Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Altar of Eden: A Novel
    Altar of Eden: A Novel
    Altar of Eden: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    Altar of Eden: A Novel

    Written by James Rollins

    Narrated by Paula Christensen

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    “Every James Rollins delivers mach-speed mayhem, throat-clutching suspense, high-style adventure, and a terrific story told terrifically.”
    —Steve Berry, author of The Romanov Prophecy

    The thriller king praised for his “edge-of-your-seat excitement” (San Francisco Chronicle), James Rollins storms the New York Times bestseller list with every novel he writes. With his latest breathtaking blockbuster, Altar of Eden, Rollins takes a breather from his Sigma Force adventures (Map of Bones, Black Order, The Judas Strain, et al) while delivering all the action, surprise, and intensity for which he’s well known—and loved. Combining science, history, and breakneck suspense—and a secret tied to the Book of Genesis—Altar of Eden is sure to satisfy every James Rollins fan while winning over a slew of new converts.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateDec 29, 2009
    ISBN9780061967450
    Author

    James Rollins

    James Rollins is the author of international thrillers that have been translated into more than forty languages. His Sigma series has been lauded as one of the “top crowd pleasers” (New York Times) and one of the “hottest summer reads” (People magazine). In each novel, acclaimed for its originality, Rollins unveils unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets—and he does it all at breakneck speed and with stunning insight. He lives in the Sierra Nevada.

    More audiobooks from James Rollins

    Related to Altar of Eden

    Related audiobooks

    Action & Adventure Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Campfire Tales…

      Nov 19, 2021

      Campfire Tales…
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Anabasis of Godspeed

      Mar 1, 2023

      Then proceeded to BAGHDAD and AMMAN. Godspeed was almost afraid of butterflies. They sickened him during the breeding season when they swarmed around any source of water in the viceregal district where he was born. The day was hot and everything was

      4 min read

    • Article

      Magnets: Carried through time, lovers seek their purpose.

      Feb 6, 2014

      Moon Colony B, 2213 Former Ponzi-schemer Mary Pillar digs through a trashcan. It smells like rotten eggs and milk. She is elderly and homeless, living in an alley between two eco-efficient skyscrapers. Dust particles dance around her. She has lost ev

      11 min read

    • Article

      Threshold

      Dec 11, 2023

      Threshold
      18 min read

    • Article

      Crocodile Escapades

      Dec 1, 2021

      Crocodile Escapades
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Witch Finders

      Jul 16, 2020

      Beth pulled her cloak tightly around her. It was the very last day of October and the air was damp and chill. Dead autumn leaves lay in deep piles in the woods and smoke curled into the night air from her cottage. Not far to go now. She bent her head

      4 min read

    • Article

      Squirrels Go Up In Smoke

      Jun 30, 2021

      Squirrels Go Up In Smoke
      4 min read

    • Article

      Stalking Diary

      Apr 19, 2023

      Stalking Diary
      2 min read

    • Article

      Marco

      Mar 1, 2022

      THE ALLEY STANK . Marco could feel the damp soaking into his tunic as he pressed his back against the wall, trying to seem like part of the shadows. He cursed himself. How could he have been so stupid? He knew if he stayed out after dark they might f

      6 min read

    • Article

      Paws For Thought

      Jul 30, 2023

      Paws For Thought
      2 min read

    • Article

      How To Save A Loggerhead

      Jul 11, 2019

      How To Save A Loggerhead
      11 min read

    • Article

      Not-so-deserted Island

      Mar 30, 2023

      Not-so-deserted Island
      6 min read

    • Article

      Fitting In

      Oct 1, 2021

      Fitting In
      6 min read

    • Article

      Wayétu Moore

      Jun 15, 2018

      Lai was hidden in the middle of forests when the Vai people found it. There was evidence of earlier townsmen there, as ends of stoneware and crushed diamonds were found scattered on hilltops in the unexpected company of domestic cats. But when the Va

      29 min read

    • Article

      Aristotle

      Feb 2, 2024

      Aristotle
      3 min read

    • Article

      Our Animal Kingdom

      Feb 22, 2019

      Our Animal Kingdom
      5 min read

    • Article

      Campfire Tales…

      Jan 21, 2022

      Campfire Tales…
      3 min read

    • Article

      Myths And Monsters

      Dec 22, 2020

      Myths And Monsters
      4 min read

    • Article

      Campfire Tales…

      Jun 18, 2021

      Campfire Tales…
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Murderer

      Mar 15, 2019

      They all knew him although no one in Bałtów spoke to him and he spoke to no one. Maryan Skiba had served a prison term of eight years for killing his girlfriend, Zocha, because he caught her in bed with a city hall official. Maryan was a fisherman. A

