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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Thought the subject matter was a tough one I do like these books and poor Tempe she's not lucky in love at least not this book
Loved it, and as a Bones fan, I've grown weary of fans of the show bashing the novels. The show is inspired by Kathy's work, making it the most scientifically accurate show on TV that's still fictional, but the series is helmed by Hart Hanson. If there's an episode you adore it's likely written by him. So, instead of complaining about how different the books are, be happy Kathy wrote them or we wouldn't even have the series. I will now get down off my soap box.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
“The basilar suture is unfused. There are no wisdom teeth, and the second molars show minimal wear.”
Fans of Kathy Reichs and the medical thriller genre would probably agree that Temperance Brennan is a real woman, a well-developed character with strengths, flaws and an interesting personality. But in Bones to Ashes, Reichs filled in a very interesting piece of Brennan back story detailing a significant piece of her childhood in South Carolina and her heart-warming friendship with an Acadian girl, Évangéline Landry, who vanished in her early teens and mysteriously dropped out of Brennan’s life. Years later (in a coincidence that will stretch any reader’s credibility taut, if not to the breaking point), Brennan has cause to study fragments of a human skeleton that she comes to believe could be the remains of her long lost and lamented friend. On top of that, her erstwhile lover, detective Andrew Ryan, asks for her help in a cold case involving a number of missing and dead girls that he believes are the victims of a possible serial killer working around water. As the details of these two sub-plots unfold, readers will have that coincidence credibility meter pushed well into the red zone as the two stories begin to interweave to become a single investigation of murder, human trafficking and child pornography.
Ongoing readers of the Temperance Brennan series will also enjoy watching her personal relationships with one-time lover Detective Ryan, her ex-husband Pete who is now engaged to be married, and her sister Harry become ever more tortuously knotted.
Frankly, the “thriller” part of Bones to Ashes, while not quite mundane or pedestrian, was, at best, workmanlike and only passably interesting. For my tastes, it was also needlessly byzantine and complex. On the other hand, Bones to Ashes was still quite compellingly readable for reasons that had nothing to do with its thriller content. I found the non-fictional side-bar descriptions of the history of leprosy, the history of the Acadian language, people and culture in Canada and, in particular, the very detailed history of leprosy and its treatment in Acadia to be interesting and informative little known Canadiana. As a Canadian who takes pride in being fluent in both of our official languages, I thoroughly enoyed Reichs’ amusing examples of Québecois Joual and Acadian Chiac, local vernacular French dialects that have diverged markedly from their Parisian French origins over the years in Canada. And, as always, Reichs treatment of forensic anthropology, which is never, never dumbed down in any way, is endlessly instructive and fascinating.
Two stars for the story. Four stars for the character background and the side-bar history essays. Round out the overall rating at three stars plus a definite recommendation to Reichs’ fan base.
Paul Weiss
Fans of Kathy Reichs and the medical thriller genre would probably agree that Temperance Brennan is a real woman, a well-developed character with strengths, flaws and an interesting personality. But in Bones to Ashes, Reichs filled in a very interesting piece of Brennan back story detailing a significant piece of her childhood in South Carolina and her heart-warming friendship with an Acadian girl, Évangéline Landry, who vanished in her early teens and mysteriously dropped out of Brennan’s life. Years later (in a coincidence that will stretch any reader’s credibility taut, if not to the breaking point), Brennan has cause to study fragments of a human skeleton that she comes to believe could be the remains of her long lost and lamented friend. On top of that, her erstwhile lover, detective Andrew Ryan, asks for her help in a cold case involving a number of missing and dead girls that he believes are the victims of a possible serial killer working around water. As the details of these two sub-plots unfold, readers will have that coincidence credibility meter pushed well into the red zone as the two stories begin to interweave to become a single investigation of murder, human trafficking and child pornography.
Ongoing readers of the Temperance Brennan series will also enjoy watching her personal relationships with one-time lover Detective Ryan, her ex-husband Pete who is now engaged to be married, and her sister Harry become ever more tortuously knotted.
Frankly, the “thriller” part of Bones to Ashes, while not quite mundane or pedestrian, was, at best, workmanlike and only passably interesting. For my tastes, it was also needlessly byzantine and complex. On the other hand, Bones to Ashes was still quite compellingly readable for reasons that had nothing to do with its thriller content. I found the non-fictional side-bar descriptions of the history of leprosy, the history of the Acadian language, people and culture in Canada and, in particular, the very detailed history of leprosy and its treatment in Acadia to be interesting and informative little known Canadiana. As a Canadian who takes pride in being fluent in both of our official languages, I thoroughly enoyed Reichs’ amusing examples of Québecois Joual and Acadian Chiac, local vernacular French dialects that have diverged markedly from their Parisian French origins over the years in Canada. And, as always, Reichs treatment of forensic anthropology, which is never, never dumbed down in any way, is endlessly instructive and fascinating.
Two stars for the story. Four stars for the character background and the side-bar history essays. Round out the overall rating at three stars plus a definite recommendation to Reichs’ fan base.
Paul Weiss
I picked up this Temperance Brennan novel at the library book sale, pretty sure that I hadn't seen this before. Luckily I was right.
I needed a good book to get me back into reading for fun, rather than schoolwork. This was it. I devoured this one in 2 days. The TV show Bones is based on the Temperance Brennan novels but I personally love the novels more although I really enjoy the show.
Bones to Ashes takes us to Brennan's past as her baby brother dies, her father dies and her mom and sister and her are uprooted to live with her Gran. Brennan meets a girl named Evangeline and they play together every summer until Evangeline disappears. No one wants to talk about her disappearance and Brennan is told it's very "dangerous" and to go away.
In present time, several corpses have landed in Brennan's lab, including the old skeleton of a girl who is possibly Brennan's old friend. Several disappearances of young girls over several years has Ryan, Hippo and Brennan rushing to trying to figure the case out before another young girl ends up missing.
A very fast paced and ultimately surprising book.
I needed a good book to get me back into reading for fun, rather than schoolwork. This was it. I devoured this one in 2 days. The TV show Bones is based on the Temperance Brennan novels but I personally love the novels more although I really enjoy the show.
Bones to Ashes takes us to Brennan's past as her baby brother dies, her father dies and her mom and sister and her are uprooted to live with her Gran. Brennan meets a girl named Evangeline and they play together every summer until Evangeline disappears. No one wants to talk about her disappearance and Brennan is told it's very "dangerous" and to go away.
In present time, several corpses have landed in Brennan's lab, including the old skeleton of a girl who is possibly Brennan's old friend. Several disappearances of young girls over several years has Ryan, Hippo and Brennan rushing to trying to figure the case out before another young girl ends up missing.
A very fast paced and ultimately surprising book.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
This was my first Tempe book, and I really liked it. I loved Kathy Reichs' writing & will be buying more of her books.