Virals Shows Off Kathy Reichs' Younger (But Still Scientific) Side

It took me over a month to listen to Kathy Reichs' new YA novel Virals via Audible on my iPod. That in no way indicates how much or little I liked the novel; it is simply a reflection of how little time I've been able to spend listening to an audio book. My opportunities to listen to audiobooks in the last month were fairly limited: in the car on the way to work and just before going to sleep at night. I enjoyed the narrator and the book; however, I think when the second Virals book is released I'll be picking up a copy or e-book of it rather than listening.

The reason for this is simple: Reichs is an amazing author whose books I always enjoy. I love her Tempe Brennan series, and I've read almost all of them. (I think there was only one I abandoned because I simply couldn't get into it.) But. She also is a master of dense descriptions, both in setting and in technical language. Although I enjoyed listening to the audio version of this book, I feel that I would have been able to sink myself into it more thoroughly if I had been able to see the words she had written rather than hearing them.

On every learning-styles quiz I've ever taken, I score highest in visual and verbal categories and lowest in auditory. As a result, most of the books I listen to are lighter in subject matter and less dependent on my hearing and remembering every word -- I simply won't be able to! Because Virals was YA, I expected (I guess) a dumbed-down version of Reichs' normal scientific prose.

Virals is fascinating because Reichs does exactly the opposite -- and it works. Rather than having anything dumbed-down, Reichs pulls her YA characters up to par with Tempe. The book's main character Tory Brennan (niece to Tempe) and her band of friends are anything but your normal teenagers. Rather, they are high-IQ geeks who know much about both the sciences and technology.

While visiting a local South Carolina island that is home to a research facility, Tempe and friends happen upon a set of Vietnam-era dog tags. When they break into a supposedly-abandoned lab to examine the dog tags more closely, they find a caged wolf-canine mix that has been infected with the parvovirus. After rescuing the dog, things begin to heat up for the group as the mystery deepens and murder seems to be at hand.

Reichs does an excellent job writing on a YA level that will appeal to teens, but she mixes in her own expertise in forensic sciences, as well. There is also a science-fiction element to the novel that will continue into the other books in the series. Reichs has, therefore, written a novel that will appeal to readers who enjoy some fantasy in their reading material -- and let's face it: that applies to many YA readers. The most popular YA series seem to have a certain fantastical element (at least, recently): the Twilight saga, the Hunger Games series, and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, just to name a few.

My only gripe with the book is with Tory's group of male friends. Ben, Hi, and Shelton were interesting as a group, but indistinguishable from one another. Especially with my listening to it rather than reading, I could tell almost no individual traits for these boys. I wanted to like them as individuals rather than as a group, but it was difficult to tell them apart. Hopefully in future installments, there will be story lines that separate them from one another.

Kathy Reichs is, of course, the author of the popular Tempe Brennan forensic anthropologist series. A new Virals series book, Seizure, will be released this fall.

Spider Bones Takes Tempe to Hawaii

Spider Bones was neither Kathy Reichs' best Tempe Brennan novel nor her worst. It was, instead, a good solid entry into the Tempe series. By the thirteenth novel in a series, I am primarily looking for a) more information about the main character b) some pivotal character growth and development c) a good, solid plot. Reichs delivered on all fronts, although perhaps not entirely to my satisfaction. However, Reichs also did one better in her change of setting. While beginning in Tempe's second home of Canada and also visiting in North Carolina, Tempe and friends then move their location for Spider Bones to the sunny islands of Hawaii.

When a body washes up on a lake shore in Canada, the circumstances are slightly unusual. As a result, Tempe is called in to investigate. No crime is uncovered, but a glitch in the identification of the body sends Tempe back to North Carolina. The man identified is both from Tempe's city -- a coincidence that has a way of popping up in Reichs' books a little too often -- and also already dead. In Vietnam. More than thirty years ago. Suffice it to say, Tempe has her work cut out for her. She contacts the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) offices in Hawaii for further analysis and to gather information on the body found all those years ago. Tempe travels to Hawaii in order to fulfill her responsibilities to the man identified in Canada and gets the opportunity to work with former colleagues at JPAC.