      7 min read

    • Article

      Quotients

      May 7, 2020

      Quotients
      8 min read

    • Article

      Everything Under The Sun

      Mar 20, 2019

      “Trap long enough and you’ll see everything under the sun.” When Harold McAlpine said that, we were looking at an otter in Harold’s dirt-hole set. The critter was mad like only a trapped otter can be, twisting, hissing, trying its best to reach us an

      2 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      May 18, 2022

      Great Read
      3 min read

    • Article

      Part 1 WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole

      Jan 1, 2022

      Part 1 WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole
      6 min read

    • Article

      On The Rocks

      Oct 8, 2021

      On The Rocks
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Dragon Of The North

      Sep 7, 2022

      The Dragon Of The North
      5 min read

    • Article

      WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole

      Mar 1, 2022

      On October 25, 1841, twelve-year-old Pleasant Brown boards the Creole, a merchant slave ship sailing from Richmond to New Orleans with a “cargo” of 140 enslaved men, women, and children. Pleasant’s grandmother, who had been born in Africa, was the da

      10 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Altar of Eden

    4/5

    403 ratings37 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      PARTS MISSING! Audiobook readers - a large part of this book is missing, early-on. I didn't read past that problem, so there may be more missing later. This book is supposed to be unabridged.
    • 5/5
      It has a great story line. The suspense level is quite high and moves at a fast pace.
    • 5/5
      Interesting premise and very good narration. Well written with a good mix of action and drama.
    • 5/5
      Nobody tells adventure better than James Rollins you won't regret reading this
    • 2/5
      I’m sure it’s a good book as I typically enjoy James Rollins, but I just couldn’t deal with the brutally terrible accents of the narrator and didn’t make it past the first few chapters.
    • 3/5
      A nice Christmas story.
    • 5/5
      What a good story! I get so annoyed at weak plot devices, and protagonists motivated only by sheer stupidity, this was a refreshingly organic storyline. It is full of action, without being too technical or horribly gory, and has fascinating information that makes you think bigger thoughts.
    • 3/5
      The narrator was not good. Kept forgetting she was trying to do LA accent and then switching between male and female sometimes was hard to tell who was talking. Very disruptive to the story.
    • 5/5
      A cutting edge thriller without being far-fetched or implausible. A nice return to stand-alone writing after doing several books in series.
    • 4/5
      Very Interesting, a lot of action, which I usually don't like, but it was well done. Interesting story line, genetic altering on animals and humans. The end of the book has some interesting follow ups as to the reality of those types of experiments.
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable and fast moving thriller, which engages you from the very first page.
    • 4/5
      As the story opens we are in Louisana in the wake of a hurricane. Research veterinarian, Dr. Lorna Polk, is collected from her workplace by a Border Patrol helicopter and ferried out into the Louisiana swamplands. She can't fathom who has requested her or why she is being brought here. The "who" turns out to be Field Operations Supervisor, Jack Menard, a painful ghost from her past. The "why" is a shipwreck. A shipwreck that looks like a nightmarish crime scene, and which holds a most extraordinary living cargo. Her first guess is that they've stumbled upon an exotic animal smuggling ring, but as Rollins writes: "Jack turned and shone his flashlight into the nearest cage. She stared inside--and knew she was wrong about everything."

