BUT, let me first point out that what has many people running all over the world is--wait for it--Bones... So, I figured I might as well set the tone of the story using Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth, as the two main characters, even if the story is quite different. But, on the other hand, there is always a little romance in this type of book, right? So I'm good with these two because, I have to say that the roles these two play in the hit television series are very close to what the story is about, even including the ongoing disagreement between a scientist and a catholic...Rebecca is a brilliant scientist who is first found in the jungle with a huge snake tightly enclosing her body, while natives look on... Enter Sergeant Brandt, who is there just in time to "save" her (he thought), but was quickly chastised for rushing in where he wasn't wanted or needed. Well, you can guess that there is going to be tension between these two for most of the book, which is over 500 pages (printed). In any event, Sergeant Brandt was sent there to bring Rebecca back from her own mission to help with a disaster that has occurred and for which she has the specific expertise needed... Besides her former professor has requested her specifically.
We are not very far in the book, so I am going to share a piece of information that you would quickly read. It sets up the whole book, but the information is shared with the readers. You see, once Rebecca is no longer "encumbered," and the snake is gone, in that same village where the natives were sad to have Rebecca leave, the two main villains enter. Tok and Petir are about six hours too late, but with the skill of torture that these two men possess, they soon have the needed location of Rebecca and proceed to kill all of the villagers. This key point of not knowing how the villains got the initial information soon puts Brandt in the position of having to worry that one of his own squad is an informant... This lack of information allows the tension of the book to include the potential that Rebecca may not even be safe with him!
“I’ll go ask at the main entrance what the scoop is,” Corey conceded. Kika nodded vigorously as one hand shoved him on his quest while the other punched the button in case her urgency could fix waterlogged wiring. Chuckling, Corey headed toward the east pillar. He spotted the overly modest woman, only now she was kneeling near a girder, having trouble with her purse. Feeling vaguely guilty for bad-mouthing her, he went outside of his comfort zone to sound chivalrous. “Can I help you?” When she didn’t respond, he gave it a stab in French. “Est-ce que je peux vous aider?” Still, she seemed intent on her baggage. He tapped her shoulder. “Est-ce que—” She turned, and Corey realized her sleeve was caught in her backpack. “Here, let me—” He stopped short as the contents of the pack became visible. It was chock-full of gray bricks with red and black wires sticking out at odd angles. Okay, he’d seen enough Alias episodes to know that it was C-4.
“Bomb!” Corey spun on his heel toward the elevator. “Bomb!” In this day and age, it didn’t matter what language you spoke. Everyone knew “bomb” when they heard it. Tourists scattered as he turned the corner. “Run!” he yelled, but Kika was still pushing the button. “Get down!” He felt, more than heard, the explosion. The force was like wiping out on your surfboard inside a twenty-foot pipe, only worse. This blast knocked the wind from his lungs and threatened to break his back. He somehow found Kika in his arms. When had he grabbed her? The enormous gust of C-4-fueled air threw them past the girders, smashing them against the unforgiving ground. His ears rang a thousand notes, but he kept Kika’s head tucked under his shoulder as dust rained down.
“What’s happening?” she asked, but her words sounded far off. Corey didn’t answer as terror transformed into anger. Who the f... bombed the Eiffel Tower? Of all the f...ing landmarks, why here? Why tonight? It wasn’t until he was reasonably certain that the danger of another blast was well past that he cautiously allowed them to rise. A strange silence greeted them, as if this moment were suspended outside of time and space. No shouts, no panic, and even Kika stopped crying. They, and the tower itself, were in shock after such a brutal attempt on its life. The other patrons hadn’t run off either. Instead, strangely enough, they were gathered around the bombing site. “Everybody okay?” he asked, but couldn’t really hear his own words. No one answered, only nodded as they dusted themselves off. Everyone seemed shocked to have survived with only minor cuts and scrapes. The tower’s structure was also in remarkably good shape. Its girders were only a little singed. A sob escaped the girl in his arms. Not even her Madison Avenue blush could bring color to poor Kika’s cheeks. Her mascara was smeared across her face. Cosmetic damage only, just like the tower.
Corey kissed the top of her head. They were going to be fine, but if the effectiveness of a terrorist attack was based on civilian casualties and the destruction of an international monument, this baby was going to go down as the lamest suicide bombing ever. But he knew this was only the calm before the storm, as the Eiffel Tower suddenly had competition in the lights department. Red, blue, and yellow lights flashed as the police and fire trucks bore down on their location. Very soon, all hell was going to break loose.
