Bones Are Forever: A Novel (15) (A Temperance Brennan Novel)

I loved her first books. I really did. And then after she started working on the TV show, her books started to suck. Yup, I'm saying it. They started to suck. And even though her last book showed a hint of the old novels, this one is probably one of the worst I've read.

This is from my review of her last book, Flash and Bones:

"My only issue is that Tempe always ends up in danger at the end of each book and has to be rescued. After awhile, you would think that the police would insert a tracking device under her skin, because they know if she is working on a case, she will end up kidnapped."

Hey, guess what happens in this book? No, you'll never guess. Nope, I'm just going to tell you. It ends like every other Tempe Brennan novel: She gets kidnapped at the end and has to be rescued. And NO, I did not just ruin it for you because THAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF EVERY KATHY REICHS BOOK.

We're back in Canada for this one. It starts out promising, as Tempe has just found three dead babies in an apartment. I'm intrigued, I'm ready to go. Andrew Ryan is along for the ride. Yup, getting excited to solve this mystery with them. And then, it all falls apart. Characters are added, but you don't care about them. They're bad guys who you never actually talk to - they're spoken to off of the page. The new detective with whom Tempe has a past is a jerk and there are no redeeming qualities, even though Reichs tries to point them out.

We do learn a little about diamond mining and the native population of Canada. But all it made me feel was sad and cold. I don't feel like learning more about either subject, which is sad because I'm sure that they're both fascinating when they're not presented as the backdrop to a crappy story.

I just wanted it to be over. It was not a pleasurable read at all.

I do have a suggestion for Ms. Reichs: Start a new storyline with Tempe's daughter, Katy. Take her through the learning process of whatever career she's going to choose. Throw in some crime. Have Katy and Tempe work together. Do SOMETHING because what you're writing is not working.

Bad. Just bad.

having read all of Reichs books I must say she has fallen into the trap of formula writing. You know early on she is going to have a dream that leaves her wondering how everything fits together, you also know near the end she will get caught by the bad guys and that one of her male "partners/lovers" will rescue her. This one also had too many characters in and out of the story so by the time you find out who is the villain you have to stop and think now who was this guy.

I have always been a fan of Kathy Reichs having read everything that she has ever written. I cannot believe that she actually wrote this book. It was awful. Her sharp style was clearly missing and the normally riveting plot was missing. Perhaps between the television show and her books she has over extended herself and is not giving her novels the attention that her readers have come to expect from her. Don't waste your time or your money on this book. A total disappointment.

I am normally a died-in-the-wool Kathy Reichs fan. Loved all of her books, until this one, and love "Bones." THIS BOOK, however is beyond terrible! I don't know what she was thinking or doing...fulfilling a contractual obligation perhaps? I read the terrible reviews before I bought this book and probably should have paid more attention before donating my eleven bucks to her. Page after page, paragraph after paragraph of useless filler. Hell, I think I could be a certified CAT scan tech by the time she finished describing one. The problem with Ryan and Ollie? Does it have to be described and re-described over and over. We get it, Kathy. They don't like each other. Yes, this is a terrible subject but Lordy, does she have to make it even worse by describing, again in damn near microscopic detail, the remains? I won't finish this book and my money is gone. For this I, as a fan, am terribly sorry I wasted my hard earned cash and completely angry with Ms. Reichs for even allowing this piece of (insert your favorite noun here) to be published. Please, don't waste your money on this effort.

Normally, I'm a fan of Kathy Reichs. I've read all of her other books and really enjoyed most of them. Until now.

The thing I like most about the Temperance Brennan novels is the amount of time spent detailing Brennan's work as a forensic anthropologist. The information she learns from the bones is what makes her unique and interesting, and consequently, is what really makes or breaks these books. I think that was the main problem with this one: very little time was devoted to Brennan spending time with the bones. Instead, she spends most of her time chasing a quarry all over Canada (a quarry who turns out to be mentally challenged, yet manages to outsmart Brennan, Ryan, and their Royal Mountie friend for quite some time).

Another problem I had with this book was the love triangle. The on-again, off-again relationship between Brennan and Ryan has gotten tedious at this point, so Reichs decided to spice it up a bit by throwing in a second guy. Great, just what this series needed. Not. And as usual, at the end of the book, Brennan had still made zilch progress romantically, despite the fact that she's apparently the type of gal no guy will ever get over.

Which bring me to my next point. I'm by no means a feminist, yet by the time I finished reading this book, I was somewhat offended by Reichs' portrayal of female characters. (Her heroine excepted, of course, who is such hot stuff that guys are always fighting over her!) Brennan ragged on the physical appearance of practically every other woman she met in this book.

But I think the biggest problem for me was the sheer implausibility of the plot. It began with the discovery of several sets of bones, which turned out just to be a side-plot in the tale of a much bigger conspiracy that eventually got so convoluted and honestly, uninteresting, that I ended up not really caring at all. I didn't care about diamonds or drug dealers! I wanted to know the story behind those bones, which Reichs finally wrapped up for me as an aside in the space of about a paragraph tacked on at the end.

Not only will I think twice about purchasing the next book in this series, I'll think twice about even reading it.

This was my first and last Kathy Reichs book. I was interested as I love the character Temperance Brennan from when I used to watch the TV show (which has also jumped the shark, sad to say) and had always meant to pick up one of her books. But this version of Tempe was rather dull and uninspiring. The story wasn't that interesting, and the male leads were horribly unsympathetic.

But the thing that really bugged me was the ridiculous product placement - I may use an iPhone, but I do not refer to it as an iPhone REPEATEDLY! "I set the alarm on my iPhone", "I checked my iPhone for messages" on and on. It is really hard to miss. That and calling the rental car the "camry" as in "meet you at the Camry"- I mean no one talks like that! You rent a car and then refer to it by model name? It made the whole dialogue seem stilted.

So sorry - no more of these for me. There are many other writers out there to try...

This is the latest Reichs book, and definitely on par with kathy's previous offerings. As a fan of her books for many many years, and several re-reads, I was not disappointed. Yes it's a little thinner than some of the previous novels, but it doesn't lack in character development, storyline, or engrossing plot.
A personal bone I should pick with the publishers is the linking of Kathy's books with the TV show "bones" - yes there is a relationship, but it is so tenuous from the point of view of the reader/ viewer that the TV generation may feel cheated when reading the novels. As a fanof both, I keep the two totally seperate in my head, otherwise the discontinuity would be a distraction.

I reccomend this novel to all those fans of the books, and would suggest those new to the novels read it in view/context of the above comments regarding the TV show.

Maybe it's just me, but lately it seems that the Tempe Brennan books aren't as good as they've been in the past.

This one felt like the story didn't get fleshed out completely or something, because when it was over, I was still trying to figure out how Brennan connected all the dots. Maybe the author should worry less about the television show and concentrate more on her books, since her writing is what landed her a television deal to begin with.

Then there's the fact that I'm getting sick of Brennan's life being in danger getting used as a plot device to tie things up. It happens in every single book, it seems. Kathy Reichs has beaten that horse to death and then some. Enough already!

I also have to nitpick about Ryan making Tempe drink the minibar bottle of whiskey. Reichs emphasized early on in this book series that Tempe was an alcoholic and that one drink would be enough to run her right off the rails. Yet Brennan takes that drink and apparently, there are no consequences. Unless, of course, the author is saving that for her next book?

I hate it when authors conveniently forget things that are a major part of a character's persona. Either Tempe is a raging alcoholic or she can drink without having a problem. Make up your mind which one its going to be!

I think this story, especially the conclusion, could have used more fleshing out. The first half of the book was intriguing, but the last half wasn't. It just felt rushed to me.

I'm not ready to call it quits on buying the Brennan books just yet, but if Reichs doesn't start paying more attention to her writing, I may have to.

I always rush to put in an order for a Kathy Reichs book, so I can read it as soon as I can. How disappointed I was to start this book. I am half way through and it has done nothing to grasp my attention. We have Ryan and an old flame of Temperance snipping at each other, and she is not certain of what to do with them.

The pacing, the facts, the excitement are all missing from this book. Maybe writing 1 book a year, plus now short stories for Kindles, have been too much. I prefer an author who writes because she has a good story to tell, rather than one who is just trying to keep her name out there, and to make $.

I know she can do better.

I have to echo the readers who gave this book 3 stars or less. It was, overall, boring. I think it's also a bit implausible to imagine that a forensic anthropolgist should be traveling all over western Canada to track down a missing person. That just seems silly to me. I thought it started out interesting with the corpses of the babies, but just deteriorated after that and once again, the heroine finds herself in peril after making too many dumb moves. I think the most interesting part of this series is the anthropolgical stuff, and that seemed to end after the first few chapters. I agree with the review that mentioned by the time we found out about the "bad guy" I couldn't even remember who it was! Not one of her most interesting reads for sure!