinguish it from many other thrillers. Highly recommended for readers looking for a good thriller.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Average storytelling at best., January 22, 2006

By 

J. P. G. Cox "jpgm" (Infinity) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Map of Bones (Hardcover)

Rollins is an author whose works consistently shows potential but always falls short of realizing it. Having read several of his other works I decided to give Map Of Bones a try, hoping this time I wouldn't be met by two dimensional characters, which is his main weakness as a writer.

Alas, once again he puts forth characters that are at best caricatures. The good guys are all nice and well-mannered, just as the bad guys are all sadistic serial-killers. He overdoes this good versus bad thing to the point that it becomes laughable.

The good guys are all blessed with an exceptional high IQ, or so Rollins tells us explicitly, yet their dialogues never shows it.

Things like that keep the story from taking off as it is hard to impossible to get the feeling that you are dealing with live human beings, an illusion that a good writer manages to evoke.

This is not to say that Map Of Bones is all bad, far from it, it has much going for it. It has an exciting plot and does keep you wondering what will happen next, the reason why I finished it. So, if what you want is an adventure story, and don't mind characters who lack depth then this certainly is worth the purchase.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun Story, But VERY Sloppy Research, July 28, 2005

By 

C. Counts "Thriller/Suspense Reader" (West Hollywood, California United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Map of Bones (Hardcover)

I enjoyed Mr. Rollins previous book, Sandstorm, so much that I was really looking forward to this one. Mr. Rollins' research was much sloppier in this book, as anyone with a Catholic school background will immediately notice. Indeed, the glaring and numerous inaccuracies about European history and Catholic tradition became such a distraction that I was unable to ever really get into this novel, even though it has a good story.

For example, it attempting to establish that Rachel (the heroine) is some kind of archeological dynamo at the beginning of Chapter 2, he has her utter Dante's famous phrase, "Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate!" ("Abandon all hope, ye who enter!") A learned "professor" marvels at Rachel's knowledge of the quote "in the original Latin no less" (page 37). This is an amazing bit of praise -- as any reader of 2004 break-away best seller, The Dante Club (by Matthew Pearl) will notice -- since that famous quote is in Italian -- not Latin! Sadly, throughout the book Rachel is straining to interject awkward classical Latin two-word phrases (obviously culled from a "famous quotes" book) even though the subject that she is discussing is medieval -- not classical -- in nature.

The errors are not limited to problems with the author's use (and recognition) of foreign languages. The plot of this novel is centered around the theft and possession of certain holy relics (viz., the "Bones" in the title). You'd think the author would get his information right at least as it relates to relics, right? Wrong. In the opening chapters, he makes some sweeping pronouncements about the use of relics in Catholic church altars which, although they may be arcane rules, also have not been rules for years.

Although the above criticisms may seem somewhat petty, Mr. Rollins' sloppy research cannot be forgiven when it affects major plot points -- especially those occurring at the very beginning of the book. For example, the story essentially begins when nearly everybody attending a mass is killed after ingesting a batch of "poisoned" communion wafers at a cathedral. The only people who live through this episode of mass murder are those that did not take communion -- and the archbishop who was officiating at the mass! Indeed, the old archbishop begins arguing with the assailants (in LATIN, or course) afterwards until he is finally shot in the head. Even the most basic of research or the simple attendance of a single Catholic mass would reveal that the priests and officiants are the very first people to ingest the communion wafer at a mass, and that therefore, there does not appear to be any reason whatsoever that the archbishop would have had an opportunity to argue with the murders once his flock had perished.

When so many minor things are wrong with the story, how can I be expected to buy his explanations of the more complex components of his technological thriller?

In the end, I gave the book "3 Stars" because the story is undeniably good. However, if you know your European history or if you have even a rudimentary knowledge of Catholic tradition, this book simply does not hold water and is more of a "1 or 2 Star". Pick up Sandstorm instead.