Recommendations based on "Altar of Eden"

The acclaimed author of Shooting at Midnight has penned a thriller like no other ... the no-holds-barred story of a bodyguard with the ultimate assignment: protecting a woman who also happens to be the most hunted killer in the world...Code-named Drama, she is a lightning-fast death machine — a hitwoman sought by intelligence agencies around the world. Drama kills as easily as she breathes ... and the last time she and Atticus Kodiak met, they barely escaped each other alive.Atticus Kodiak has a reputation as one of the toughest bodyguards in the business. He’s used to picking his assignments and calling the shots. But all that changes when he is forced to take on Drama as a client — the last person he ever imagined would need his protection.This time, Drama is the one who is running from a killer. She needs Atticus’s help, and she won’t take no for an answer. To prove it, she abducts a high-profile member of the royal family whom Atticus has sworn to protect. He will do almost anything to get the woman back. But what Drama needs from him will destroy his reputation — and siding with her means he can never turn back.From New York’s Russian enclaves to the Swiss Alps and the Caribbean, Atticus becomes Drama’s protector, and her only hope for survival as she tries to outlive and outrun her bloody past. But once immersed in Drama’s high-stakes, covert world, Atticus breaks a cardinal rule: He gets to know Drama as a woman rather than just a client — and it’s a bond that could cost them both their lives.For the men hunting Drama are capable of unspeakable violence — of sins that make Drama’s own look like the acts of an amateur. And they will stop at nothing to see her dead....A masterful work by one of the most unique voices in the field, Critical Space combines high-voltage, high-tech action with swift, terrifying brutality. The result is Greg Rucka’s most explosive thriller to date — a powerhouse of a novel destined to become a classic of modern suspense.

Who does the U.S. government call upon when a mission requires perfect stealth, execution, and discretion? Meet the newest recruits to the expanding Sigma Force universe--former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his stalwart companion, Kane, a military working dog of exceptional abilities -- in:THE KILL SWITCHThe mission seems simple enough: extract a pharmaceutical magnate from Russian soil, a volatile man who holds the secret to a deadly bioweapon. But nothing is as it appears to be. A conspiracy of world-shattering scope unravels as Tucker and Kane struggle to keep one move ahead of their deadly enemies.From the frozen steppes of Russia to the sun-blasted mountains of South Africa and Namibia, a biological threat millions of years in the making strikes out at the heart of America. All that stands in the way from a global apocalypse: one man and his dog. But can even Tucker and Kane thwart an ecological menace out of the ancient past to save the world's future?

A LEGENDARY WEAPON. A RUTHLESS ASSASSIN. A PERILOUS HUNT.  Excalibur . . . Legend has it that he who carries King Arthur’s mighty sword into battle will be invincible. But for more than a thousand years, the secret to the whereabouts of this powerful weapon has been lost . . . until now.Archaeologist Nina Wilde is hoping for a little R&R with her fiancé, former SAS bodyguard Eddie Chase. But the couple’s plans are dashed when a meeting with an old acquaintance propels Nina and Eddie into a razor’s-edge hunt across the globe—battling a team of elite mercenaries who will stop at nothing in order to claim a prize every treasure hunter has coveted since the final days of Camelot. Nina and Eddie must do everything they can to keep the legendary blade from falling into the wrong hands. Because the truth behind the sword’s power—and those who seek it—will not only shock the world but plunge it into a new and more devastating era of war.

