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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
I wasn't sure what to think when I started this book, but it was about a lawyer and that was interest enough, but it definitely has some twists and turns. I'm taking a paralegal certification class while I was reading this & understood a lot of the legal terminology better than with previous books I've read, but dont expect everyone to be in the same boat.
This book was serviceable though I'm not exactly knocking over things to add it to my re-read list. It's an interesting yarn but a bit predictable. If you've got some hours to fill, go for it but your life won't be missing anything if you haven't read it.
Hankins has a great vision of how to write crime thrillers. His characters are memorable, the plot is often full of twists, and his main character's anecdotes and intelligence are both entertaining throughout. The character of Bonz(Bones) is really the driving force of the novel, and I wouldn't have minded to see a few chapters from his perspective. This leads me to the point that while the novel is immensely entertaining and kept me reading, there's not much of a reread value to it. Basically what I'm saying is there isn't multiple ways to read this book or multiple ways to look at it. It's a planned, solid plot without a lot of serious character changes throughout - at least we don't feel them as readers anyways because they aren't dwelled on enough. Basically, when the narrator goes through something traumatic, he either throws a funny bit of inner dialogue in or just moves on without dealing with it. This just leads to a lack of a complex read. However, Grossi, Siracuse and the rest of the mob were great villains throughout and this was a entertaining thriller that I would suggest to others.
James Hankins takes readers to the darkest alleys and streets, the homeless, the ruthless, and a criminal underworld for a complex and twisted crime thriller with BROTHERS AND BONES, keeping you glued to the pages, to learn about the mystery surrounding Charlie’s brother.
Charlie Beckham is a federal prosecutor for US Attorney’s office in Boston. A driven and successful attorney, he is engaged to his boss’ daughter. Charlie Beckham’s brother, Jake, a former investigative reporter went missing thirteen years ago, and he has been obsessed over the years trying to locate him.
Now, one morning on his way to court on the subway, he encounters a deranged homeless man, and the man calls him by a secret nickname-- only known by his brother Jake. He is astounded!
From this point on, Charlie is obsessed with this homeless man, Bonz. Could he be Jake, or does he know him? During his frantic and desperate search for this homeless man, he gets more than he bargained for.
Without giving away too much, Bonz was tortured by some evil men and has pretty much lost his mind; however, when he sees Charlie, some of his memory starts returning and could he possibly know what happened to Jake? There is a tape which is hidden and the bad guys want it. Think legal, mobs, thugs, hackers, mafia, corruption, homeless, conspiracy, and a brother's survival. . . good versus evil.
When I was approved for an ARC of James Hankins’ upcoming SHADY CROSS, 2/24/2015--due to date being further out, wanted to read a few of his previous books first. I really enjoyed Hankins’ inspiration for BROTHERS AND BONES, as he recalls working as a lawyer in Boston, and as he walked to the subway station daily, he frequently ran into a homeless man talking to himself and imagined what it would be like to have a conversation, thus the novel was born.
Charlie, the obsessed prosecutor joins forces with a homeless man against a murderous and dangerous conspiracy for a roller coaster suspenseful ride-- Hankins delivers a complex and riveting suspense thriller, mixed with sarcasm and humor!
The audiobook was narrated by John Rubinstein, and even though he did a good job, I kept wishing it was Peter Berkrot, my favorite thriller performer which would have taken it up another notch. Looking forward to reading more from this author. Hankins’ writing reminds me a little of J. Carson Black and Daniel Palmer, which I enjoy.
JDCMustReadBooks
Charlie Beckham is a federal prosecutor for US Attorney’s office in Boston. A driven and successful attorney, he is engaged to his boss’ daughter. Charlie Beckham’s brother, Jake, a former investigative reporter went missing thirteen years ago, and he has been obsessed over the years trying to locate him.
Now, one morning on his way to court on the subway, he encounters a deranged homeless man, and the man calls him by a secret nickname-- only known by his brother Jake. He is astounded!
From this point on, Charlie is obsessed with this homeless man, Bonz. Could he be Jake, or does he know him? During his frantic and desperate search for this homeless man, he gets more than he bargained for.
Without giving away too much, Bonz was tortured by some evil men and has pretty much lost his mind; however, when he sees Charlie, some of his memory starts returning and could he possibly know what happened to Jake? There is a tape which is hidden and the bad guys want it. Think legal, mobs, thugs, hackers, mafia, corruption, homeless, conspiracy, and a brother's survival. . . good versus evil.