I was pleased with the location change Reichs offered in this Tempe novel. Hawaii was a nice change of scenery after many books set in Canada and North Carolina (although I enjoy those settings equally). I also always enjoy returning to a character who I like as much as I like Tempe. There are several series that I follow without fail, and Tempe ranks right up there with Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone, and Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski.

Reichs offers readers a glimpse into part of Tempe's life rarely seen before, her relationship with her daughter. She also brings Ryan back into the picture as he travels to Hawaii with his own daughter. However, the romance between the two is still as frustrating as ever. Reichs seems determined to drag that aspect of Tempe's life out with little conclusion thus far. (Which is not to say she doesn't give readers a little of what they would like to see... But no spoilers here! You'll have to read for yourself!) All in all, I was happy with Spider Bones and another slice of life for forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan.

Reichs, on her real-life connection with JPAC, and the story she tells in Spider Bones:

Kathy Reichs on Her Novel Spider Bones

Kathy Reichs also recently released a new YA novel titled Virals, which was named one of Amazon's Best Books of the Month in November 2010. It follows a storyline similar to the Tempe books, and actually works as a kind of spin-off. It stars Tempe's niece Tory and is set off the coast of South Carolina. I haven't read it yet, but I plan to (especially as I seem to be reading more and more YA lately). Visit Reichs' website for up-to-date information on the Tempe Brennan series novels, her new YA series, and the Fox television show Bones.

206 Bones Finds Tempe Doubting Herself & Plunged into Darkness

206 Bones is the latest book in the Tempe Brennan mystery series by Kathy Reichs. In the novel, Tempe revisits her old stomping grounds of Chicago, with Canadian detective Andrew Ryan in tow. Ostensibly in town to deliver a local body found in Montreal and to discuss the case with the Chicago coroner's office, the two also end up making a holiday visit to Tempe's ex-husband's family. Tempe is actually invited, as she is every year, but Ryan somehow makes his way into the fold and into the family's hearts -- much to Tempe's chagrin. Then the two are pulled back to Montreal with a new twist in the case.

I have to admit when I read that they were returning to Montreal rather than continuing their sojourn in Chicago, I was disappointed. Reichs had done well with setting the scene in Chicago, from explanations of the El to the multi-layered streets lining the Chicago River. I felt that the movement back to the oft-visited setting of Montreal was a way of returning to the safety of the known, rather than forging through a new experience. But I soon forgot about my disappointment, as the plot pulled me forward.

For the first time in many books, Reichs didn't focus on one specific topic (biker wars, DMORT's body recovery process, etc.), but rather just told a story involving Tempe. And Tempe was truly the star of this novel -- not her relationships (although, of course, there is continuance of the ongoing Ryan romance), not her family members (even though in-laws are present for some) -- just Tempe. Interspersed with the forward action was also a new element to the series: scenes of a missing Tempe. As she struggles to free herself from wrist and ankle constraints, and then to figure out where she is, Reichs throws readers bits and pieces of a captive Tempe. These are mixed into the regular action of the novel, so that in reading the background occurrences, suspense builds for the reader.

In 206 Bones, Tempe works on the Chicago case, examines other elderly missing women, seeks answers for a family missing since the 1960s, and deals with divisiveness within the pathology department. Meanwhile, readers attempt to figure out beforehand who has captured Tempe and is holding her within a black, unidentified space.

My only gripe with the book is in its final pages. Reichs attempts at that point to bring in a lesson, alluded to in very small ways throughout the book. Tempe and Ryan are discussing recent events, and Tempe goes into a stilted speech about credentials and licensing for forensic anthropologists. A valid point, but one perhaps better left to government hearings or professional conferences. Rather than talking like Tempe, the protagonist's words seemed lifted from a speech script Reichs might have written for herself in a professional setting. Still, two pages of awkward conversation a good book do not ruin. 206 Bones is yet another excellent entry in the Tempe Brennan series. Now I have no books to go until the new novel is released in August!

