"Kathy Reichs--#1 New York Times bestselling author and producer of the FOX television hit Bones --returns with a riveting new novel set in Charlotte, North Carolina, featuring forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan. Kathy Reichs's trademark blend of forensic descriptions that "chill to the bone" ( Entertainment Weekly ) and breathless suspense have made her books major bestsellers worldwide. Now, she delivers the fourteenth thriller in a "cleverly plotted and expertly maintained series" ( The New York Times Book Review ). A body is found in a barrel of asphalt next to Lowes Motor Speedway near Charlotte just as 200,000 fans are pouring into town for race week. The next day, a NASCAR crew member shares with Tempe a devastating story. Twelve years earlier his sister, Cyndi Gamble, then a high school senior who wanted to be a professional racecar driver, disappeared along with her boyfriend, Cale Lovette. Lovette kept company with a group of right wing extremists known as the Patriot Posse. Is the body Cyndi's? Or Cale's? At the time of their disappearance, the FBI joined the investigation, but the search was quickly terminated. As Tempe is considering multiple theories, including an FBI cover-up, a surprising, secret substance is found with the body, leaving Tempe to wonder what exactly the government was up to..."--
I'd complained back in my review of [b:Devil Bones|2095583|Devil Bones (Temperance Brennan, #11)|Kathy Reichs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255763689s/2095583.jpg|2100943] that Reichs left the readers out of a really important conversation between Tempe Brennan and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Andrew Ryan. Rather than letting the scene play out in real time, she'd related what happened after the fact. She's annoyingly using that same tactic in the newest Bones installment - and there's really no excuse, since the narrative clocks in at just 271 pages in the hardcover edition. She mentions Ryan a few times and lets us in on one small-talk conversation, but relegates the rest to a couple paragraphs of past-tense exposition. I can't figure out what editor is letting her get away with this malarkey.
Additionally, there are multiple scenes with Tempe's ex-husband and his fiancee which seem to be serving as comedic relief, but the book ends without any examination or resolution of Pete's unhappiness that Tempe notices. Full conversations between Tempe and Pete about this would have been a welcomed way to beef up the page count. There's also a few paragraphs dedicated to telling the reader about some family drama with Tempe's sister and nephew, but I was at a loss for whether this has been brought up in earlier books or if it was just a random infodump of an undeveloped side plot. It seemed like meaty stuff that was deserving of a lot more narrative attention than it received.
On the plus side, I felt like Flash and Bones kept the repetitive explain-y bits to a bare minimum, which should be the case when you're at book #14 in a series. But maybe this is why its page count is so anemic. While the mystery was good as always, I read this series because I like Tempe, and I really hope that Reichs decides to spend more time and attention on Tempe's personal life in the next book rather than just giving us some crumbs in between the mystery scenes.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
25 August, 2011:
Finished reading
-
25 August, 2011:
Reviewed