Altar of Eden

This latest James Rollins offering, a science-based thriller, brings his fans the fast-pace and violence they've come to expect. However, the performance of narrator Paula Christensen may not meet listeners' expectations as readily. The shortcoming is not with pace, intensity, or clarity, which are all appropriate to the text. The challenge arises with the characters as the action careens through many settings--from Baghdad to the Louisiana bayous. Christensen's rendering of the various required accents lacks authenticity and consistency, with the Cajun inflections being the most troublesome. Although this weakness may not prove enough of a distraction to spoil the audio experience for all, some listeners may find the print version of this book more enjoyable. M.O.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

November 30, 2009
Bestseller Rollins (Subterranean
) explores the genetic engineering theme popularized by Jurassic Park
, if less imaginatively than, say, Warren Fahy did in his 2009 debut, Fragment
, in this solid stand-alone thriller. During the looting of the Baghdad zoo in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, 12-year-old Makeen and his younger brother observe two men, one dressed in a khaki military uniform and the other in a dark suit, remove a large metal briefcase containing embryos from a secret facility at the zoo. About five years later, a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter lands at the New Orleans Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species to take Dr. Lorna Polk, a postgraduate resident, out over the Mississippi Delta to an abandoned trawler. In the boat Polk sees cages filled with bizarre creatures like Siamese twin capuchin monkeys and oversized vampire bats. The science mostly takes a backseat to generic suspense scenes of animal attacks, gunfights, and abduction.