A CNN interview with Kathy Reichs, speaking about this novel:

Devil Bones Reveals Tempe's Vulnerable Side

I've been reading the entire Tempe Brennan series for the past few months, and sadly I've almost finished. Over the weekend, I read the eleventh (and next-to-last in the series thus far) book in the series. At this point, I have only one book left... But it's actually perfect timing, because Kathy Reichs will release another Tempe book in August. So one left to enjoy, and then a new book to read soon.

Devil Bones is the book Reichs has been leading up to with all of her other books. Reichs stated in a Q&A section at the end of the novel that her hope is that Tempe is both a professional with a depth of knowledge and an approachable character with whom readers feel a connection. She accomplishes this in various ways -- Tempe's constant romantic struggles, her unwavering devotion to her job, her alcoholism, and her conflicts with and love for her daughter. In Devil Bones Tempe finds herself in situations which address all of these real, human struggles.

While Tempe is in Charlotte for the fall UNCC semester, a plumber finds a gruesome discovery in a local basement. The organization and placement of the bones found are reminiscent of rituals, possibly from the fringe religion Santeria. Although the house has been empty for some time and is undergoing renovations by the new owners, Tempe and police investigators Slidell and Rinaldi soon find that the former tenant was a Santero, or healer. When two separate bodies turn up with signs of Satanism present in the killings, the team is led to investigate a local Wiccan man. The murders and bone discoveries, along with the possibility of them being linked to Satanism, stir up a political storm unlike anything Tempe has faced. Her temper flares, with disastrous results. To complicate matters, Andrew Ryan enters into the picture all the way from Montreal, and an old flame returns through Tempe's daughter Katy. Tempe is tempted more than ever by the warmth and numbing effect of alcohol, and for the first time we see her fail in her attempt to refrain from drinking.

Definitely one of Reichs's best entries in the Tempe series, the book also gained fame for being more than a good piece of literature. United Kingdom man Roshan Dantis cited the novel as inspiration for a murder he committed. In fact, Dantis renewed his library copy of the book just after murdering his friend's wife. In a statement about the murder and the claim that her book had anything to do with Dantis's actions, Reichs denied such a connection.

My Big Fat What-I-Read-On-My-Road-Trip Post

Last Thursday morning, my boyfriend & I left bright and early to go on a weekend road trip. We had been invited by his brother & sister-in-law to stay at a cabin an hour or two south of Atlanta, Georgia, so that was our first destination. We made a couple of stops along the way -- notably, I spent some time in the new McKay Used Books store in Chattanooga. I visited their old building probably once a week during my college years at UT Chattanooga, but I hadn't been to their new store location until this weekend. Very nice, and almost an exact replica of their Knoxville location.

I picked up several new books, including a paperback copy of Joshilyn Jackson's first novel gods in Alabama. I read it years ago, but wanted to re-read it before the release date of Jackson's newest novel Backseat Saints (you can read my original review here, but look for an upcoming double book review/ comparison coming on Saint's release date in June). I had one at home, but couldn't resist picking it up to take with me to read on vacation. I also bought Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman, which has been reviewed on many book blogs and which my favorite high school librarian recently told me I had to read. Also bought at McKay's: Cleaving by Julie & Julia author Julie Powell, Target Underwear and a Vera Wang Gown: Notes From a Single Girl's Closet by Adena Halpern, and The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (who also wrote Comfort Food, which I loved).

Then lunch at Panera Bread in Atlanta. So good, and seriously? Why can't we get one of these in my town? We're not so big, but we are a university town & on the interstate to boot. We also made a stop (my first time ever) at Trader Joe's in Atlanta, which was everything I thought it would be (and more!). We're definitely going to be making a run to the Nashville location once a month or so for some staples.

