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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don't know if this is one of my favorites in this series, but it's different. She wrote it kind of choppy, where part of the ending is already known to the reader at the beginning of the book. It doesn't give it away, but this is one of her more obvious novels. Sometimes her books have an out-of-the-blue ending, where the reader doesn't have all the information needed to figure out the ending at all. This one was pretty clear all the way through. Still like this series though! Hopefully Ryan and Tempe can work it out the right way!
I haven't read any of Kathy Reich's previous books, a fact which had me somewhat leery as I picked up this one. Sometimes, especially with books in a long series, it is almost impossible to understand what is going on if you try to jump in mid-series. I was pleasantly surprised to find that in this instance my fears were unfounded. 206 Bones is a great read, plain and simple, with lots of action and great characters.
Reich's series is very popular, so much so that it has in fact led to the creation of Bones, a television series based on the books. I've seen a few episodes of Bones, so I was a bit surprised to find that the books take place in Canada. I actually preferred the setting of the novel, and found myself wondering why they changed it. Attempting to further fuel our egocentric Americanism perhaps? But, I digress.
206 Bones begins with the main character, Dr. Temperance Brennan finds herself buried alive. She has no memory of how or why she is in this situation, and only slowly do the memories come flooding back to her mind. Recently, Tempe has been investigating the mysterious deaths of several older women; victims of violent attacks which may or may not be the work of a single individual. Her focus on the cases has been somewhat compromised by some troubling mishaps that have occurred in Tempe's own autopsy suites. These mishaps have begun to undermine the confidence of her superiors, and have eventually result in Tempe even beginning to question her own competence. Meanwhile, her relationship with her longtime co-worker/love interest Lieutenant Ryan has moved into undefined and unresolved territory. What these circumstances have to do with Tempe's own deadly situation remain to be seen.
I really enjoyed the dual mystery aspect of this novel. It was interesting to read as Tempe tried to piece together the reasons for her situation. Reich's pacing was excellent, as she never gave too much away, but she didn't unravel the story so slowly that it was frustrating. I found myself really getting emotionally involved with the characters, especially Tempe. I don't want to give anything away in this review, so I will simply say that Tempe is suffering from some co-worker related troubles throughout the novel. Reichs had me fuming right along with Tempe against the injustice of it all. In short, if you haven't read any of Reich's books and are looking to give one a try, you can't go wrong with this one.
Reich's series is very popular, so much so that it has in fact led to the creation of Bones, a television series based on the books. I've seen a few episodes of Bones, so I was a bit surprised to find that the books take place in Canada. I actually preferred the setting of the novel, and found myself wondering why they changed it. Attempting to further fuel our egocentric Americanism perhaps? But, I digress.
206 Bones begins with the main character, Dr. Temperance Brennan finds herself buried alive. She has no memory of how or why she is in this situation, and only slowly do the memories come flooding back to her mind. Recently, Tempe has been investigating the mysterious deaths of several older women; victims of violent attacks which may or may not be the work of a single individual. Her focus on the cases has been somewhat compromised by some troubling mishaps that have occurred in Tempe's own autopsy suites. These mishaps have begun to undermine the confidence of her superiors, and have eventually result in Tempe even beginning to question her own competence. Meanwhile, her relationship with her longtime co-worker/love interest Lieutenant Ryan has moved into undefined and unresolved territory. What these circumstances have to do with Tempe's own deadly situation remain to be seen.
I really enjoyed the dual mystery aspect of this novel. It was interesting to read as Tempe tried to piece together the reasons for her situation. Reich's pacing was excellent, as she never gave too much away, but she didn't unravel the story so slowly that it was frustrating. I found myself really getting emotionally involved with the characters, especially Tempe. I don't want to give anything away in this review, so I will simply say that Tempe is suffering from some co-worker related troubles throughout the novel. Reichs had me fuming right along with Tempe against the injustice of it all. In short, if you haven't read any of Reich's books and are looking to give one a try, you can't go wrong with this one.
This is my first introduction to the Temperance Brennan books, and I think this was a particularly bad place to start. However, it also left me with no desire to ever read Kathy Reichs again so this will probably be my only experience with these books. But my thoughts are definitely going to be skewed by this being my first book in the series, despite it being book 12.
