Book Review: Paradise lost

Submitted by dominah on Monday, February 8th, 2010

Amir Hafizi

Monday, February 8th, 2010 13:17:00

Title: Altar of Eden
Author: James Rollins
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Rating: 5/10

Imagine if Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton or John Grisham were a vet. They would probably have written this novel.

The synopsis alone screams 'option my movie rights'. It's about a vet who discovers some strange, highly-intelligent mutated animals — parrots without feathers, jaguars that are really saber-toothed tigers, etc.

Cue frantic digging into the mysteries behind these animals and human genetic experimentation framed with some religious references to make it Dan Brown AND Crichton.

The man-playing-God angle is rather fitting, though, and it must be said that as far as thriller novelists go, Rollins is not bad. He knows his pacing.

He has done some research into fractal science and genetic engineering and — being a former vet himself — knows the world of animals well.

Set in the now-trendy New Orleans with references to Iraq and other 'relevant' places, this is actually not a bad novel, like how The Mentalist is not a bad show. It's no Lost or Glee, but it gets the job done.

If you want a bio-engineering thriller written by a vet, this is your book.

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