My plan for the weekend was to lay in the sun, relax, and read, read, read. In the car, I listened to Patricia Cornwell's At Risk. I am a huge Cornwell fan, having read every Kay Scarpetta novel and every Andy Brazil novel. It would make sense for me to really like the Win Garano series, too, right? Well, I didn't. I listened to the entire thing, so I made it through, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Cornwell's other books. Originally published in serial form in the NY Times Magazine, the novella focuses on Massachusetts State Police investigator Win Garano. His boss, a female district attorney for Boston, orders him to look into a cold case in Tennessee with the hope that solving it will help her political career. When an act of violence stops them both in their tracks, Win begins questioning her motives. I found the characters much less sympathetic than Cornwell's other protagonists. Due to its short length, it was also difficult to really get into the plot, as things happen quickly and without much development. At Risk was recently made into a Lifetime Television movie, which I may watch simply to see the novella come to life.

When we arrived at the (absolutely beautiful) cabin on a private lake, I read Joshilyn Jackson's gods in Alabama in less than 24 hours. It was phenomenal the second time around, and you'll be able to read my thoughts on it in my post June 8th about it and Backseat Saints.

The next novel in my Kathy Reichs's Tempe Brennan series quest was Bones to Ashes, and so I delved into its pages as I laid on the beach on Hilton Head Island and then as Brent fished off the pier on Tybee Island. We decided that since we were so close to the coast (about 4 hours from the cabin), we would regret it if we didn't spend at least one night at the beach. So we visited the beach on HHI at Folly Field, stayed the night on Hilton Head (and visited the oh-so-fun Salty Dog & had our pictures made on their webcam) and then the beach on Tybee Island the next day. In this tenth novel in the series, Tempe is back in Montreal for the summer. When a police officer is found with a skeleton as a morbid collector's item, Tempe begins examining it and pondering the disappearance forty years ago of her childhood friend Evangeline. Reichs also continues the on-again-off-again romance between Tempe and Canadian police investigator Andrew Ryan. Reichs sneaks in another appearance by Tempe's crazy sister Harry, which makes the novel all the more enjoyable. Definitely a good inclusion for the series, and Reichs also involves leprosy in the plot. Very interesting, and with historically accurate information.

Since arriving home last night, I've begun Charlaine Harris's newest Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead in the Family, which came in an order from Amazon while we were gone over the weekend. It's definitely getting me in the mood for True Blood season 3 in June! I'm currently listening to Tess Gerritsen's Body Double on my iPod, so posts about those two will be coming soon.

Continuing the Kathy Reichs Quest

Long work hours and lots of family gatherings have stopped me from talking about books individually for the past week, but my reading has primarily consisted of Kathy Reichs and her heroine Tempe Brennan.

Last weekend I read the excellent but almost-too-disturbing-to-finish Monday Mourning. Tempe is back in Montreal for this installment of the Bones-inspiring series. When three sets of bones are found buried in a pizza parlor basement, police are convinced they date to the nineteenth century when the building was built. Tempe has other thoughts on the matter, and she digs until a pattern of missing girls over a series of years emerges. The dark truth revealed in the last few pages caused me to scan rather than read. I wanted to learn what happened, but the details were too much for me (especially right before turning out the light to go to sleep!). Reichs touches on a dark topic in the end which crossed a line I wasn't prepared to cross in my reading for entertainment.

Next in chronological order was Reichs' Cross Bones. This is a Da Vinci Code-esque novel that addresses the sale of religious antiquities in relation to the death of an Orthodox Jewish man who made his living selling such items. Another theme in the novel is the discovery of several different locations anthropologists and religious experts claim as Jesus's tomb. Although the novel didn't appeal to me with its topic, I love Tempe and so I tried it anyway. I abandoned it a third of the way into the book. The focus on religion and ancient burial sites (and whether something like that could even be proven), as well as Tempe's traveling to Israel wasn't something I was interested in. I'm sure many readers loved The Da Vinci Code and would enjoy this novel; I'm not one of them. So as much as I hate to admit it, my Reichs quest was somewhat interrupted by my decision to not finish the book.

