Bare Bones

Amazon.com
"As I was packaging what remained of the dead baby, the man I would kill was burning pavement north toward Charlotte."

With this opening sentence, Kathy Reichs serves notice that her heroine, Temperance Brennan, is in for one of her scariest, most gruesome adventures yet. As fans of this popular series already know, Tempe is a forensic anthropologist: an expert in the human form (especially bones) who helps solve crimes. The abovementioned infant is only the first in a series of grisly remains, both human and animal, that Tempe must sort through and decode. Meanwhile, as several seemingly unrelated cases begin to intertwine, her sleuthing puts her in the crosshairs of a very nasty stalker who hides behind an e-mail alias.

Reichs knows how to keep the narrative ball rolling with a canny mix of plot developments, character delineation, and scientific detail, all relayed in Tempe's smart, breezy, sarcastic voice. In fact, Bare Bones has a few too many characters and plot lines for Reichs--or most readers--to keep perfect track of. But it's a fun ride anyway, enlivened by some steamy romantic scenes and some fascinating, appalling information about the illicit trade in endangered wildlife (did you know that bears' gall bladders fetch more money per ounce than cocaine?). Bare Bones is a crisp, enjoyable read that cements Kathy Reichs's standing as the best forensic-thriller writer at work today. --Nicholas H. Allison


From Publishers Weekly
Feisty forensic anthropologist Temperance (Tempe) Brennan is supposed to be on vacation, but body parts keep turning up. At the start of her sixth adventure, she's awaiting the arrival of her current flame, Quebecois sleuth Andrew Ryan, so she can head for the beach near her hometown of Charlotte, N.C. Before he shows up, she's called in to use her world-class forensics skills when a local janitor's infant granddaughter is found dead and charred in an oven. Then some strange, decomposing remains (" `Human?' `I'm not sure' ") are discovered by Brennan's dog during a barbecue at a local lakeside resort. Ryan finally arrives, but Brennan's vacation is indefinitely put on hold when a small plane crashes nearby. Two people are dead, and her expertise is required yet again ("The skull had suffered massive communitive fracturing on impact. The fire had done the rest"). Brennan eventually realizes that all three cases are linked to a drug-smuggling ring that also dabbles in poaching exotic animals. As she pursues her investigations, she is forced to work with "Skinny" Slidell, a redneck cop who rubs her the wrong way, but tension is defused by the presence of Ryan, who gamely gives up his vacation to pitch in. He matches Brennan quip for quip, and Tempe's dog, Boyd, provides extra comic relief. Reichs has built a reputation on cut-to-the-chase writing and swift plotting, and this latest effort delivers everything her fans have come to expect. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Too many plots and too many suspects overwhelm this sixth episode of the Temperance Brennan series. Our heroine is stalked, attacked, imprisoned, and snake bit. The forensic anthropologist is working on several difficult cases at once, dog-sitting her ex's "best friend," enjoying her daughter, and trying to dally with a handsome Canadian. Sadly, a series of weak set-ups is used to get the science across. "Refresh my memory about..." or "Ever heard of...?" signals a lecture. Moving from forensics to drugs to exotic animal smuggling, Michele Pawk's performance keeps things lively, although her delivery of data sounds like data, not the conversation of professionals. Mixed metaphors and a melodramatic story line won't matter to Tempe's many fans, and Pawk's reading does put some meat on mostly bare bones. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
A giant step up from her lackluster Grave Secrets (2002), Reichs' latest puts her right up there with Patricia Cornwell's early Kay Scarpetta mysteries. The similarities are obvious--single woman forensic specialist (Reichs' character is Tempe Brennan, who splits her time between North Carolina and Canada) with a daughter, a romantic interest, a generally repellent but perspicacious detective in the background, and an abundance of gory detail and science fact. This time Tempe is in North Carolina, poking her keen investigative nose into what seems at first to be an alarmingly sprawling mess that includes everything from bear bones to a headless corpse. But unlike in Grave Secrets, Reichs manages to pull mostly everything together here (though not without a quick fix or two), and her character's dedication, intelligence, dry wit, and femininity (her romance with Andrew Ryan, lieutenant-detective of the Surete du Quebec, takes a pleasant leap forward) really shine through. A comeback that's definitely hard to put down. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
Sunday Tribune (U.K.) Scalpel-sharp....Suspense-filled.