When I was approved for an ARC of James Hankins’ upcoming SHADY CROSS, 2/24/2015--due to date being further out, wanted to read a few of his previous books first. I really enjoyed Hankins’ inspiration for BROTHERS AND BONES, as he recalls working as a lawyer in Boston, and as he walked to the subway station daily, he frequently ran into a homeless man talking to himself and imagined what it would be like to have a conversation, thus the novel was born.
Charlie, the obsessed prosecutor joins forces with a homeless man against a murderous and dangerous conspiracy for a roller coaster suspenseful ride-- Hankins delivers a complex and riveting suspense thriller, mixed with sarcasm and humor!
The audiobook was narrated by John Rubinstein, and even though he did a good job, I kept wishing it was Peter Berkrot, my favorite thriller performer which would have taken it up another notch. Looking forward to reading more from this author. Hankins’ writing reminds me a little of J. Carson Black and Daniel Palmer, which I enjoy.
JDCMustReadBooks
Die Geschichte wird aus der Perspektive von Charlie Beckham erzählt, einem jungen Staatsanwalt, der mit seinen ganz eigenen Dämonen zu kämpfen hat: Seit 13 Jahren wird sein Bruder Jake vermisst und Charlie kann dieses Verschwinden bis heute nicht auf sich beruhen lassen. Er wird den Gedanken nicht los, dass sich Jake damals in irgendwelche Machenschaften verstrickt hatte, die ihm letztendlich zum Verhängnis wurden. Und trotzdem will er sich bis heute nicht eingestehen, dass sein Bruder tatsächlich tot ist. Seine Hoffnung, Jake lebend wiederzufinden, wird erneut geschürt, als er eines Tages von einem Obdachlosen mit seinem Spitznamen „Wiley“ angesprochen wird. Die einzige Person, die ihn jemals so genannt hatte, war Jake. Als Charlie sich dessen bewusst wird und sich deshalb auf die erneute Suche nach diesem Obdachlosen macht, ahnt er nicht, dass er eine Reihe von unaufhaltsamen Ereignissen ins Rollen bringt, die ihn selbst in Gefahr bringen.
Meine Meinung:
Ich fand diese Einleitung und die Idee, die hinter der Geschichte steckt, wirklich spannend und vielversprechend – genauso wie es sich eigentlich für einen Thriller gehört. Leider konnte aber die weitere Handlung dann nicht ganz das halten, was sie versprach und der Autor hat viel Potential verschenkt. Zum einen verliert er sich immer wieder in ständigen Wiederholungen und Zusammenfassungen über das gerade Geschehene, so dass man sich als Leser manchmal fragen musste, ob der Autor einen für dumm hält. Gleichzeitig hatte er aber damit auch erreicht, dass die Geschichte stellenweise etwas langatmig wirkte. Und zum anderen bedient sich der Autor im Laufe der Story etwas zu sehr an der Klischeeschublade.
Die Story wirkte am Ende nicht ganz durchdacht und mir hat leider bis zuletzt der „Thrill“ gefehlt. Es gab zwar Versuche, überraschende Wendungen einzubauen, aber so richtig vom Hocker haben mich diese nicht gehauen - und wenn man halbwegs aufmerksam liest, konnte man sich einige dieser Enthüllungen schon denken. Ausserdem fand ich es etwas enttäuschend, dass letztlich jeder Charakter denselben Beweggrund für seine Handlungen hatte – und damit hat es sich der Autor, meiner Meinung, etwas zu einfach gemacht.
Das Ende fand ich dann leider richtig furchtbar. Ich will hier auch gar nicht verraten, was genau passiert, aber auch das hier führe ich wieder auf den Kritikpunkt zurück, dass der Autor die Story scheinbar nicht richtig durchdacht hatte. Das Ende wirkt abrupt, die Erklärungen sind nur halbherzig und ich fand vieles unlogisch.
Ein letzter Kritikpunkt ist der, dass mir die Charaktere irgendwie alle zu ähnlich waren. Bis auf die Beschreibungen ihrer äusseren Erscheinung, wirkten die Charaktere sehr unscheinbar und hatten kaum irgendwelche Eigenheiten, die herausstechen. Da hat mir ein wenig die Authentizität und Individualität gefehlt.