In order to jump right back on the horse and into the saddle, I started Break No Bones. The novel is set in South Carolina's low country and in the city of Charleston. A southern novel, so I was destined to like it from the beginning. While conducting a student dig on an outlying island, Tempe discovers a newly buried body among the ancient bones of the Indian burial site. Tempe's friend Emma is the coroner in Charleston, so Tempe is asked to help with the investigation despite being out of her jurisdiction. When bodies continue to pile up, Tempe gets help from both her estranged husband Pete and her love interest Andrew Ryan. The three of them find themselves staying at Tempe's friend Anne's beach house, which makes for interesting scenes in Tempe's personal life.

I've recently been on an audiobook kick after reading a blogpost about how to join tracks on discs together and transfer those to my iPod to make listening in the car, while running, or even while doing chores around the house more enjoyable. More on the titles I've been listening to later!

99 Bottles of Beer On the Wall...

So... Not really. But this is my 99th post for this blog, making the next one -- yep, you guessed it. The big 1-0-0. While I'm pondering on whether or not to go big or go small with that one, let's discuss a(nother) Kathy Reichs book:

Tempe Brennan series book #5 (Grave Secrets) was not my favorite. But before I could get bored and move on to other books & series & authors, Reichs wrote Bare Bones and pulled me right back into her world of uncovered bones and murder conspiracies. Reichs chose a theme for each of the Tempe books I've read thus far - -there was the motorcycle gang one, the religious cult one, the Guatemalan genocide one, and now with Bare Bones there is the animal rights one. I say all that rather flippantly, but, a) it is true and b) it actually makes the series more interesting than if she didn't have a shtick. With her method of writing books centered around distinct themes, Reichs continuously puts Tempe into new and (for the most part) interesting situations. This minimizes boredom in readers (especially those like me who wait until the series is 14 books in, and so read all of them as fast as I can in order).

Bare Bones brings Brennan back to the North Carolina setting I love more than any other (although reading about Montreal is interesting, as was the foreign soil of Guatemala). I'm a southern girl through-and-through, and so enjoy a southern book more than anything else. Tempe is ready to leave on vacation when a bag of bones found at a picnic interferes and creates a delay. Other factors compound until Tempe is thoroughly embroiled in a series of investigations that prevent her departure completely. Tempe is joined by a love interest (I'll leave out details, as that's left as a cliffhanger in Grave Secrets) who helps her work the cases. Things become personal when Tempe receives threats to both herself and to her daughter Katy.

Two of the cases bring Tempe into the world of endangered animal poaching and trafficking. Both the bears of North Carolina and a particular kind of parrot from South America find themselves topics of Tempe's research when she discovers bear bones mixed in with human ones, then a bird feather mixed into a drug cache. Katy's new boyfriend also turns out to be a wildlife resources agency official, and Tempe is unsure how she feels about him. Could he be involved in some of her cases, or is it just a bad case of mother's intuition and feeling overprotective?

Great action, and great views of the inner workings of Tempe's psyche. Reichs shows what she's made of in this novel, and it -- like the Guatemalan Civil War novel just released prior to this one -- is drawn from Reichs' personal experience. At the novel's end, Reichs explains in minor detail her real-life case that inspired Bare Bones. Also, cute title, huh? (Get it? Bear bones = Bare bones?)

Guatemalan Civil War Atrocities Addressed in 'Grave Secrets'

From 1990 until 1996, over 200,000 people disappeared or were killed in Guatemala. That thirty-plus years signified the Guatemalan Civil War between the government of Guatemala and insurgents in the country. Although the war was largely political, many innocent citizens were killed throughout the war, especially women and children.

In Kathy Reichs's fifth novel, Grave Secrets, forensic anthropologist Dr. Tempe Brennan has traveled to Guatemala as a worker for the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation and their recovery efforts to find and identify victims of human rights violations during the war. Brennan's efforts yield results both historical and present-day when, after leaving a dig site, she is pulled into a recent murder scene in a hotel septic tank. Guatemalan Inspector Galiano asks for her assistance in solving the case. As they investigate, four young women from Guatemala are discovered missing. Galiano and Tempe rush to find out which of the young women was found in the waste water, and if the body belongs to the daughter of the Canadian ambassador to Guatemala -- one of the missing girls.

