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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
May 2005, 448 pages
Paperback:
May 2006, 560 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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During a service at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, a band of armed intruders unleash a nightmare of blood and terror, ruthlessly gunning down worshippers and clergy alike. As they flee the carnage they carry a prize that could reshape the world. The Vatican is in turmoil, and Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri is assigned to lead the investigation with the help of SIGMA Force, an elite covert arm of the U.S. Defense Department.
The bestselling master of astonishing adventure James
Rollins delivers his most relentlessly exciting page-turner to date -- a
gripping and explosive novel of an ancient conspiracy to create a terrifying
new world order out of the ashes of modern civilization.
The crime is
inhumanly cruel with horrific consequences both unthinkable and inevitable.
During a service at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, a band of armed
intruders dressed in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and terror,
ruthlessly gunning down worshippers and clergy alike. The killers haven't
come for the church's gold and valuable artwork, but for a priceless
treasure secreted within: the preserved bones of the Three Magi who once
came to pay homage to a newborn savior. As they flee the carnage they have
wrought, they carry a prize that could reshape the world.
The Vatican is in turmoil, and Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's
carabinieri is assigned to lead the investigation. But no ordinary police
organization alone can deal with the bizarre theft and massacre, and SIGMA
Force -- an elite covert arm of the U.S. Defense Department -- is called in
under the command of Grayson Pierce. New to SIGMA, Pierce assembles a crack
team of scientific and Special Forces operatives to unravel the mystery of
the stolen bones, and together they set out on a twisting trail through a
labyrinth of clues and dark revelations that carry them to the sites of the
Seven Wonders of the World -- and to the doorstep of the mystical and
terrifying Dragon Court.
An ancient, secret fraternity of alchemists and assassins, the
master-adepts of the Dragon Court have plans for the sacred remains that
will alter the future of humankind in devastating ways that only the maddest
of zealots could desire -- and they will let nothing and no one stand in
their way. Suddenly Pierce, Verona, and the SIGMA team are the hunted as
well as the hunters, forced to use every skill they possess to survive as
they follow the bones to the ultimate confrontation between darkness and
light -- in a lost place of history where science and religion will unite to
unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time.
A masterful novel that combines the exhilarating mysticism of The Da
Vinci Code with the pulse-pounding action of a Tom Clancy thriller,
James Rollins's Map of Bones is destined to be a modern classic that
will stand among the very best adventure tales ever written.
The holy relics were granted to Rainald von Dassel, Archbishop of Cologne
(1159-67), following Emperor Barbarossa's sacking of the city of Milan. Such a
treasure was granted to the German Archbishop for his aid and chancellorship in
service to the current Emperor. Not all were content to see such a treasure
leave Italy…not without a struggle.
--Excerpt taken from L'histoire de la Sainte Empire Romaine (The History of
the Holy Roman Empire), 1845, HISTOIRES LITTÉRAIRES
***
March, 1162
The archbishop's men fled into the shadows of the lower valley. Behind them,
atop the winter pass, horses screamed, arrow-bit and cleaved. Men shouted,
cried, and roared. The clash of steel rang as silvery as a chapel's bells.
But it was not God's work being done here.
The rear guard must hold.
Friar Joachim clutched the reins of his horse as his mount slid on its
haunches down the steep slope. The loaded wagon had reached the bottom of ...
It's difficult not to compare Map of Bones to The Da Vinci Code, because they both involve Catholic conspiracies and they are both reasonably cerebral thrillers, but in terms of writing style and action I found them quite different. I enjoyed Map of Bones as a rip-roaring action adventure but found the plot a little too incredible at times, which is a pity as the science is at the cutting edge of reality, but there were just a few too many narrow escapes against seemingly inescapable odds to hold my credibility over the long haul...continued
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