Alles in allem kein kompletter Reinfall, da die Story durchaus ihre Momente hat – kann man lesen, muss man aber nicht.
Meine Meinung:
Ich fand diese Einleitung und die Idee, die hinter der Geschichte steckt, wirklich spannend und vielversprechend – genauso wie es sich eigentlich für einen Thriller gehört. Leider konnte aber die weitere Handlung dann nicht ganz das halten, was sie versprach und der Autor hat viel Potential verschenkt. Zum einen verliert er sich immer wieder in ständigen Wiederholungen und Zusammenfassungen über das gerade Geschehene, so dass man sich als Leser manchmal fragen musste, ob der Autor einen für dumm hält. Gleichzeitig hatte er aber damit auch erreicht, dass die Geschichte stellenweise etwas langatmig wirkte. Und zum anderen bedient sich der Autor im Laufe der Story etwas zu sehr an der Klischeeschublade.
Die Story wirkte am Ende nicht ganz durchdacht und mir hat leider bis zuletzt der „Thrill“ gefehlt. Es gab zwar Versuche, überraschende Wendungen einzubauen, aber so richtig vom Hocker haben mich diese nicht gehauen - und wenn man halbwegs aufmerksam liest, konnte man sich einige dieser Enthüllungen schon denken. Ausserdem fand ich es etwas enttäuschend, dass letztlich jeder Charakter denselben Beweggrund für seine Handlungen hatte – und damit hat es sich der Autor, meiner Meinung, etwas zu einfach gemacht.
Das Ende fand ich dann leider richtig furchtbar. Ich will hier auch gar nicht verraten, was genau passiert, aber auch das hier führe ich wieder auf den Kritikpunkt zurück, dass der Autor die Story scheinbar nicht richtig durchdacht hatte. Das Ende wirkt abrupt, die Erklärungen sind nur halbherzig und ich fand vieles unlogisch.
Ein letzter Kritikpunkt ist der, dass mir die Charaktere irgendwie alle zu ähnlich waren. Bis auf die Beschreibungen ihrer äusseren Erscheinung, wirkten die Charaktere sehr unscheinbar und hatten kaum irgendwelche Eigenheiten, die herausstechen. Da hat mir ein wenig die Authentizität und Individualität gefehlt.
Alles in allem kein kompletter Reinfall, da die Story durchaus ihre Momente hat – kann man lesen, muss man aber nicht.
I liked it despite the serious flaws. It starts out great, draws you in and moves pretty well. But the balance between comedy and tragedy is off. The first and maybe best example of this is that the main character's parents were killed by a KFC bucket.
But the biggest issue is that a man who was 13 years homeless and crazy is suddenly Batman. And the conspiracy and the reason behind the main character's predicament stretches credulity. Also, it's ridiculous how many times guys are knocked out with one punch or a bonk on the head. I initially gave this a 3.5 but it really doesn't deserve that. A 3 May be too high, but I liked it.
But the biggest issue is that a man who was 13 years homeless and crazy is suddenly Batman. And the conspiracy and the reason behind the main character's predicament stretches credulity. Also, it's ridiculous how many times guys are knocked out with one punch or a bonk on the head. I initially gave this a 3.5 but it really doesn't deserve that. A 3 May be too high, but I liked it.
This was a good, quick read that had me wondering what would happen next. Although some of the other reviewers claimed it was "predictable," I didn't think it was, or at least not glaringly so. I suspected certain people were involved, but I thought that the author did a good job of making you question your suspicions, just like Charlie, our main character.
The only thing that actually did bug me was the constant reminder of how Charlie has an eidetic memory (a photographic memory, or a really great memory, etc). It kind of felt like any time he mentioned he was trying to remember something, he commented about his super memory or how he was was pulling up the mental pictures he'd taken. Constant reminders like that just annoy me. (It probably wasn't as frequent as it seemed, but once I pick up on something like that, it becomes very noticeable to me).
The only thing that actually did bug me was the constant reminder of how Charlie has an eidetic memory (a photographic memory, or a really great memory, etc). It kind of felt like any time he mentioned he was trying to remember something, he commented about his super memory or how he was was pulling up the mental pictures he'd taken. Constant reminders like that just annoy me. (It probably wasn't as frequent as it seemed, but once I pick up on something like that, it becomes very noticeable to me).