Although at first glance, the subject matter sounds interesting -- especially for someone like me, who minored in Women's Studies in college -- Reichs somehow falls flat in this attempt. I did manage to finish it; after all, it is a Tempe Brennan novel, and so it was interesting despite some pitfalls. While Tempe's private life stays out of the spotlight in this novel, Reichs does introduce Galiano as a possible new suitor, one who is in direct conflict with Tempe's long-time on-again-off-again flame Andrew Ryan. Ultimately, Reichs brings attention to the situation in Guatemala, which -- even as an educated, well-read person -- I was largely unaware of until reading this book.

But for me, history is not the only reason to read a book, and so I need a bit more plot and character interaction. Although, as I said, Reichs gives readers a new character in Galiano, his addition didn't make the novel for me. I felt it was too short, or too little action, or something. But, again, it furthers Tempe's story, and so I would have read it -- no matter how good or bad -- to continue my obsession with this series. (And I was right, because I've already finished the next book -- Bare Bones -- and it was fabulous!)

'Fatal Voyage' Makes Sleep Difficult and Nightmares Almost Certain

Kathy Reichs is keeping me up nights. Initially, that was because I couldn't bear to put down her fourth novel, Fatal Voyage. Now it's the subject matter of the book (well, that or the medicine I've been taking for a cold that I just can't seem to shake). Either way, I'm up late tossing and turning and thinking about the novel I just finished. And haunting is an accurate word for this particular book.

Riechs is well-known as the creator of the Fox television series Bones. The show is loosely based on both her life and the life of her fictional counterpart, Tempe Brennan. While the majority of the first three books details Brennan's work in Montreal, in Fatal Voyage she returns to her full-time hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. I have enjoyed Reichs' foray into Canadian territory (and one she knows well, as she holds the exact position there that she gives Tempe in her books), but the south is my old friend, well-known and never tiresome.

As the novel opens, a commercial plane has crashed in the North Carolina woods on its way from Atlanta to the northeast. Tempe is called in as part of the DMORT, or Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team. Again, this is subject matter Reichs is well-versed in, as she also serves as a DMORT responder in the United States. As Tempe aids with the investigation, attacks begin on her character and on her ethics. She rushes, with the help of Canadian detective Andrew Ryan, to clear her name. Which means, of course, that additional mysteries must be solved. During the crash investigation, Tempe happened upon what appeared to be an abandoned lodge in the woods, and at the same time found a piece of evidence which doesn't quite match up to the time frame and details of the crash. She works to fit these parts into the larger puzzle as a media frenzy opens up around her.


For some reason, Fatal Voyage is a little-circulated part of the Tempe Brannon series. My Amazon.com search offered only used copies, so it may not currently be in print. It is also one of only two of her books not available at my local library. As popular as Bones continues to be, I find this surprising. I found it to be thus far the most enjoyable of her books to date (or as far as I've gotten in the series, anyway). It does deal with some grisly subject matter, as I mentioned when I listed it as a possible reason for my inability to sleep. It was also released in 2001, just as our nation was suffering the shock of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Reichs addresses that in an added note at the end of my paperback copy of the book. She was one of the first on the scene to help identify victims of that attack, and she states that it was difficult to think back about this novel's discussion of mass death in light of that much more terrible and real tragedy. Perhaps she's never had the heart to have it marketed as her other books have been. In my opinion, the book describes the difficulties those working the scene of a tragedy face, and that is a valid and reasonable point of view to portray.

