ISBN: 0743233492
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Summary: Top ten least glamorous jobs
Temperance Brennan must sometimes rethink her career choice as she wades into alligator infested water to snag a floating body. When she's being eaten by mosquitoes in a snaky swamp supervising the retrieval of a corpse, does she wonder what life would have been like if she'd chosen to be a plastic surgeon? Well, her faithful readers can rejoice in the fact that Temp chose forensic anthropology. Our girl is once again up to her armpits in muddy water, foul stenches, and dead bodies. She also seems to attract more than her share of men, both the romantic and the deadly varieties.
Summary: "...the man in Dewees, the man in the trees, and the lady in the barrel..."
After CROSS BONES, Reichs' eighth novel featuring Dr. Temperance Brennan, I honestly didn't know if I was going to continue to read the series. I really, REALLY didn't enjoy CROSS BONES. I'm somewhat of a Tempe addict, though, and I decided not to let--cliché warning--one bad apple spoil the whole bunch; I went out and picked up BREAK NO BONES on the day it was released. And now that I've finished reading Reichs' newest novel, it's not a purchase I regret.
In BREAK NO BONES, Reichs is back on familiar ground. In this outing, her heroine, Dr. Temperance Brennan, is working with a group of UNCC students on Dewees Island--a barrier island off the coast of South Carolina--excavating the burial grounds of an Indian tribe who lived there long ago. The excavation is coming along nicely, until Tempe's students make a startling discovery at the edge of the dig site: a fully articulated skeleton, not nearly as old as the Indians they're there to study. In fact, this corpse is so recent it's attracting the flies.
Since Charleston County's forensic anthropologist is out of the country, Tempe agrees to assist the coroner--her friend, Emma Rousseau--with identification of the remains. But before she's even had a chance to make her identification, another body is discovered: this one hanging from a tree in a state forest, a noose around its neck, the victim of an apparent suicide. Not long after, a third body washes up on the shore, stuffed in an oil drum in the fetal position, the remains of a cat clutched to its chest. After examining all three sets of remains, Tempe finds a startling commonality among them: a strange scalpel mark on the same vertebra of each victim. Upon further investigation, Tempe discovers that all three victims can be traced back to a free clinic for the poor, owned by a church headed by a charismatic local televangelist. What role, if any, does the free clinic play in the deaths? And why would anyone want to murder homeless people and bury their bodies in clandestine locations? Tempe, who thinks "death in anonymity is the ultimate insult," is determined to find out.
And that's just her professional life! Her estranged husband, Pete, has arrived in Charleston on business, complete with Boyd the Chow and Birdie the cat, and he's bunking with her at her best friend's million-dollar beach house. To complicate matters, Detective Andrew Ryan (and his Viking blue eyes, of course) has also come to Charleston--and he's less-than-pleased to discover that his girlfriend has another houseguest. To top it all off, Emma Rousseau--the Charleston County Coroner and Tempe's friend for years--is very sick, and she's only getting worse. Once again, Reichs is developing her heroine ingeniously, showing her readers two very different sides of Tempe: the side that's self-assured and all-business in the lab, as well as the uncertain, introspective side Tempe gives in to when she's alone.
But let's get the not-so-good stuff out of the way first. Other reviewers here have called BREAK NO BONES well-paced, but I disagree. I thought the plot dragged unnecessarily in places, and the suspense was greatly lacking. In fact, the suspense felt somewhat forced; aside from a beer-bottle-throwing incident and a shooting that is later explained away, there's not too much to make you bite your nails in this one. The climax is brief and, well, anti-climactic; at a certain point in the novel, Reichs just stops hiding the "whodunit". Too many names to keep straight makes for muddied reading in some spots. Reichs' prose is characteristically staccato in this outing, which is distinctive, yes--but it gets old fast in BREAK NO BONES.
But make no bones about it (pun intented); what's good about this novel outweighs the bad: beautiful, detailed descriptions of Charleston; a complicated, thoroughly relatable heroine; a poignant, symbolic ending; unflinching descriptions of crime scenes; cutting-edge research into timely topics. Reichs has definitely rebounded from the train wreck that was CROSS BONES. Let's face it: Only Kathy Reichs can make decomposing bodies appealing!
Summary: Charming, as well as challenging
This is my first Kathy Reichs novel, and now I wonder why I waited so long! Temperance Brennan is a sound, believable character with flaws, emotion, and a great sense of humor. "I abhorred Dupree's position. His goal was money, earned by any means that wouldn't get him indicted. Screw the rain forest, the wetlands, the seashore, the dunes, the culture that was here when the English arrived. Dickie Dupree would implode the Temple of Artemis if it stood where he wanted to slap up condos."
Tempe Brennan, a feisty anthropologist working with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, is summoned to assist with an archaeological field school on Dewees, a barrier island north of Charleston, South Carolina. This was to be a pleasurable venture, as well as a return to familiar territory for Tempe. When a body is found in a makeshift grave during their dig, the story is off and running. As the body count grows, certain elements of each death are similar and start telling a story much deeper and more mysterious than originally surmised.
When scalpel marks are found on bones from each of the victims, and vital tissues and organs are discovered to have been removed, the plot really takes off. Who could have done this? The causes of death are all unique. As local suspects are identified, and one by one dismissed from consideration, the reader must look beneath the surface information and seek out yet another probable suspect. What role does the free clinic play in all of this? Several paths lead to their door. Is the charismatic televangelist involved? We keep asking why. Who could gain from the deaths of homeless people?
Kathy Reichs, a forensic anthropologist for the province of Quebec, shows her expertise through her protagonist. Her ninth book featuring Tempe Brennan provides international intrigue, friendship, a spot of romance, and perfect pace. The plot moves steadily as well as logically, while allowing the reader to absorb the critical elements as they're exposed. A creative, smart and fun whodunit, this book is sure to be a favorite among fans of "CSI," "Bones," "Crossing Jordan," and "Forensic Files." One of only 56 certified United States forensic anthropologists, she knows her stuff!
Reichs has included the skills, technology and terminology that her readers have come to expect from her expertise in the anthropological and forensic fields of science. BREAK NO BONES will charm you, as well as challenge you.
--- Reviewed by Margaret Fletcher
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