Member Reviews
Another well crafted Temperance Brennan novel. With plenty of twists and topical themes it is a good read , particularly for those who have read the preceding books.
Anather fine books by Ms Reichs. I missed last year, and now I know why,. Glad she is feeling better. I have to say I learned a lot in this book - not so much medical, but all that tech stuff everyone seems to know, but me. Being persona non grata in her office still don't stop her and Slidell from solving a child porn ring and chasing down every.lead.. The disgust she feels for child porn p[purveyors, as we all do, was evident in every chapter -I would say every page, but that would be over kill. I Have to say Tempe is one brave gutsy woman.
I've been a Temperance Brennan fan since the first book was published. In fact, if I'm working in forensics nowadays is in part because of her books, so it pains me to say that "A conspiracy of bones" didn't grabbed me as her previous stories. I still think it's a good book, but the main plotline didn't catch my attention as I would have like. Besides, I've always prefered Brennan's cases in Quebec.
It's been a while since I read the last installment in the series, so I didn't remember much about Tempe's actual situation. After the death of her boss and a health scare, now she's at odds with her new boss. When a faceless corpse is found she's not ask to consult on, but that doesn't stop her. One of the things I liked the least was that she doesn't do much forensic work at all, but police one. Also, Ryan is a pretty secondary character this time, so that was a bit disappointing.
The plot was a pretty convoluted one, mixing conspiracy theories, child kidnappings... and, in my opinion, was a bit far fetched at points, although at the end most of it ties altogether.
Good follow up to the series but not the best one by far, so I hope to see Tempe truly back to form pretty soon.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster UK for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
A very,twisted and convoluted mystery for Tempe and her cohorts to solve. Conspiracy theories,child abduction,and loads more. As usual a well crafted story,if a touch slow to get going.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK for an advance copy of A Conspiracy of Bones, the nineteenth novel to feature forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan.
Tempe isn’t getting on with the new medical examiner in Charlotte and is slowly being frozen out of the department, so when she receives pictures of a mutilated dead body she decides to identify the victim and salvage her work life. Working off the books with help from her partner former Montreal detective, Andrew Ryan and former Charlotte detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell she gets more than she bargained for.
I thoroughly enjoyed A Conspiracy of Bones which I found, sometimes despite the subject matter, to be a compulsive read that kept me turning the pages from start to finish. This is due to a mixture of Tempe’s first person narrative that keeps the reader hooked in to her thoughts and investigation, her honest tone and the steady stream of developments. I hesitate to say twists as they don’t necessarily push the plot in a different direction but, rather, increase the knowledge base and allow for more informed deductions. I was interested in the almost countless number of conspiracy theories enumerated in the novel, due to links with such a podcast, and horrified to realise that I could identify most of them. What does that say about my reading matter and interests? To be fair I think it underlines how mainstream some of them have become. There is also a fair amount of technical information in the novel that I can cheerfully admit to skimming - too much brain pain to try and understand. Despite these minor inconveniences I found the story absorbing if slightly far fetched at points, then again maybe not depending on your world view, with plenty of action, reveals and developments.
It has been a while since I spent time with Tempe so, despite having read most of the previous novels, I felt as if I was coming at it with fresh eyes. She is having health and career issues so she’s nervy, unsettled and slightly paranoid, in fact she resembles Scarpetta in the later novels. Fortunately, despite being unable to always trust her judgement, her instincts and and sharp intellect are still working.
A Conspiracy of Bones is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
A new Temperance Brennan book is always a treat, and this is one readers have been waiting five years to read. We find Tempe still feeling the effects of the events of the previous book, Speaking In Bones, both in terms of lingering trauma and in terms of workplace stress with a difficult new boss. On top of that, she's recovering from surgery to tackle an aneurysm that almost killed her. However, Tempe being Tempe, when she is sent a number of anonymous text messages containing pictures of an unidentified corpse, she quickly becomes drawn into the mystery and a high-octane plot follows. My one complaint with A Conspiracy Of Bones was the tension between Tempe and her new boss, which I felt aligned too closely with the toxic trope of women competing in the workplace (cos bitches be crazy right?). However, this is a minor niggle and that aside, the rest of the book is exactly what we've come to expect from Reichs: gory, tense and ingeniously plotted.