The only negative I saw in the book was Reichs' continued overuse of coincidental events. I suppose fiction writers must exercise some sort of license to stretch a bit beyond what we would consider reasonable, but Reichs does so in each of her books with little sign of letting up. Previous so-called coincidences have linked Tempe's home cities in Montreal and North Carolina, and even tied cases being investigated together. In this book Reichs conveniently places Andrew Ryan's partner as a passenger on the downed plane. Thus, Ryan has reason to travel to North Carolina and into Tempe's southern setting. I would venture to say that authorities in one specific city in Canada have little reason to visit a particular state in our country (especially as a result of investigations being tied together) on a yearly basis. However, if you can overlook a bit of over-the-top plot twists, Reichs can sure spin a good tale. I'm also reveling in the fact that she's fairly prolific -- with four down, I still have eight books to go and a new one being published this summer!

'Deadly Decisions' Offers Murderous Biker Gangs and Traitorous Loved Ones

The third installment in Kathy Reichs's Bones-inspiring series featuring Tempe Brennan began as nothing much to write home about. Halfway through, however, Deadly Decisions grabbed my attention and caused me to sit up reading half the night last night.

Think biker gangs gone wild and bones dug up from decade-old graves. That's how the novel begins, and it took a lot for me to keep going. Namely, I really like Tempe and I'm determined to read Reichs's series about her in order. That's about the only thing that made me continue to read. I think it's normal for writers to get a sophomore-slump a few books into their series. That's what I told myself the problem was. A couple of books under her belt, Reichs probably signed some sort of contract and had to continue writing, plot idea or no plot idea.

I have little interest in biker violence, especially in Canada. I'm not sure I even believed that kind of stuff really happened. During a bored moment mid-read, I googled "biker gang murders" and "bikers shot Canada" and "biker territory wars". And I found that much of Reichs's plot for Deadly Decisions was, in fact, fact-based. Browse some of the stories I found:

• "In Depth: Biker gangs in Canada" from the CBC website
• "Timeline of the Bandidos Massacre" from the CBC website
• "Shedden massacre" entry from Wikipedia.org
• "Bandidos guilty; read tweets here: All six found guilty of first-degree murder or manslaughter" article from the London Free Press website

During the course of the novel, Tempe is added to a special task force set up to investigate gang-related crimes, especially biker ones. This puts her into direct conflict with some of the toughest opponents she has faced thus far. Add her nephew Kit into the mix, and Tempe is pushed to the limit. Additionally, her new romantic interest and long-time coworker Andrew Ryan has been accused of drug involvement and embezzling stolen goods. With no one to turn to, Tempe throws herself into the investigation at hand.

While some of the plot wasn't thrilling to me, Tempe is at her best in this novel. I enjoyed the involvement during this and the previous book in the series of her family in her life in Montreal. Loved ones behaving badly ups the ante for this forensic anthropologist.

'Death Du Jour' Continues Kathy Reichs's Creepy Bones Pre-History

Bones has been on television for five years now. Kathy Reichs's Tempe Brennan series began thirteen years ago. We therefore agree that I'm a little behind on this series. However, being behind is a good thing in my opinion. I have plenty of upcoming books to read, and I don't have to wait on anything to be published to find out what happens next with the main character. Well, you now. Until I'm done.

I read the first novel in the Tempe series in February, and now I'm continuing my quest to read them all. I finished the second book this week, Death du Jour, and it is just as fantastic as Reichs's debut novel. The novel begins as forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan embarks on a request by the Catholic church in Montreal. She conducts a dig in their old burial grounds while her students at the University of North Carolina frolic on beaches for spring break. Before Tempe can finish and return following the break, another crime occurs and she is forced to travel several hours away and collect bones from a recent house fire.

After Tempe returns to Charlotte for the continuation of her spring semester, crimes occurring there begin to show ties to crimes in Montreal. As Tempe is pulled into the midst of an ever-reaching chain of events, her family is affected and things become a bit personal. This novel explores the ritual side of religion, as well as so-called religion at its worst, in the form of cults.

I read into the night several times this week; I just needed to know what happened next in this novel. It was just as scary as Reichs's first foray into the writing world. These books definitely aren't for the faint-of-heart or the easily-scared. My single issue with Death du Jour was its over-the-top plot connections. I mean, what are the chances that a case that a forensic anthropologist who works in Montreal and in Charlotte is investigating has ties to both cities? I would say very slim, if at all.

