Marian's 2015 Reads - 'Bones Are Forever'

via kathyreichs.com

Title: 'Bones Are Forever'
Author: Kathy Reichs
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 2012
Pages: 283 (excluding the bonus section of 'Forensic Files')
Genre: Crime

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan discovers infant remains in a decrepit apartment in Saint-Hyacinthe. The tenant of the apartment was a woman named Alma Rogers, according to the landlord. Shortly after discovering the owner, a man named Ralph Trees visits the crime scene to look for Alva Rodriguez. Who are these people? Or do these names belong to one woman?

Tempe, along with detectives Andrew Ryan and Oliver Hasty, head to the Northwest Territories, which are well-known for their diamond mines and also the place where Alma/Alva is located. This homicide investigation expands to a range of family issues and exhumations of other corpses.

I have to admit that Brennan and Ryan weren't well-written in this recent adaptation of Dr. Reichs' brilliant series. They argued a lot over the fact that Brennan's old flame, Oliver, joined them in solving this case. Ryan was being extremely overprotective of Brennan when Oliver tried to make moves on her, which I thought was very adorable. What I also found to be gruesome was that infants were murdered. When I face situations like these, fictional or real, I would ignore it and move on to another topic, but in this case I just had to face it head-on.

Let's compare this Dr. Brennan to the one they have on 'Bones'. I am aware that the TV Brennan is based on Dr. Reichs, but if this figure were to be in this novel, she wouldn't have a deep connection to the very young victims. The novel Brennan, however, experienced horrifying dreams about the babies and wanted to vent out to her friends and family. If I were to be either, I'd be the latter. It would be very difficult for me to solve this investigation without having the urge to take comfort in my peers or even writing my feelings in a diary.

I recommend this novel to people who are emotionally stable and/or are conspiracy theorists. I don't recommend this novel to people who have never read this series. I suggest that you start with Déjà Dead or a couple of books after that.


- M ★

Marian's 2015 Reads - 'Fatal Voyage'

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Title: 'Fatal Voyage'
Author: Kathy Reichs
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 2001
Pages: Over 360 (I estimate)

I think you are getting sick of me reviewing Kathy Reichs books since you probably don't have a strong interest in forensic anthropology as I do. I promise that I will review a book by another author on the 27th of April.

'Fatal Voyage' pursues Tempe Brennan as she examines the corpses of plane crash victims in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. While in the forest, she finds a foot which she later identifies it to belong to a man who was not part of the plane crash. The murderer of the mystery foot victim influences a marathon of homicides involving Tempe's colleagues and an explosion of controversy about Dr. Brennan's professional path.

The conspiracy and history behind the man's foot were attention-worthy. The only way I can describe the murderer without spoiling the book is that s/he does not have such a strong position, but has caused chaos that even celebrities cannot handle. Most killers in any sense are friends, business partners or family members of their victims, but it still astonishes me that the woman who scans your groceries could be the culprit. And because of this, I applaud Dr. Reichs for her creative power of pulling the reader into the story.

I recommend this story to people who have read Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series. Let's see who is the finer author, shall we?

Bonus Willow Pape reaction:

Since my friends have never read crime novels and tend to grab each other's books to scan, they found it odd that Dr. Reichs began the story with a cataclysmic beginning.
'I stared at the woman flying through the trees. Head forward, chin raised, arms flung backward like the tiny crone goddess on the hood of a Rolls-Royce. But the tree lady was naked, and her body ended at the waist.'
"What the heck are they talking about? Ew!" Jayden gasps as he closes the book.
It's great to have friends who have distinct tastes.

- M ★

Marian's 2015 Reads: '206 Bones' by Kathy Reichs

Picture via www.readings.com.au

Title: '206 Bones'
Author: Kathy Reichs
Publisher: William Heinemann London
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 374


Yes, another Kathy Reichs book to replace my fixation for the TV show. It seems like an odd sequence to read, from a 2011 book to a 2009 book. 

This novel begins with the protagonist, Dr. Temperance Brennan, stuck in a dark, cold tunnel - a captivating way to attract your readers. But before being placed there, Brennan and Lieutenant Andrew Ryan were in the process of investigating an elderly heiress' corpse, which Brennan was accused of mishandling the autopsy (she's a forensic anthropologist, not a pathologist!). In the middle of the novel, three more women are murdered and Brennan receives mysterious phone calls and threats. She suspects that those threats must be coming from her irritated neighbor or her ambitious pathologist rival, but the terrorist turns out to be unexpected.

I wouldn't consider this novel to be one of the best crime novels out there since Dr. Reich's way of taking Brennan's captivity story back and forth from different chapters is confusing, since I enjoy a book which stays in one continuous chronological structure.

Personally again, I do not recommend this book for first-time readers of Dr. Reichs, but for people who have read about four or five books from the Tempe Brennan series, since there are parts of the Brennan-Ryan love story.

- M ★

Marian's 2015 Reads - 'Flash and Bones' by Kathy Reichs

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Title: 'Flash and Bones'
Author: Kathy Reichs
Publisher: BCA
Publication Date: 2011 (this edition)
Pages: 271

'Flash and Bones' is a book which follows Temperance Brennan as she solves what happened to a body in an asphalt-filled barrel. A man, who happens to be a NASCAR crew member, reports to Brennan suspecting that the body might be his missing sister's or his missing sister's boyfriend. Is it really the NASCAR crew member's speculation, or is he wrong?

What I enjoyed most reading this book was when they got closer to the murderer, of course. The murderer actually revealed itself. What a crazy thing to do.
I also enjoyed the ending; it was clear and closed the book up perfectly.

I recommend this novel to people who are willing to expand their knowledge in either NASCAR or crime investigations. Before I bought this book, all I knew was that this would be my first taste of Kathy Reichs' work. I didn't anticipate that I would end up reading her other books in the 'Temperance Brennan' series.

- M ★