Virals - Kathy Reichs

Tory Brennan is the great niece of the famous Tempe Brennan. She's not long in being united with her father, Kit, and finds herself living with him on a deserted research island. She's clever like her aunt and soon has the small group of kids near her age following her lead. Having a soft spot for dogs she frees a wolf being held in the lab and nurses him back to health with some strange side effects for her and her friends. They then discover the remains of a missing girl from the 60's. However, someone is determined that they don't dig any deeper. Even going as far as shooting at them. That doesn't stop Tory though who convinces her friends to continue looking into it. Her aunt wouldn't give up in her shoes.

I like the Tempe Brennan books. They have a lot of things wrong with them in regards to writing but they are entertaining. Even the obvious story lines and coincidences amuse me. This one though managed to irritate me within the first page or so. Almost every thought from Tory's mind is in done in a one word sentence. Probably to highlight the heavy sarcasm but it's still annoyingly frustrating. Plus, while Tory is meant to be an intelligent 14 year old she somehow manages to sound like a genius with great social skills. She has those island boys, who are a few years older, doing exactly what she wants. Yet she can't fit in to her school.

I read in another review before I picked it up that this is really just a set up for a series. It certainly comes across this way. The plot of the cold case is drowned out by the supernatural element which is clearly going to be the theme through the series. Seems a shame that it overshadowed the mystery as I think it would have stood better as a teen crime novel.

The one worded sentences don't go away but eventually I was able to forget about it (or ignore it). I did find myself caught up in the story. A little against my better judgement since I still found the writing style to be annoying. Not the worst book I have ever read but I do think that Reichs would be better sticking to her usual crime books.

Grave Secrets - Kathy Reichs

Temperance Brennan is working in Guatamala helping to uncover the victims of a massacre 20 years before. Whilst there she is asked by local police to look into the disappearance of four young girls. All have mysteriously disappeared in the last year. The local policeman who is working alongside Tempe believes that it is the work of one person. When remains are found it is feared that it is one of the missing girls. However, before Tempe can determine who the victim is a higher authority has them taken away from her and she is refused access. Tempe has no choice but to continue to investigating without them and hope that she can discover exactly what happened to these missing girls.

I have to be honest that I was unsure of this one at first. I wasn't sure I liked the complete change of setting. It just didn't feel right. That quickly changed however and this became one of my favourites. It made a nice change that Tempe was working with a different group of people. Although that didn't last long as her investigation soon headed back to her home in Canada (what are the chances right? Mind you one of the girls was the daughter of the Canadian Ambassador). Of course this also means that detective Ryan is involved. I know I said in the last review that I wasn't really interested in Tempe's personal life but more in her work. This is still true but it filled in the gaps that reading book 6 ahead of time created. It didn't quite fill in the gaps in regards to her daughter so I must be missing something there.

I did like the plot and again I wasn't really expecting the ending. I should have guessed though as everything tied in together. Not unusual you say but in a Reichs book even something that seems unrelated somehow ties in. This was definitely the case here. What I love about these books though is that Tempe's other work still continues even if she is helping a murder investigation. She goes home for two days and is back in the office working on some other projects. For that reason it has a touch of reality. In real life everything else doesn't just stop.

That's me read all my Tempe Brennan books. Will be a while before I pick up more but I definitely will. I'm not bored of them yet.

Fatal Voyage - Kathy Reichs

Temperence Brennan is sent in to help identify victims of a commercial plane crash. The cause of the crash is unknown and many are speculating that it could have been deliberate. The remains are scattered over the mountains of North Carolina which makes Temp's job that little bit more difficult. She does manage to find a foot that somehow doesn't fit in with any of the passengers on the flight manifest. It also seems to be older too. However, someone doesn't want her investigating where it came from. No sooner has she made inquiries when she is kicked off the team and her reputation is called in to question. The people she has worked with the longest are no longer supporting her so Temp is on her own. She has to find out what happened to this person and clear her name.