"I''ve always had temendous fun with Dirk Pitt, but nothing has given me more pleasure than the opportunity to send him to that most fabled of lost lands, Atlantis, and virtually reinvent aspects of its civilization. I hope you have as good a time reading Atlantis Found as I had writing it!"-Clive Cussler September 1858: A shore party from a whaling ship that has been locked in the solid pack-ice of Stefansonn Bay, Antarctica, stumbles upon a derelict British merchantman from a previous century. The British ship - the Madras - is trapped between two giant floe-bergs, hummocks frozen together and grounded on the shore. Below decks the sailors discover a grisly scene: passengers and crew, frozen in various positions of death, keeping a ghostly watch over crates of odd antiquities and a life-sized human skull carved from black obsidian. Thus begins Atlantis Found, a breathtaking thriller by the internationally acclaimed grand master of adventure fiction, Clive Cussler. With fourteen consecutive bestsellers and over one hundred million copies in print, Cussler has long since proven himself one of America''s most popular authors, and his hero, Dirk Pitt, one of America''s most avidly read fictional characters. Now Cussler, an expert in combining suspense and tension with high-tech wizardry and riveting action, sends Pitt on what may be the most hair-raising adventure of this career. No less than the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. More than 140 years after the merchantman''s discovery, Dr. Patricia O''Connell, an expert in ancient languages, is called to Colorado to investigate mysterious inscriptions carved into the walls of a chamber found deep inside an abandoned mine. The excitement generated by the inscriptions, and by the discovery of another exquisitely carved black obsidian skull, quickly turns to dismay when a blast seals O''Connell and two others within the chamber. They narrowly escape death thanks to the timely intervention of Dirk Pitt - Special Projects Director for the National Underwater and Marine Agency - who had been exploring a complex system of waterways inside the mountain. It soon becomes clear to Pitt, and his buddy Al Giordino, that the blast was intentionally set and that a group of killers, fanatically devoted to what they call "The Fourth Empire," is intent on exterminating anyone who comes into contact with the ancient artifacts. Pitt and his NUMA colleagues - working with Dr. O''Connell - make a startling discovery. The carved inscriptions and skulls are remnants of an ancient seafaring civilization that navigated and mapped the globe four thousand years before the Egyptians raised the pyramids. The artifacts represent not only a record of the global catastrophe that wiped the ancient mariners from the face of the earth but also a warning of the next cataclysm to future generations. The search for information about the artifacts, and the ancient culture from which they sprung, takes a further bizarre turn when Pitt travels to Antarctica to locate the Madras and any additional clues she might be carrying. The NUMA research ship he is on is fired upon and nearly sunk by impossibility - a Nazi U-boat from a war that had ended fifty-six years earlier. The unanswered questions pile up: What is the Fourth Empire? How has an organization with a worldwide army of elite killers operated for years without the finest intelligence services in the world figuring out who they are and what they''re up to? What is the link between the artifacts and the Empire? Could they be planning to recreate the cataclysm foretold by the ancient mariners? Like all of Cussler''s stories, Atlantis Found propels readers forward by combining fast-paced action, exciting characters, and a maze of unforgettable plot twists and turns that have become a hallmark of this number-one New York Times-bestselling author. With a supporting cast of recurring characters - NUMA Director Admiral James Sandecker, Deputy Director Rudy Gunn, Hiram Yeager, St. Julien Perlmutter - and a cameo appearance by Cussler himself, this Dirk Pitt adventure novel is guaranteed to keep both new readers and die-hard fans on the edge of their seats.

In this thrilling novel from New York Times bestselling author Randy Wayne White, Doc Ford returns to his stilt house on Dinkin's Bay to find an old friend and one-time lover waiting for him. Her real-estate developer husband has disappeared and been pronounced dead, and she's sure there's worse to follow--and she's right. Following the trail, Ford ends up deep in the Everglades, at the gates of a community presided over by a man named Bhagwan Shiva (formerly Jerry Singh). Shiva is big business, but that business has been a little shaky lately, and so he's come up with a scheme to enhance both his cash and his power. Of course, there's the possibility that some people could get hurt and the Everglades itself damaged, but Shiva smells a killing.And if that should turn out to be literally, as well as figuratively, true...well, that's just too damned bad.

A war is coming, a battle that will stretch from the prehistoric forests of the ancient past to the cutting-edge research labs of today, all to reveal a true mystery buried deep within our DNA, a mystery that will leave readers changed forever . . . In this groundbreaking masterpiece of ingenuity and intrigue that spans 50,000 years in human history, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes us to mankind’s next great leap. But will it mark a new chapter in our development . . . or our extinction? In the remote mountains of Croatia, an archaeologist makes a strange discovery:  a subterranean Catholic chapel, hidden for centuries, holds the bones of a Neanderthal woman. In the same cavern system, elaborate primitive paintings tell the story of an immense battle between tribes of Neanderthals and monstrous shadowy figures. Who is this mysterious enemy depicted in these ancient drawings and what do the paintings mean? Before any answers could be made, the investigative team is attacked, while at the same time, a bloody assault is made upon a primate research center outside of Atlanta. How are these events connected? Who is behind these attacks?  The search for the truth will take Commander Gray Pierce of Sigma Force 50,000 years into the past. As he and Sigma trace the evolution of human intelligence to its true source, they will be plunged into a cataclysmic battle for the future of humanity that stretches across the globe . . . and beyond. With the fate of our future at stake, Sigma embarks on its most harrowing odyssey ever—a breathtaking quest that will take them from ancient tunnels in Ecuador that span the breadth of South America to a millennia-old necropolis holding the bones of our ancestors. Along the way, revelations involving the lost continent of Atlantis will reveal true mysteries tied to mankind’s first steps on the moon. In the end, Gray Pierce and his team will face to their greatest threat: an ancient evil, resurrected by modern genetic science, strong enough to bring about the end of man’s dominance on this planet. Only this time, Sigma will falter—and the world we know will change forever.

