Forgotten Bones (Dead Remaining, #1)

by Vivian Barz

An Amazon Charts bestseller.

An unlikely pair teams up to investigate a brutal murder in a haunting thriller that walks the line between reality and impossibility.

When small-town police officers discover the grave of a young boy, they’re quick to pin the crime on a convicted criminal who lives nearby. But when it comes to murder, Officer Susan Marlan never trusts a simple explanation, so she’s just getting started.

Meanwhile, college professor Eric Evans hallucinates a young boy in overalls: a symptom of his schizophrenia—or so he thinks. But when more bodies turn up, Eric has more visions, and they mirror details of the murder case. As the investigation continues, the police stick with their original conclusion, but Susan’s instincts tell her something is off. The higher-ups keep stonewalling her, and the FBI’s closing in.

Desperate for answers, Susan goes rogue and turns to Eric for help. Together they take an unorthodox approach to the case as the evidence keeps getting stranger. With Eric’s hallucinations intensifying and the body count rising, can the pair separate truth from illusion long enough to catch a monster?

• ISBN10: 1542041635
• ISBN13: 9781542041638
• Publish Date: 1 August 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Thomas & Mercer
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 302
• Language: English

Reviews

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a ChapterI received this book for free from Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.





Once I heard the words "cold case" when reading the pitch for Forgotten Bones by Vivian Barz I was in. I can't tell you how glad I am that I read this book. It took no time at all to fall into this one.

The first chapter opens with a sighting of a little boy in denim overalls and a car crash. From there I was hooked and needed to know who this little boy was! Susan Marlan responded to the scene of the car accident and while putting everything back to rights they find the body of a little boy. And that's just the start of it.

I really enjoyed Susan's character. She is determined to do right by her small town and as a police officer wants to see this investigation through. I think she supported Eric well. I can't tell you how happy I was to see one of the two main characters representing debilitating mental illness but leading a life that was full with his mental illness managed. I think it really shows that even if someone has a mental illness that it doesn't mean game over.

I think Barz did an amazing job with weaving the mental illness into the story. Not once did she come across as condescending or insensitive. I really enjoyed Eric's character and thought that he was doing remarkably well in his current life situation.

The mystery didn't really catch me in an "Ah ha!" moment in this story. I certainly wasn't shocked when everything came to light but the mystery was handled well and I think the reveal was well done.

I enjoyed Forgotten Bones by Vivian Barz a lot. When I finished it, I hoped that there would be more to the series. I see on GoodReads that it is marked as first in a series but no other books listed in the series. Fingers crossed that changes soon!