This is the book I should have read when I read book six a while back (stupid boxset listing them in the wrong order). I didn't feel like it filled in any gaps though. Temp's personally life is still up in the air with her daughter gone awol and her not knowing where she stands with Ryan. I have to admit that for once the personal life of the main character doesn't really interest me all that much. In these books, for me anyway, it's all an aside. I could live without it although it does of course add to the main characters personality. It did amuse me how Ryan, a Canadian detective, was worked into the story.

I enjoyed the plot itself and felt Temp's frustrations as so many people were willing to believe that she would do a bad job and tarnish her reputation. At the same time though it was a little unbelievable how quickly it happened. She was frozen out straight away and not a single person above her was willing to question it or stand up for her. I think in reality it wouldn't have happened quite like that. For the purpose of the book though it had too. I also wouldn't want to be a friend of Temp's. They all seem to appear in each book, Temp is close to them and then they are murdered or badly hurt.

A good ending too. Wasn't quite expecting it. I never really do expect it with her books mind you. There is usually always some big conspiracy theory going on and this one was no different. It certainly makes them different.

December Mini Reviews!

Yep, I am going to be lazy and do some mini reviews for Decembers books. If I don't they won't get posted at all. I had said that December was going to be my classic month. Well that didn't happen. When busy I need light reads. I knew this and yet I was still determined to have a classic month. Lesson learned. I managed one classic and it took me over three weeks to read (with a few light ones in between).

 Set during WWI and then during the Russian Revolution. The families of both Doctor Zhivago and Lara face hard times much like everyone else in Russia. Their paths cross several times and despite being married they fall in love. I quite enjoyed this book. I think that it just wasn't the right time for me to be reading it. For that reason it dragged quite a bit. If I had more time to devote to it I think this would have been a firm favourite and I would have devoured it. Found the historical side of the book to be just as interesting as the main story itself. Russian history is a subject I have long wanted to learn more about although this was set in the one era I know something about.

 Caroline Stewart has finally found safety for herself and her son. She is working towards a law degree and the horrors of her abusive husband are far behind her. She then meets new boss Max and decides to learn to trust again. Unfortunately her past may be coming back to haunt her as husband is on the hunt for his presumed dead wife and son. This is the first book by Karen Rose. Was interesting as a lot of the characters featured in the last book I had reviewed not that long ago. Different from the others so far as we know who is behind the murders. Just what I needed when I had so much on I had no time to think.

 Steven Thatcher is investing the abduction and murders of young teenage girls. At home he is raising three boys on his own. His oldest is acting out and his youngest is still recovering from a previous trauma. Then teacher Jenna Marshall walks into his life concerned about his eldest. She bares a remarkable resemblance to the dead girls. Not only is he falling for her but he may have to protect her too. This is the second book by the author. Like the others there is some character cross over. Thatcher has a small part to play in the first book and it's in that one his youngest son is kidnapped. Back to the 'who done it' style which, if I am honest, I prefer. Aspects of it seemed similar to one of her other books though.

 Mrs Fry is the long suffering wife of Stephen Fry. Unaware of her husbands other life she believes him to be a lay about window cleaner who has a thing for the woman next door. Meanwhile she brings up their six or seven children. Like a lot of people I came across Mrs Fry on twitter. It wasn't long after that this book came out. I have always loved Stephen Fry and the tweets of the supposed Mrs Fry amused me. Was a little disappointed with this though. It wasn't as funny as I was expecting it to be. The tweets are definitely funnier. A pleasant distraction though.

Temperance Brennan is preparing for a long awaited beach holiday when she comes across some human remains thanks to her dog. Somehow these remains and those of a small baby are linked to a plane crash. Brennan's investigating gets her in trouble but she is determined to find out who is behind those deaths. I am pretty sure I have read this one out of order. There were some things mentioned that I know I haven't read before. That didn't much matter though as I could still follow what was going on. Another good read from Kathy Reichs although I think I preferred the first few in the series.