Tempe Brennan, forensic pathologist, is back in another thriller. Who has sent her the pictures of a faceless corpse? What has this to do with a child’s cold case & the relationship she has with her new boss?
I read a number of the Tempe Brennan series when they first came out but haven’t read one for a number of years. The format & style is pretty much as I remember it. There is the continuing story of Tempe’s personal life in the background. Ryan is back though is a fairly small role. We still have Tempe’s relationship with her Mother & sister. Then there is the main plot surrounding her work.
As thriller’s go this was a good, sound thriller. The excellent writing that I remember from the past is still there. I wasn’t so keen on the plot line – something was missing but I couldn’t say what. Perhaps it was the detailed lab work which I remember from her previous books? It was an enjoyable read & a worthy continuation of the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.
spoiler alert ** It would appear I've missed a book in the series,and left me all manner of confused as to where everyone was at when the book opened.
I really enjoy this series,and I'll probably read them to the end... But this wasn't the best.
I felt there was something missing... maybe time in the lab,Ryan... I mean he doesn't even show up till well into the second half really..
As much as Temp may work alone,she's always had people around her,and for menu,just Skinny didn't cut it.
An interesting story non the less.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
I'm a fan of Kathy Reichs books and the show Bones, so I was absolutely thrilled when my request to read A conspiracy of Bones was accepted. This book is fantastic, a wild ride and a compelling and intriguing mistery. When our main protagonist sees a trench coat man around her house and then get some crime scene photos of a dead faceless and handless man on her phone, Temperance decided to investigate, but her physical and professional life isn't easy. At all.
Larabee, her boss, is dead and the new one shares a bad history with her, since Margot Heavner was called (and it was true) unprofessional by Brennan when she disclosed information regarding an active missing kid case with a broadcaster, Nick Body, known for his outlandish teories about vaccines, conspiracy theories and so on.
Temperance has an aneurisma (as the writer) and suffers from headaches, her child is in a war zone, her mother has a new boyfriend and cancer and she still has to decided if live with Ryan is what she wants or not. So her life is complicated and it's not helped by this case, but clues about a old disaster, missing kids and conspiracy theories pushed Temperance to seek Skinny Slidell's help, Hawkins and other friends, while trying to recover from the professional exile Havner imposed on her.
The plot is complex and Brennan fights all the time with theories and self-doubts, asking herself what is real, what is not, scared for her aneurysm, her brain, her memories, navigating this complex investigation. As always the book is full of twists and discoveries and a lot of learning. I learned what is the deep web, or about the livor mortis and the reading was interesting and intriguing. I couldn't be more happier to have read this book, the ending was really realistic and full of hope and hardwork. It touches a lot of topics, from broadcasters who used people's fears for their gains, child pornography and disappereances, the cute and creepy discoviery about zombie ants, the deep web. I really loved and enjoyed this book and it was interesting seeing the brilliant Brennan battling with self-doubts and what-ifs, it was absolutely relatable.
Brennan is an amazing and realistic character, you can't not root for her and her journey, her growth, her works. Ryan was lovely, brilliant and cheeky as always and I really enjoyed reading about Slidell and his partnership with Brennan, his expletives, so colourful, his being a really good guy, fighting for the truth.
I loved reading about Temperance's brain processes, how she remembered and connected various bit, having epiphanies and discoveries. Absolutely fantastic. I wish I had half of her brain, sometimes XD
5 stars, a fantastic journey and an another wonderful book
Tempe Brennan is back with complete surety, like meeting up with an old friend after a couple of years I sank into this new story and was fully immersed throughout.
The forensic detail is ever fascinating and entirely accessible, the case is darkly addictive and Tempe herself is going through a sea change in both a physical and mental sense which adds huge emotional levels to the narrative.
Kathy Reichs is of course a brilliant plotter and a beautiful writer, twisting and turning events in unpredictable and intelligent ways. Keeping the reader turning the pages, the themes explored here are highly emotive and done in a hard hitting, utterly authentic yet always sensitive way.
I loved it. The afterword allows that there is a fair bit of author in character, given that the fact that A Conspiracy of Bones felt somehow more vivid than what has gone before is hardly surprising- for such a long running series the quality has never faltered and I for one hope to read many more Tempe Brennan novels in the years to come.
Recommended. If you’ve not tried these yet simply pick any one up. You’ll be hooked before you know it.