With his ears still ringing, Corey thought he heard someone say bodies. Releasing Kika from his embrace, he joined the German. “I thought everyone was okay?” “We’re fine, but…” the man said, then pointed to the hole. Corey carefully stepped toward the edge. Now it made sense why there was so little damage to the tower itself. When the chick was screwing around with the pack she must have accidentally focused the blast downward, creating a ragged opening in the stone. But why, after barely surviving a bombing, were these people making such a fuss about a stupid hole in the ground? Then, as the dust settled, Corey gasped. Buried beneath the most romantic landmark in the world was a crypt full of bodies. No, not bodies, skeletons. Lots and lots of skeletons, but after the explosion, they were just a tangle of rib cages and shattered leg bones. It was as though the Crypt Keeper had put them into a blender and then thrown them into the trash. “What the f...?” It didn’t make any sense. What terrorist wanted to blow up dead people? Way dead people?
“Corey, help me.” It was Kika who spoke, but it sounded as if she were calling from another dimension. His head still rang, but past that, Corey heard sirens bearing down on them. It took a few seconds to locate his girlfriend next to the only piece of mangled metal around. Why the hell did she pick the one unstable area of the tower to set up shop? “Kika, keep back.”
“I found someone!” Oh, shit! Corey rushed forward. The bomber. “Don’t!” But Kika decided this day, of all days, to be a Good Samaritan. She had already pulled the woman’s body out from under the twisted girder. “It’s the chick with the bomb,” Corey explained as he tried to tug her away, but she had her heels dug in. “It couldn’t be.” Kika looked up, confused. “She’s not even Muslim.” She pointed to the dead woman’s chest. “Look.” Hanging around the suicide bomber’s neck, gleaming under the tower’s twinkling lights, was a large silver cross.
~~~
The hunt begins when a bomb goes off in Paris, right under the Eiffel Tower. Readers witness the action through the eyes of a young couple out for an evening, looking forward to dining at the famous restaurant at the top of the Tower. Instead, not only were they a witness to the bombing, but they became involved with the woman as she got caught in trying to set the bomb's location and she was killed. We do not know whether the result of the bombing was intentional or not. Only two clues were gained. The woman wore a silver cross... and the bomb uncovered a large ossuary where the blast had not only exposed, but tore apart the many human skeletons that had been placed in the ossuary.
Later, as Rebecca Monroe and Sgt. Brandt finally get together, readers will learn that Rebecca is one of the few people who can "read" those bones! Yes, each bone had carvings which were telling a story... And, one of her previous professors has also been called in. Professor Lochum was much older, and, perhaps, even more fanatical about reading those bones and finding out what all of it meant. Monroe, on the other hand, had her own main research project, but soon realized that this could also be an end result for her. Needless to say, she chose not to announce that desire to anybody.
Out of my own curiosity, I searched "The Knot" and found that there is a world-wide organization that seeks to join those who care for others as they plan celebrations... Ironic? Yes, for this group, called "The Knot" had been formed at the time of when Jesus was alive, together with John The Baptist, and, of course, all of the Disciples. And, initially, that group took responsibility of the bones of those individuals as they were buried, but used each skeleton buried to lead on to another and another and another...
Because there was a secret that was meant to be kept. And The Knot had become a militarized unit trained to ensure that secret was kept. The action and search is interesting and exciting as each location is approached. Many remains had been hidden, for instance, in an area where another building had been built over the original structure.
Thus Tok, an interesting character himself, was put in charge of following the officials who took responsibility for the skeletons which had been found under the Eiffel Tower! Tok was a deaf mute up until recently when new technology allowed him to hear for the first time. We develop a connection as he explores all the sounds he has never experienced... That is, until we learn that everywhere they went, nobody was alive when they left...
The hunt is fascinating as clues become known either through reading of the bones or taking leaps of action based upon earlier training by both Monroe and Lochum. In fact, Lochum is so well recognized that as soon as Tok learned that he was already involved, they started talking about his "extraction..."
Like I said, I've enjoyed this type of fact-finding stories by others. This book, however, and the series, is being billed as being controversial. So was the author intending to actually write an alternative historical novel (I've enjoyed many), or to purposely challenge historical Truth? I don't know the answer to that. However, I will confirm in this review that the book does question the original stories as documented in the Bible. Me, I found it, purely from a fictional rewrite to be lacking in credibility. The ending seems meant for purely shock value, perhaps? I found it a sad attempt. Even I could have considered many other options with which to conclude the book. Especially in relation to Rebecca's personal project...
More importantly, in my opinion, if you are unable to explore Truth in any and all ways, including about the Bible, don't read the book. I enjoyed 99% of the book, and would recommend it... If you are not? Then this and many other "truths" which are really misinformation, may be accepted as truth... You see, the alternative history is "possible" in concept... My only problem was the failure to achieve credibility for the alternative ending presented. Just as many are accepting lies as truth based upon lack of willingness to do the research...
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