Adventure is in Tory Brennan's blood. After all, she’s the grandniece of world-famous forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Always up for a challenge, Tory and her science-geek friends spend their time exploring the marshlands of Loggerhead Island, home to the very off-limits Loggerhead Island Research Institute, where something strange is going on. After rescuing a stray wolfdog pup from a top-secret lab, Tory and her friends are exposed to a rare strain of canine parvovirus, changing them--and their DNA--forever. Now they are more than friends. They are a pack. They are Virals. And they're dangerous to the core. But are they unstoppable enough to catch a cold-blooded murderer?
I liked Virals. It’s a crime-mystery novel without a lot of the gory parts that you find in adult crime novels, so great for younger teens who are into science and mystery. Also the teenagers in it are normal, everyday teenagers. Tory is a likeable character and a fairly reliable narrator. She’s very strong-willed too, which must be a Brennan family trait.
The mysteries – the murder and the viral infection are well-handled and move along nicely once they are revealed. Virals does start off a little slowly, but builds up momentum quite quickly without rushing ahead too far. You discover things as Tory and friends are discovering them, which works quite well. They discover the answers to the mysteries by the end of the book, and you didn’t guess the whole ending from early on.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes YA fiction and mysteries/crime novels.
Full review here
Reading updates
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Started reading
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19 March, 2013:
Finished reading
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19 March, 2013:
Reviewed