In this New York Times bestseller, Detective Michael Bennett must race against time to save New York City from chaos by tracking down the source of two mysterious attacks.New Yorkers aren't easily intimidated, but someone is doing their best to scare them, badly: why? After two inexplicable high-tech attacks, the city that never sleeps is on edge. Detective Michael Bennett, along with his old pal, the FBI's Emily Parker, have to catch the shadowy criminals who claim responsibility-but they're as good at concealing their identities as they are at wreaking havoc. In the wake of a shocking assassination, Bennett begins to suspect that these mysterious events are just the prelude to the biggest threat of all. Soon he's racing against the clock, and against the most destructive enemy he's faced yet, to save his beloved city-before everyone's worst nightmare becomes a reality.

The #1 bestselling author of The Collectors and Simple Genius returns with STONE COLD...an unforgetable novel of revenge, conspiracy, and murder that brings a band of unlikely heroes face-to-face with their greatest threat.Oliver Stone, the leader of the mysterious group that calls itself the Camel Club, is both feared and respected by those who've crossed his path. Keeping a vigilant watch over our leaders in Washington, D.C., the Camel Club has won over some allies, but it has also earned formidable enemies-including those in power who will do anything to prevent Stone and his friends from uncovering the hidden, secret work of the government.Annabelle Conroy, an honorary member of the Camel Club, is also the greatest con artist of her generation. She has swindled forty million dollars from casino king Jerry Bagger, the man who murdered her mother. Now he's hot on her trail with only one goal in mind: Annabelle's death. But as Stone and the Camel Club circle the wagons to protect Annabelle, a new opponent, who makes Bagger's menace pale by comparison, suddenly arises.One by one, men from Stone's shadowy past are turning up dead. Behind this slaughter stands one man: Harry Finn. To almost all who know him, Finn is a doting father and loving husband who uses his skills behind the scenes to keep our nation safe. But the other face of Harry Finn is that of an unstoppable killer who inevitably sets his lethal bull's-eye on Oliver Stone. And with Finn, Stone may well have met his match.As Annabelle and the Camel Club fight for their lives, the twists and turns whipsaw, leading to a finale that is as explosive as it is shattering. And when buried secrets are at last violently resurrected, the members of the Camel Club left standing will be changed forever.With unrelenting pacing, stunning reversals, and two of the most compelling characters in modern fiction, STONE COLD is David Baldacci writing at his breathtaking best.

"A riveting thriller with a family in crisis at the core. It's my kind of book." --Brad Taylor, bestselling author of American Traitor In this action-packed debut thriller for fans of C. J. Box and Jack Carr, DEA agent Garrett Kohl fights to protect his home on the Texas High Plains when a vicious criminal enterprise comes after his family From a former CIA intelligence officer and consultant for the Department of Defense comes the first in a series following a decorated undercover DEA special agent. Garrett Kohl has traveled the world--and fought in most of it--but it's the High Plains of northwest Texas he calls home and dreams of returning to one day. Kohl is in the middle of an assignment in Afghanistan when his commander orders him back to Texas on a short mission expected to take a week at most. But Kohl is unsettled to discover that he's moved from one kind of war to another. The once-peaceful ranching community he loves is under attack by a band of criminals who have infiltrated law enforcement, corrupted local businesses, and are now terrorizing Kohl's own family. Hoping to prevent bloodshed, Kohl tries to resolve matters peacefully. But when the group strikes first, he has no choice but to go on the attack. Unfortunately for the criminal crew, besides being an elite undercover officer for the DEA, Garrett Kohl is a battle-hardened Green Beret who spent the better part of his career hunting terrorists. Although outnumbered and outgunned, Kohl knows the wild and forsaken Llano Estacado region of Texas better than anyone. And like so many trespassers before them, these murderers will find out the hard way that the only thing tougher than this land is the people who call it home.

Punished for his maverick ways, FBI agent Mark Beamon has been exiled from Washington, D.C., to a sleepy Southwest office where he's got one last chance to play by the rules. But that's not going to happen, not when he's on a case that may be too hot even for his unorthodox talents to handle. A local millionaire and his wife are brutally murdered. Jennifer, their teenage child and sole heir, is the prime suspect - and she's gone missing. Laying everything on the line, Beamon sets off on a trail that takes him from a remote survivalist's cabin in the Utah mountains, through the labyrinthine headquarters of a cultlike church, into the shadowy, interlocking boardrooms of a powerful high-tech communications empire. Just when he thinks he's close to finding answers, Beamon discovers the killing of Jennifer's parents is far more sinister than even he could have guessed. Now he isn't just looking for a young girl - he's got to stop a bizarre conspiracy that could bring America to its knees . . .