Bare Bones: A Novel - Hardcover

Reichs, Kathy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743233468 ISBN 13: 9780743233460

Publisher: Scribner, 2003

Synopsis

Her plans for a romantic vacation interrupted by the discoveries of two murdered bodies and a small plane crash, Tempe Brennan traces leads to an isolated North Carolina farm, where she receives assistance from canine companion Boyd and an out-of-town friend. 250,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

"As I was packaging what remained of the dead baby, the man I would kill was burning pavement north toward Charlotte."

With this opening sentence, Kathy Reichs serves notice that her heroine, Temperance Brennan, is in for one of her scariest, most gruesome adventures yet. As fans of this popular series already know, Tempe is a forensic anthropologist: an expert in the human form (especially bones) who helps solve crimes. The abovementioned infant is only the first in a series of grisly remains, both human and animal, that Tempe must sort through and decode. Meanwhile, as several seemingly unrelated cases begin to intertwine, her sleuthing puts her in the crosshairs of a very nasty stalker who hides behind an e-mail alias.

Reichs knows how to keep the narrative ball rolling with a canny mix of plot developments, character delineation, and scientific detail, all relayed in Tempe's smart, breezy, sarcastic voice. In fact, Bare Bones has a few too many characters and plot lines for Reichs--or most readers--to keep perfect track of. But it's a fun ride anyway, enlivened by some steamy romantic scenes and some fascinating, appalling information about the illicit trade in endangered wildlife (did you know that bears' gall bladders fetch more money per ounce than cocaine?). Bare Bones is a crisp, enjoyable read that cements Kathy Reichs's standing as the best forensic-thriller writer at work today. --Nicholas H. Allison

About the Author:

Kathy Reichs, like her fictional creation, Temperance Brennan, is forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. A professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Reichs received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal. Bare Bones is her sixth Temperance Brennan novel. Déjà Dead brought her fame when it became a New York Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. Her website is www.kathyreichs.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0743233468
• ISBN 13: 9780743233460
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320