Also, while the presence of cults is a reality in our world, I have recently read and heard much about the exaggeration of their activities. Satanic sacrifice is a phenomenon which gained publicity in the 1980s, but there is little record of actual occurrences. Rather, it seems to have been a media-induced panic which resulted in public service announcements and school programs, but had little substantiated evidence to prove or disprove it. So the inclusion of cult-based killings is sensational and fiction-worthy, but not based in reality.

Watch Bones on Fox on Thursdays at 8/7 central.

Keep the Lights On While Reading 'Deja Dead'

We went on a vacation this past weekend to the Smoky Mountains. Among the books I took with me was Kathy Reichs' first novel Deja Dead. Although Reichs has been a bestselling author for more than ten years and has also successfully produced the hit television show Bones (which is loosely based on her books), for some reason I had never read anything by her until now.

Deja Dead, Reichs' first novel and the first book in her Temperance Brennan series, was not one I could put down. It also wasn't a good choice for a secluded mountain cabin! We heard several noises on our last night there; we searched the cabin high and low from the closets to under each bed and, of course, found nothing. We finally decided we had heard squirrels or some other animals on the roof or in the attic, but my being frightened was hard to dissipate -- primarily because I had been reading this novel!

I'm pretty excited to have discovered a new series with eleven more books still waiting to be read. I overheard an elderly lady complaining to another library patron last week that it was so hard for her to find new books to read; she said that she'd read every book by every author she loved, and she hated waiting for their next book to come out. I feel her pain; I hate that, too! Thank goodness I've found Kathy Reichs.

The series follows forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan -- Tempe for short -- as she works in Montreal, Quebec. She is on staff at the the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale, which is a fancy (French) way of saying she works for the province coroner's office. There she provides expert examinations on bones found. Sometimes she discovers that she has only found a dog or other animal; often she discovers skeletons from old burial sites. But then there are the more interesting cases -- the ones that are more recent and that involve murder.

In Deja Dead, Reichs introduces readers not only to Tempe, but also to the city of Montreal. As someone who is totally ignorant of most things Canadian, I found her descriptions of the city, its holidays and celebrations, its culture, its language, its geography, and its people fascinating. Tempe is a North Carolina native, so Reichs also includes just enough southern references to make me happy, as well. When the series opens, Tempe is alone in Canada. Her marriage has recently dissolved, and her only daughter is still living and attending college in North Carolina. Tempe has a small circle of acquaintances in Montreal: her co-workers at the coroner's office, the policemen they often team with, and her best friend Gabby who she's known since graduate school. And, of course, her cat Birdie.

Tempe is about to leave the city for a long weekend away when she gets a call that a set of bones have been found. When she sees the bones piled into a garbage bag and buried in a wooded area, she knows she's in for a long night. Other victims with similarities begin to surface, both from old and new cases. Tempe is convinced that a serial killer is on the loose, but she is unable to convince the detectives working the case. Tempe does some investigating of her own and also calls in some favors from experts she knows around the world, both in private and university labs and at Quantico's FBI behavioral analysis unit. As she works to find the killer (or killers), the stakes become higher as she discovers that both her friend Gabby and her daughter Katy may be in danger, as well.

Reichs has done an excellent job in this first novel. Deja Dead was a definite page-turner. There were enough plot twists to keep it interesting, but it remained reality-based throughout and was very believable. Reichs includes much scientific detail (perhaps a bit too much in some places), but her science is correct to a fault. And as well it should be -- Reichs herself is a forensic anthropologist who has worked both in North Carolina and in Montreal doing the very job Tempe does in the book. Although I hate to compare her (Reichs is fantastic in her own right), she is similar to Patricia Cornwell in that she writes about what she knows -- and both authors do so very well.

Deja Dead will scare you (You may have to sleep with a bedside lamp on for a few nights!), but the book is worth a few nightmares. I'll be reviewing the rest of the series as quickly as I can get my hands on them!