      I've heard former-vet, James Rollins discuss why he's never written about a veterinarian before. "Not enough people die," he always says. Well, he finally found a way to make it work. I'm looking forward to more adventures like this one!!
    • 4/5
      A rollicking good yarn. Easy read.
    • 3/5
      Lorna Polk, La state vet, teams up with Jack Menard, a man whom she has a stormy past, to investigate a shipwreck containing some exotic animals with disturbing abnormalities, which leads them to a new Eden with nightmarish dimensions. Although the book is typical of the thriller genre, it is a good read and page turner.
    • 2/5
      Despite flashbacks to Jurassic Park and science (fractal science and biological warfare production) that was a little over my head this book was an enjoyable read. Veterinarian Dr. Laura Polk is picked up by helicopter and taken to a trawler on the Mississippi where strange mutations of animals have been found. After the discovery, the trawler mysteriously explodes and the chase is on. James Rollins draws on his veterinary and science background to bring a believable tale of genetic experimentation, a stereotypical mad scientist, plausible experiment fallout and a “tied up in a red bow ending”.
    • 4/5
      Starts out great, but then the story and characters don't develop into what could have been an outstanding novel. Still made for an enjoyable read, but I couldn't help feeling when I was finished that this book could have been so much more.
    • 3/5
      Although not a nail-biter or action-packed - although there are a couple of tense moments - this was rather a good story with a very interesting subplot. Animals are found to somehow be regressing to their prehistoric physical state while, at the same time, increasing in intelligence and with intuitive communication between them.Yet, someone wants all these animals killed. And when some animals end up caught and held in vetenarian center for as a protected species and testing, those seeking to kill the animals also arrive with a mission to leave no survivors - animal and human.With all that said, the main characters, Lorna and Jack who are seeking to protect the animals, have a secret between themselves - a secret hidden behind a different story, which everyone thinks is the real story - causing some animosity between members of the team seeking to protect the animals and discover the truth behind how these animals have changed.
    • 4/5
      I enjoy books that have one foot planted in reality and the other in the "this could potentially happen" camp.Altar of Eden begins with the bombing of a zoo in Baghdad that houses a secretive facility beneath it--a laboratory undergoing genetic research. The destruction of the zoo creates a need to transfer the surviving laboratory animals in order for the research to continue.When the trawler carrying the animals runs aground freeing some of the animals on a small island, Dr. Lorna Polk, a veterinarian from The Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, becomes involved in the hunt to find the animals--animals unlike anything she has ever encountered before. This hunt brings her back into contact with Jack Menard, the older brother of a boy she dated and who his family blamed for his death.The animals seems to be a throwback to the modern species and are able to communicate and act with a hive mentality, the result of a new type of warfare being engineered by a company working on a defense project.The insight into some of the victims of these trials is excellent. The story held my interest, and I finished the book in two days.I recommend this book.
    • 2/5
      Rednecks from the swamp collide with brilliant scientists gone mad.I really pushed myself to finish this book. The first half of the story was excellent; quite compelling and adventurous. Mutant saber-toothed tiger on the loose, protecting its young and devouring unsuspecting people. The second half of the story gets lost in a bunch of gunfights and explosives on some obscure island in the Caribbean.Not Rollins best work, but certainly not his worst either. Two-stars for his unique creativity. But, too lengthy of a story that inevitably loses its momentum to warrant a higher rating.
    • 3/5
      Interesting but rather short read. I like novels in which good guys [again who does not :)] win but this one seems a little bit rushed which is a shame because story is very interesting.

      There is no .... no tension for the lead characters. You know from the first page how the story will unfold, moment something unexpected happens you can pretty well predict how that problem will be solved .... But I was stunned how efficient is the border patrol from the south of the USA :) man, either they have some pretty bad neighbors or armed forces need to look into the law enforcement community for the recruits :)