First, it was incredibly confusing. Most procedural cop thriller series can be read out of order just fine. Authors generally do a quick summary at the beginning of the major players, family situations, romances, etc in case you're starting here. This book had that a little, but not right at the beginning and it only gave background information on Brennan and Ryan, the two main players. I had no idea who the other people in the lab were, and it was incredibly relevant to this story in particular. By the end of the book, there were at least a half dozen people who I knew by name alone and couldn't give you any additional information. And they weren't meant to be minor characters, I don't think.
And then the plot. It took me until about halfway through the book to realize what the plot was. It was a mystery within the lab itself instead of a specific case (there were in fact several different cases involved). I think that made this a particularly bad place to start in the series since it wasn't a typical case, although of course I can't speak for what the other books are like. The cases involved were pretty basic and Brennan didn't actually do much work in solving any of them. The main lab mystery took over her story, but it was so obvious. Like painfully obvious. One character was bad. Everyone hated them. They were continuously annoying and mean. They were described as evil. Plot twist, they were the villain. What a shock.
I also really couldn't stand the writing style. She included so much unnecessary information, either in pages of narration or paragraphs and paragraphs of dialogue. The worst was on page 99 when I seriously considered dnfing the book (and probably should have). Brennan says the town name reminds her of Mohawks, monks, and monastery cheese. Then proceeds to go on about those topics for two and a half pages despite it literally having no relevance to the story. It happened all the time. Random information on Chicago Transit Authority, the entire backstory of Brennan's exhusband's extended family, long explanations of technical forensics information that was pretty hard to follow as someone who knows nothing. When she included stuff like the cheeks being wide and that indicating a certain race, that was cool. When she wrote three long paragraphs about how the sternum was formed, not so much. I started skimming about a hundred pages in because it was intolerable.
There was also just so much unnecessary stuff, even when it wasn't in paragraphs of random information. When Ryan was driving, it would say what streets he turned on. There were long pages about Brennan getting food poisoning even though it contributed nothing to the story. At one point she randomly went to North Carolina to hang out with her daughter and the whole thing was vaguely described in summary. I was honestly just kind of lost. I didn't understand why she was including so much extraneous stuff.
Brennan was super annoying. I understand why they changed her character in the tv show. I could hardly stand her narration in the book when I was quickly skimming. She would whine and whine about how she'd go home to an empty house and how Ryan (her on again, off again, on again, off again, on again, ad infinitum boyfriend) didn't care about her anymore, but then people would ask her to hang out or offer her rides and she'd refuse and insult them. At one point she asked Ryan to hang out and he said he couldn't because he was picking up his daughter in the morning, who he was estranged from and had a heroin addiction. He didn't want to risk being late. Brennan said she understood, and then in narration went on about how she didn't understand and felt abandoned by him. That is one of the most understandable rejections I've ever seen. And those are just two examples, but that was what she was like for the entire book.
The ending was the trope where after it's all over, Brennan and Ryan sit down and explain what happened to each other/the reader, which was really annoying. I much prefer seeing the drama play out than being told about it after the fact. Just in general, it seemed like most of this book was pretty big on telling over showing.
And I wanted to add that yes, I watched the Bones tv show and enjoyed it. This book was very different in terms of characters and story (Booth is Andrew Ryan in the book and they're from Canada, Brennan has an exhusband and an adult daughter, and there are a million other differences). But the differences didn't bother me because I didn't expect them to be at all similar. This isn't a one star review because I was expecting it to be like Bones the show. This was a one star because I found it thoroughly unpleasant.
Honestly, I was just so confused for this whole book. Confused and bored. I'm not too picky with cop thrillers most of the time. I don't care if they're amazing. I just want them to be entertaining for a couple of hours. This was negative entertainment, if that's possible. Perhaps other books in the series are better, but I won't be finding out. This was a weird one because it was laboratory mystery instead of specific case mystery, but even then, the overall writing style and characters were just unpleasant. I wouldn't say don't pick up this series if you're looking to give it a try, but definitely don't start with this book.
First, it was incredibly confusing. Most procedural cop thriller series can be read out of order just fine. Authors generally do a quick summary at the beginning of the major players, family situations, romances, etc in case you're starting here. This book had that a little, but not right at the beginning and it only gave background information on Brennan and Ryan, the two main players. I had no idea who the other people in the lab were, and it was incredibly relevant to this story in particular. By the end of the book, there were at least a half dozen people who I knew by name alone and couldn't give you any additional information. And they weren't meant to be minor characters, I don't think.
And then the plot. It took me until about halfway through the book to realize what the plot was. It was a mystery within the lab itself instead of a specific case (there were in fact several different cases involved). I think that made this a particularly bad place to start in the series since it wasn't a typical case, although of course I can't speak for what the other books are like. The cases involved were pretty basic and Brennan didn't actually do much work in solving any of them. The main lab mystery took over her story, but it was so obvious. Like painfully obvious. One character was bad. Everyone hated them. They were continuously annoying and mean. They were described as evil. Plot twist, they were the villain. What a shock.
I also really couldn't stand the writing style. She included so much unnecessary information, either in pages of narration or paragraphs and paragraphs of dialogue. The worst was on page 99 when I seriously considered dnfing the book (and probably should have). Brennan says the town name reminds her of Mohawks, monks, and monastery cheese. Then proceeds to go on about those topics for two and a half pages despite it literally having no relevance to the story. It happened all the time. Random information on Chicago Transit Authority, the entire backstory of Brennan's exhusband's extended family, long explanations of technical forensics information that was pretty hard to follow as someone who knows nothing. When she included stuff like the cheeks being wide and that indicating a certain race, that was cool. When she wrote three long paragraphs about how the sternum was formed, not so much. I started skimming about a hundred pages in because it was intolerable.
There was also just so much unnecessary stuff, even when it wasn't in paragraphs of random information. When Ryan was driving, it would say what streets he turned on. There were long pages about Brennan getting food poisoning even though it contributed nothing to the story. At one point she randomly went to North Carolina to hang out with her daughter and the whole thing was vaguely described in summary. I was honestly just kind of lost. I didn't understand why she was including so much extraneous stuff.
Brennan was super annoying. I understand why they changed her character in the tv show. I could hardly stand her narration in the book when I was quickly skimming. She would whine and whine about how she'd go home to an empty house and how Ryan (her on again, off again, on again, off again, on again, ad infinitum boyfriend) didn't care about her anymore, but then people would ask her to hang out or offer her rides and she'd refuse and insult them. At one point she asked Ryan to hang out and he said he couldn't because he was picking up his daughter in the morning, who he was estranged from and had a heroin addiction. He didn't want to risk being late. Brennan said she understood, and then in narration went on about how she didn't understand and felt abandoned by him. That is one of the most understandable rejections I've ever seen. And those are just two examples, but that was what she was like for the entire book.
The ending was the trope where after it's all over, Brennan and Ryan sit down and explain what happened to each other/the reader, which was really annoying. I much prefer seeing the drama play out than being told about it after the fact. Just in general, it seemed like most of this book was pretty big on telling over showing.
And I wanted to add that yes, I watched the Bones tv show and enjoyed it. This book was very different in terms of characters and story (Booth is Andrew Ryan in the book and they're from Canada, Brennan has an exhusband and an adult daughter, and there are a million other differences). But the differences didn't bother me because I didn't expect them to be at all similar. This isn't a one star review because I was expecting it to be like Bones the show. This was a one star because I found it thoroughly unpleasant.
Honestly, I was just so confused for this whole book. Confused and bored. I'm not too picky with cop thrillers most of the time. I don't care if they're amazing. I just want them to be entertaining for a couple of hours. This was negative entertainment, if that's possible. Perhaps other books in the series are better, but I won't be finding out. This was a weird one because it was laboratory mystery instead of specific case mystery, but even then, the overall writing style and characters were just unpleasant. I wouldn't say don't pick up this series if you're looking to give it a try, but definitely don't start with this book.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
I was a little disappointed in this book. I finished it, but it really didn't keep my attention. I loved this series, but the last two books have been disappointing.
I believe I've reached the point in the series where someone is very busy with their successful tv show and doesn't really have time to write a book, but decides to publish one anyway.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This one had more of a twist than the others! Usually I have someone pegged but I was wrong this time.
How many guilty have gone free and how many innocent have been convicted? ...Whether it's bad methodology, sloppy performance, or intentional misconduct, jurors can't always spot junk science. It an expert wears the white lab coat, it's science.
Written in 2009 and followed up on in 2012, these words sound eerie when put into context, considering that Trump and his "alternative facts" campaign was to follow just a short time later. Clearly, the problem of junk science had already started.
Issues surrounding official board certification, roles of a technician vs scientist, the privatisation of forensics, junk science, professional sabotage and slander - these themes and others similar play a central role in this procedural. As usual, Dr Brennan has a variety of bones (this time, in Montreal as well as Chicago) that she must identify and determine COD. And of course work with Detective Ryan to find those responsible. As well as escape from attackers and avoid being kidnapped (as per usual). In this book, instead of jumping into one of the underbelly worlds like in Reichs' early books - cults, motorbike gangs, plane crashes and drug smuggling, etc. - we instead turn inwards, examining the forensics process itself.
We also have a growing tally of elderly women that have been killed. One killer? Or several? Who would take such violent advantage of the feeblest members of society?
There's not a tonne to say about the book - 206 Bones is a lot like the other books in the series. Classic examples of a forensically-focussed procedural, these books are good for providing intrigue, informing using science and reasoning, and creating a growing urgency with the rising body count. In addition to the typical Montreal background, we also get a short glimpse of Chicago and hear a little of Brennan's childhood backdrop.
While as with the other books, the TV show and the books share little more than a MC's name and occupation, there are a few overlaps. In this book, Brennan mentions the Innocence Project and brings up issues surrounding fake science, unlicensed techs masquerading as scientists and the issues surrounding using science to help juries (largely consisting of laypeople with no scientific background) to convict the right criminals - which are all things that have come up in the show. And another thing -
Altogether, a quick procedural read with some interesting issues at heart, and similar in style to the earlier books. If you've read any other books in the series, you know what you're getting. If not, while you don't have to read them exactly in order, some of the personal stuff won't have as much meaning if you didn't read a few of the early books first (though the mystery will still carry the same weight).
Written in 2009 and followed up on in 2012, these words sound eerie when put into context, considering that Trump and his "alternative facts" campaign was to follow just a short time later. Clearly, the problem of junk science had already started.
Issues surrounding official board certification, roles of a technician vs scientist, the privatisation of forensics, junk science, professional sabotage and slander - these themes and others similar play a central role in this procedural. As usual, Dr Brennan has a variety of bones (this time, in Montreal as well as Chicago) that she must identify and determine COD. And of course work with Detective Ryan to find those responsible. As well as escape from attackers and avoid being kidnapped (as per usual). In this book, instead of jumping into one of the underbelly worlds like in Reichs' early books - cults, motorbike gangs, plane crashes and drug smuggling, etc. - we instead turn inwards, examining the forensics process itself.
We also have a growing tally of elderly women that have been killed. One killer? Or several? Who would take such violent advantage of the feeblest members of society?
There's not a tonne to say about the book - 206 Bones is a lot like the other books in the series. Classic examples of a forensically-focussed procedural, these books are good for providing intrigue, informing using science and reasoning, and creating a growing urgency with the rising body count. In addition to the typical Montreal background, we also get a short glimpse of Chicago and hear a little of Brennan's childhood backdrop.
While as with the other books, the TV show and the books share little more than a MC's name and occupation, there are a few overlaps. In this book, Brennan mentions the Innocence Project and brings up issues surrounding fake science, unlicensed techs masquerading as scientists and the issues surrounding using science to help juries (largely consisting of laypeople with no scientific background) to convict the right criminals - which are all things that have come up in the show. And another thing -
Spoiler
the betrayal of a lab assistant and the misconduct of evidence tampering is something that was also a major plot point on the TV show. A quick google reveals that that would have aired in 2008, around the time that this book was written. OK, one is professional sabotage and the other was due to grooming by a serial killer, but the similarities are there. Surely not a conincidence.Altogether, a quick procedural read with some interesting issues at heart, and similar in style to the earlier books. If you've read any other books in the series, you know what you're getting. If not, while you don't have to read them exactly in order, some of the personal stuff won't have as much meaning if you didn't read a few of the early books first (though the mystery will still carry the same weight).