Prophet of Bones

By: Ted Kosmatka

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Paul Carlson, a brilliant young scientist, is summoned from his laboratory job to the remote Indonesian island of Flores to collect DNA samples from the ancient bones of a strange, new species of tool user unearthed by an archaeological dig. The questions the find raises seem to cast doubt on the very foundations of modern science, which has proven the world to be only 5,800 years old, but before Paul can fully grapple with the implications of his find, the dig is violently shut down by paramilitaries.

Paul flees with two of his friends, yet within days one has vanished and the other is murdered in an attack that costs Paul an eye, and very nearly his life. Back in America, Paul tries to resume the comfortable life he left behind, but he can't cast the questions raised by the dig from his mind. Paul begins to piece together a puzzle which seems to threaten the very fabric of society, but world's governments and Martial Johnston, the eccentric billionaire who financed Paul's dig, will stop at nothing to silence him.

©2013 Ted Kosmatka (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Sci-fi thriller in a biblically accurate universe

Prophet of Bones posits an alternate universe where radiocarbon dating has conclusively proven the world is only 5800 years old (their Darwin was wrong). All the rest of science, including biology works normally. Our hero is a young man unwittingly entangled with forces and powerful people that he neither understands nor appreciates. His drive to decipher and understand inconsistencies and seemingly random actions on the part of the powers that be, drives the plot from a pure sci-fi to an alternative universe thriller and a potential global coverup.

The story is fast paced, although portions drag a bit with extended segments that are irrelevant to the overall plot (the flashbacks are less than useful). Once evolution has been eliminated from this universe the listener is face with deciding if the theme is one of a massive coverup to maintain the fiction of biological origins or if other machinations are afoot motivating the characters. There's little character development beyond a few central figures and the author presents little in the way of how this alternative world operates with so many biological contradictions. The ending is consistent with these skewed perspectives.

The narration is excellent with great attention to genders and age.

A Great Believable Story

This Story got my interest from the beginning, and kept it right up to the end.

If you liked Island of Dr Moreau, you'll love Prophet of Bones. Excellent Narration.

I was hesitant at first

The description made me hesitate to buy this title. But his other books (Flicker Men & The Games) we’re so good and I was craving more Kosmatka that i took the plunge and got this one too. No regrets. No preaching or anti-religion in this book as I suspected might be the case based on the description. But, like his other books, the premise in this book made me think about things a little differently and consider foreign concepts while and after I finished it. Oh, and the story had me captivated from start to finish. Did I mention I’m very picky when it comes to sci-fi?