      Entertaining read.
    • 5/5
      I really loved this book. I found it well written and the characters well developed. It was like I was actually going through what each person was going through and feeling. It was fast paced and had so many twists and turns that you never saw anything coming. The last part of the book had my heart beating fast and my stomach in a knot. It was left at somewhat of a cliff hanger so I'd love to read part 2 if and when it comes out.
    • 4/5
      ALTAR OF EDEN by James Rollins is a science thriller. And it's a good one. That's because the science is based on reality even while the story is fiction.Do you remember back when the war in Iraq began, and animals at the Baghdad Zoo escaped and suffered? That's where ALTAR OF EDEN begins. It seems that something is going on there, something hidden. Rollins only hints, and other readers can surmise what they want, but my immediate suspicion was the suspicion at the time: biological warfare.The book continues in New Orleans. Apparently, someone is genetically altering animals. Who? Why? And to what ends will they go to keep their project secret? The Border Patrol and a veterinarian at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (a real facility) star in this mystery post-Hurricane Katrina. Their discoveries about animal intelligence are real as are the hunting habits of jaguars and so much of the science discussed.Maybe the most important scientific fact Rollins presents in this book is the bond between humans and animals. This is one of the themes throughout the book, especially in Parts 2 and 3. This bond is proven fact, although this story takes the bonding to fictitious places and stretches it. Rollins is a veterinarian. But he writes thrillers, not animal stories. Still, I hope to find more animal science in his other books. Sciencethrillers.com says that they are even better than ALTAR OF EDEN. So I look forward to checking them out.Thank you, sciencethrillers.com, for sending ALTAR OF EDEN to me.
    • 4/5
      Non Sigma thriller, and quite good!
    • 4/5
      This was a complete change from the last few books by this author involving the Sigma Force. He said that he has always wanted to write a book with a veterinarian as the main character. Well, this is not your ordinary vet story! I really enjoyed this book and it turned into a real page-turner. The storyline is a bit far-fetched but, I enjoyed it anyway.
    • 5/5
      I really love James Rollin's books. I love how he takes a historical tidbit of information and connects it to a slice of science, mixes it all together with a lot of adventure and a dash of romance and voilà!; I'm ready for an enjoyable read~I also love how he points out the facts and the fiction at the end of his stories; more than once I have gotten lost on the internet satisfying my curiosity regarding the history/science he calls to attention there.I think he does a great job with his protagonists, I find most to be really interesting and fleshed out. Sigma Force is a recurring theme in many of his stories and it adds another layer of interest for me, taking the adventure to the next level.Rollin's novels are every bit as enjoyable to me as a big screen summer blockbuster; think I'll go get some popcorn~
    • 4/5
      research on animals and humans for military- Dr. kidnapped - rescued- island destroyed and mutants formed
    • 4/5
      A well constructed thriller using the theme of DNA modification of animals. It shows careful research behind the book. An easy read.
    • 4/5
      Veterinarian Lorna Polk is more than a little surprised when Jack Menard, a man from her past, shows up at her research facility in a border patrol helicopter asking for her help. Whisked off to examine the strange animals aboard an abandoned trawler, Lorna knows something odd is going on. The conjoined twin monkeys, featherless parrot, and cub of a saber-toothed cat all display heightened intelligence and evidence of genetic alterations. From this intriguing start, the novel takes off at a whirlwind pace. First, the adult saber-toothed cat is loose in the Louisiana bayou. Then, it's up to Lorna and Jack to track down the people responsible for transporting the animals and discover the truth behind the strange subjects. Meanwhile, the minds - and hired guns - behind the genetically altered creatures will stop at nothing to recapture the animals and dispose of those who know their secrets.As a reader, I'm a sucker for a great fast-paced action story; as a scientist, I love a genetic thriller done right. James Rollins' Altar of Eden had it all. I was really impressed at how accurate the concepts of biology were as they entwined into fiction in the story. High-tech science was explained in an every day manner while not coming across as being dumbed-down. Also, Dr. Lorna Polk - a veterinarian like Rollins himself - was a strong and intelligent heroine. She displayed realistic fear and emotion but was also action-oriented and determined at all the right moments. Overall, Altar of Eden was a smart thrill ride from beginning to end.
    • 3/5
      Altar of Eden is a fun, exciting and fast read. If you're looking to escape in a tv-movie sort-of-way, then this is a good purchase.James Rollins writes short and to the point. His characters and plot are somewhat similar - short and to the point. And it's enjoyable. The first half of the book sets the stage for genetically altered animals escape into the Bayou after an attempt to smuggle them into the U.S. goes awry.Rollins writes adventure and pseudo-science well. Think Michael Crichton lite. But that's not a bad thing.The book is full of gun fights and nasty animals attacks, plus the obligatory evil-scientist-explaining-his-nefarious-plot-to-the-protagonist. But it wraps up the story nicely.If you're looking for something deep, then keep looking. You can stop looking, however, if you're in the market for a rock solid adventure, with mutated jaguars and super-smart hominids.
    • 5/5
      Okay... let me be up front about things before I write this review.. I LOVE almost everything James Rollins writes. I REALLY appreciate a book that has solid bites of reality - enough to make you believe that what you're reading really could happen. When I read Rollins, it's always a case of wanting to read slowly so the book isn't finished too quickly and wanting to devour it fast cause it's just that good... I love the science behind what he writes. Just the other day, my son, who's in his second year of university, said, "Mom, have you ever heard of fractals." Yup, as a matter of fact I have! :-)So... Alter of Eden... a vet, Lorna gets called by a man she knows from her past, to help with a situation involving a beached trawler with some very unusual creatures on board. More disturbing is the fact that the most dangerous of these seems to have escaped. Lorna, Jack, and a team made up of special border patrols and Jack's brothers and friends, track the escaped animal and its cub. What they eventually discover leads to a showdown that would make a fantastic action film. Don't want to give anything away, but I loved the scene where the assailant gets his corneas flash frozen! Very satisfying read... The only thing I wish is that publishers followed the lead of the music industry and sold explicit and "clean" versions of the books. I work in a middle school (grades 6, 7, 8) and I know there are certain students who would eat this book up and be clamoring for more, but due to the very light sprinkling of profanity, I don't feel comfortable putting it on my shelves. I'd love to, but I just don't need my ESL students coming to me with horror in their eyes as they point out the F*&$^#% words on the pages. So I guess I'll pass it on to my local high school, and just wish that deleting the swear words was an option cause I'd LOVE to book talk this one to my students.