Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #414313 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06
• Format: Large Print
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 564 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The success of the Fox TV show Bones, based on bestseller Reichs's series featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (Cross Bones, etc.), bodes well for this latest installment, in which Brennan once again stumbles on a modern-day mystery inadvertently. While supervising a dig of Native American burial grounds in Charleston, S.C., Brennan finds more recent remains. Soon, her ex-husband, who's a lawyer, appears in town, pursuing leads in a missing persons case connected with a local church. Bodies start piling up at an alarming rate, and Brennan begins to suspect that the deaths are linked to each other—and her ex-husband's inquiry. Reichs's down-to-earth heroine is an appealing creation, who deftly juggles personal problems with professional challenges. Despite the somewhat obvious solution, this novel confirms the series' place in the front rank of the ever-expanding forensic thriller subgenre. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In this ninth in the popular series, forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is spending two weeks in May on Dewees, a barrier island north of Charleston, South Carolina, where she is leading a student excavation of a prehistoric site when one of the bodies they find isn't so ancient. After reporting her find to her friend Emma Rousseau, coroner at the Charleston County Coroner's Office, Tempe learns that Emma is ill and unable to investigate; so Tempe fills in for her as a consultant. When another body is found in a different location, the forensic examination of the bones shows a similarity in the manner of death. As Tempe investigates further, another body turns up, leading her to a horrifying conclusion about the motive for these deaths. Complicating matters, Tempe's estranged husband moves into the house she has borrowed, and her boyfriend arrives unexpectedly from Montreal. Tempe must work through her ambivalence about divorcing her unfaithful husband, for whom she still has feelings, but she also cares for her boyfriend. Readers who enjoy Patricia Cornwell's mysteries will appreciate the forensic detail here, and more character-oriented readers will respond to Reichs' likable and well-developed cast, from the local sheriff to Tempe herself, a dedicated woman who feels compelled to provide justice for those who can no longer speak for themselves. An engrossing entry in a widely read series. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Far Fetched
Dr Temperance Brennans work brings her and her archaeological students to an ancient Native American burial ground near Charleston. While there they uncover a decomposing body in a shallow grave.

Why was this body buried in a clandestine grave? And what does the unusual hairline fracture and condition of the sixth vertebrae signify? What began as a simple project turns into a heated homicide investigation when three more bodies are found. While investigating, Tempe crosses paths with her estranged husband a lawyer on business in Charleston. Matters become more complicated after her boyfriend arrives from Montreal, she is forced to put all distractions aside in order to solve the crimes.

Ms Reichs has her own style of writing, short and choppy sentences. The plot is good but seems a little far fetched and stretching reality, some descriptions implausible in my view. For example sharing a girlfriend's house with her estranged husband and her boyfriend at the same time ??????. This novel is a decent enough thriller, but it lacks style and passion. If you are a fan you will never the less rejoice seeing our heroine once again up to her armpits in muddy water, foul stenches and dead bodies. Not her best book but if you are interested in forensic thrillers you may enjoy this one.

An Informative but Predictable Read
I appreciate a murder mystery that serves both as a thriller and a criminal investigation. The first quality serves to whet my appetite for adventure and keep me wondering how the story will end. Reich's "Break No Bones" does an adequate job in getting and keeping my attention. Dr. Brennan and her forensic team pursue a complex and baffling investigation of various skeletal remains turning up at various sites outside Charleston, South Carolina. Her keen knack for sensing the unusual and picking up on the extraordinary leads her and her associates to uncover a criminal organization given to murdering the purpose of harvesting body parts. At that level, the story provides a decent and easy read in respect to clip prose, a straightforward plot, and some well-developed characters. What really caught my attention - perhaps because this is only the second Reich novel I've read - is the meticulously scientific way in which Brennan followed through on her clues to solve the mystery of the unidentified human remains. Reich has definitely created a character that is passionately dedicated to discovering and affirming the truth in spite of the growing distractions around her. Like a lot of exceptional things in life, the continued brilliance of Dr. Brennan to solve crimes, like Sherlock Holmes of an earlier century, may have become too wrapped up in a private life that hardly complements her investigative abilities. It is conceivable that some of Reich's fans might now be looking for her to create a new wonder woman to emerge as a modern crime fighter, who brings the table a whole new skill set involving the latest in medical forensics. I am aware that the TV series based on her novels may be more popular because it is focussed on the investigation of crime, and less on surrounding morality of the story. Nevertheless, an interesting and engrossing story with enough detail to carry the reader through to the end.

A disappointment
If you've read Kathy Reichs' books before this and liked them, you'll be disappointed by this book. If you've only seen the TV show and this is your first foray into the world of her novels, please (please!) read the other books.

This isn't a horrible book by any means and it *is* moderately entertaining, but it isn't at all of the same calibre as her previous books or even her most recent book, Bones to Ashes. I get the impression that either Reichs just didn't care enough to do more than "phone it in" or she farmed out the book to a ghost writer who just couldn't match her style. Either way, the book is a strident discord in an otherwise great series of books. The plot really is transparent: you keep hoping that she'll twist things around so that the ending is at least a little bit of a surprise. But, unfortunately, what you think is happening by the middle of the book is indeed what is actually happening -- there are no little surprises, no convoluted turns, nothing that makes you feel anything other than, well, disappointment by the time you reach the end.

Unless you're a diehard Reichs fan, I'd give this one a miss and skip right to Bones to Ashes, which is more in line with the style of her earlier books. Trust me, you won't have missed a thing.