The New York Times Fascinating.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"It's a summer of sizzling heat in Charlotte where Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for the North Carolina medical examiner, looks forward to her first vacation in years. A romantic vacation. She's almost out the door when the bones start appearing." "A newborn's charred remains turn up in a woodstove. The mother, Tamela Banks, hardly more than a child herself, has disappeared. Did she kill her infant, or is an innocent teenager also about to become a victim?" "A small plane crashes in a North Carolina cornfield on a sunny afternoon. Both pilot and passenger are burned beyond recognition. Was it pilot error? Something more sinister? And what is the mysterious black substance covering the bodies?" "Most puzzling of all are the bones discovered at a remote farm outside Charlotte. What has Tempe's dog, Boyd, unearthed? The remains seem to be of animal origin, but Tempe is shocked when she gets them to her lab." "With help from a special detective friend. Tempe must investigate a poignant and terrifying case that comes at the worst possible moment. Daughter Katy has a new boyfriend who Tempe fears may have something to hide. And important personal decisions face Tempe. Is it time for emotional commitment? Will she have the chance to find out?" Everything must wait on the bones. What story do they tell? Why are the X rays and DNA so perplexing? Who is trying to keep Tempe from the answers? Someone is following her. Someone is following Katy. That someone must be stopped before it's too late.

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

… the science is fascinating, and every minute in the morgue with Tempe is golden. — Marilyn Stasio

Publishers Weekly

Feisty forensic anthropologist Temperance (Tempe) Brennan is supposed to be on vacation, but body parts keep turning up. At the start of her sixth adventure, she's awaiting the arrival of her current flame, Quebecois sleuth Andrew Ryan, so she can head for the beach near her hometown of Charlotte, N.C. Before he shows up, she's called in to use her world-class forensics skills when a local janitor's infant granddaughter is found dead and charred in an oven. Then some strange, decomposing remains (" `Human?' `I'm not sure' ") are discovered by Brennan's dog during a barbecue at a local lakeside resort. Ryan finally arrives, but Brennan's vacation is indefinitely put on hold when a small plane crashes nearby. Two people are dead, and her expertise is required yet again ("The skull had suffered massive communitive fracturing on impact. The fire had done the rest"). Brennan eventually realizes that all three cases are linked to a drug-smuggling ring that also dabbles in poaching exotic animals. As she pursues her investigations, she is forced to work with "Skinny" Slidell, a redneck cop who rubs her the wrong way, but tension is defused by the presence of Ryan, who gamely gives up his vacation to pitch in. He matches Brennan quip for quip, and Tempe's dog, Boyd, provides extra comic relief. Reichs has built a reputation on cut-to-the-chase writing and swift plotting, and this latest effort delivers everything her fans have come to expect. (July 1) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

At last, Reichs fans who have waited patiently for the next entry in her Tempe Brennan series will be rewarded. In this sixth novel (following Grave Secrets) Tempe has returned home from Guatemala and is finally preparing for the romantic vacation that never was with Canadian cutie Andrew Ryan when a baby is found incinerated in a wood stove, two victims of a plane crash are burned to an unidentifiable crisp, and a pile of bones dug up by Tempe's dog is discovered to include portions of a human hand. With the trip put on hold, Tempe and Ryan sort through the evidence that draws them closer to solving the crimes. Like Brennan, Reichs is a forensic anthropologist practicing both in North Carolina and Quebec. Her intimate knowledge of forensics and crime scene investigations makes for an honest rendition of a thrilling tale. Though often compared to Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta, Tempe Brennan stands alone above other characters in the genre. Highly recommended for all popular fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/03.]-Nanci Milone Hill, Lucius Beebe Memorial Lib., Wakefield, MA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews