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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Kathy Reichs is one of my favourite authors. I've read all of her Temperance Brennan books, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of the latest one in the series, A Conspiracy of Bones.
As the title suggests, this story is all about conspiracy theories! Temperance's old boss and mentor has recently died and she doesn't get on with his replacement, Margot. After a very public falling-out, Tempe finds herself sidelined but can't resist doing an investigation of her own when she disagrees with the findings of Margot's latest case - a faceless corpse found in the woods. Tempe is convinced that the victim was a believer in conspiracy theories, but who is he really? And which was the theory that got him killed?
Tempe has recently recovered from an aneurysm and is suffering from blackouts and migraines, which adds to the eerie tension - including a super-spooky bit where she may or may not have been abducted. Tempe is helped by former detective Erskine 'Skinny' Slidell, now working as a private investigator, "a combination of bluster and paunch and bad polyester". I loved his sarcastic comebacks when Tempe tries to tell him how to do his job.
The only thing that stopped this book getting a five-star rating was that sometimes I found it hard to get my head around all the different conspiracy theories. There were a lot of explanations when I'd rather Tempe had been out there chasing down bad guys. I did enjoy the author's notes at the end of the novel, explaining how she had been inspired to write this story.
Tempe fans will love A Conspiracy of Bones but if you've not read the series before, you'll find it makes more sense if you've read some of the author's earlier books. If you are familiar with this series, make sure you read the novella First Bones from her anthology The Bone Collection or, like me, you'll spend the first few chapters wondering when and how her boss died!
Thank you to Kathy Reichs and Simon and Schuster UK for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.
As the title suggests, this story is all about conspiracy theories! Temperance's old boss and mentor has recently died and she doesn't get on with his replacement, Margot. After a very public falling-out, Tempe finds herself sidelined but can't resist doing an investigation of her own when she disagrees with the findings of Margot's latest case - a faceless corpse found in the woods. Tempe is convinced that the victim was a believer in conspiracy theories, but who is he really? And which was the theory that got him killed?
Tempe has recently recovered from an aneurysm and is suffering from blackouts and migraines, which adds to the eerie tension - including a super-spooky bit where she may or may not have been abducted. Tempe is helped by former detective Erskine 'Skinny' Slidell, now working as a private investigator, "a combination of bluster and paunch and bad polyester". I loved his sarcastic comebacks when Tempe tries to tell him how to do his job.
The only thing that stopped this book getting a five-star rating was that sometimes I found it hard to get my head around all the different conspiracy theories. There were a lot of explanations when I'd rather Tempe had been out there chasing down bad guys. I did enjoy the author's notes at the end of the novel, explaining how she had been inspired to write this story.
Tempe fans will love A Conspiracy of Bones but if you've not read the series before, you'll find it makes more sense if you've read some of the author's earlier books. If you are familiar with this series, make sure you read the novella First Bones from her anthology The Bone Collection or, like me, you'll spend the first few chapters wondering when and how her boss died!
Thank you to Kathy Reichs and Simon and Schuster UK for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.
Real score 3.85. I wasn’t expecting another Temperance Brenner book. She feels lost.
I'd been super-eagerly anticipating this 19th release of the Temperance Brennan series and as such, had it on pre-order for a couple of months and delved right in when I received my copy.
Reichs delivered on the forensic detail, as always. This time, the narrative felt somewhat more emotional than what I was used to, but that could easily be attributed to the major changes that Tempe goes through (partly mirroring Reichs' own health scare). The mystery was intriguing, albeit a little convoluted (too many themes, each not really delved into). However, while there were a couple of twists, it wasn't quite up to the standard of previous books – it felt as if the final twist never really came and the pace of the plot stalled.
I will never not buy a book of this series and meeting up with Tempe again felt like meeting a friend after years of separation, but all in all this remained a little lackluster – like a fuse fizzling out before reaching the powder keg. While it isn't the best of the series, that doesn't mean it's not a good read.
Reichs delivered on the forensic detail, as always. This time, the narrative felt somewhat more emotional than what I was used to, but that could easily be attributed to the major changes that Tempe goes through (partly mirroring Reichs' own health scare). The mystery was intriguing, albeit a little convoluted (too many themes, each not really delved into). However, while there were a couple of twists, it wasn't quite up to the standard of previous books – it felt as if the final twist never really came and the pace of the plot stalled.
I will never not buy a book of this series and meeting up with Tempe again felt like meeting a friend after years of separation, but all in all this remained a little lackluster – like a fuse fizzling out before reaching the powder keg. While it isn't the best of the series, that doesn't mean it's not a good read.
Sadly not up to Reichs' usual standard, with Temperance doing things that are so out of character (albeit with a suggestion of a reason for that) that it didn't really feel like the same person.
Another good Temperance Brennan crime novel-the latest in this series. It was a little slow to start with but once you got about 1/4 of the way in the pace improved and the plot got a lot more interesting.
Sad to say, this is the last Reichs book I'll be reading. I was hoping for an improvement on the last one and it hasn't happened. I dont know if it's just me, but her writing style seems to have changed over the last 2 books and I don't enjoy it at all. Also, Tempe has become a bit of a b***h! Such a shame for what used to be a great series.
As always, it was a quite okey book. What an odd thing to read about Tempe’s conditions and operation and what not but not having heard any of it before. It felt a bit under-explained.
The story itself was quite thrilling, though not as good as others I’d say. The oddest thing was the whole product placement bit—it felt like there were more specific products named and advertised than in a tv show riddled with ad breaks. Hope that is not gonna continue into the next few books.
The story itself was quite thrilling, though not as good as others I’d say. The oddest thing was the whole product placement bit—it felt like there were more specific products named and advertised than in a tv show riddled with ad breaks. Hope that is not gonna continue into the next few books.
I found the story moved along swiftly at the beginning but seemed to get bogged down in the details about half way through. Unfortunately I found the book less enjoyable than I normally would as Tempe decided to turn almost full time private investigator which was slightly disheartening. I also found it a bit difficult to keep up with the characters.
Despite this the story has many twists and turns to keep you guessing. Some subject matter is slightly disturbing but such is the nature of crime. The science as usual is handled brilliantly. There’s a lot going on for one story (it’s a conspiracy after all) so depending on your preference this can either be a good thing or not..
Despite this the story has many twists and turns to keep you guessing. Some subject matter is slightly disturbing but such is the nature of crime. The science as usual is handled brilliantly. There’s a lot going on for one story (it’s a conspiracy after all) so depending on your preference this can either be a good thing or not..
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot