The Altar of Bones — Philip Carter

A priceless artifact worth killing for.
A conspiracy beyond imagining.
A mystery both wondrous and deadly....

From revelation to startling revelation, Philip Carter delivers a razor-sharp thriller that sets a new standard for compulsive international suspense.

Across the nation, three seemingly random individuals have ties with a woman who, decades ago, fled a Soviet prison camp with an ancient knowledge people would sell their souls to possess. Drawn into this web of danger are Ry O'Malley, a man on the run for his life; and Zoe Dmitroff, a San Francisco attorney caught up in her own deadly legacy. No one can be trusted in the corrosive game of cat-and-mouse that ensues -- one that spans a century, from the frozen Siberian terrain to the serpentine streets of Paris, from the explosive secrets of a doomed Hollywood legend to the deadly machinations of the KGB and the highest office of the United States...and ultimately to the guardians of an ancient religious icon.