Reading "Altar of Bones" by Philip Carter was like reading a two-hour movie of the week. It's got everything you could want in a fast-paced action-oriented novel, including car chases, assassination attempts, exposed conspiracy theories, riddles, potentially supernatural elements, sexual tension, good guys, bad guys, (and sometimes you aren't sure which is which)...you get the idea. Everything but the kitchen sink is thrown at you leading to a page-turning read.

"Philip Carter" is a pseudonym for an internationally renowned author. I'm not sure who it is yet but this book is obviously not a first attempt by a new author. The two main characters, while not showing National Book Award level characterization, (who would want that in a thriller book anyway?) are well drawn and for the most part, I cared what happened to them. I did have some issues with the secondary characters. There are quite a few of them and they tended to be a bit one-dimensional. Perhaps a little more characterization with fewer supporting characters might be preferable. My favorite thriller novels always have fantastic bad guys and I felt this novel fell a little short in that regard, thus knocking it down one star but still, I enjoyed this one a lot.