Book Review – The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs – Chilling Thriller
Table of Contents
My Rating – 3.5 out of 5
Plot Summary – The Bone Code
Admittedly, when I picked up this book, I was a little skeptical about whether I wanted to read it and unsure if I would like it at all. Safe to say now, that I kinda loved it! Looking at Kathy Reichs’ real-life profile as a Forensic Anthropologist herself, it is clear that she is Temperance Brennan herself, the expertise on display is not just literary research but academic knowledge and professional expertise, acquired over the years. Coming in at the 20th book of the series may sound a bit dodgy in terms of picking up continuity in story threads, but thankfully, the author makes it quite easy to read this as a standalone novel as well.
Hurricane Inara is bearing down towards the North Carolina coast, wreaking havoc on its way. Tempe is hunkered down in her annex, waiting out the storm. The next morning she heads out to the Isle of Palms to her dear friend Anne, to help her deal with the storm’s aftermath and help her rebuild and revive. On her way, she wonders about the woman who’d come to meet her a couple of days back, with a request to locate her grand-aunt and a death mask! Then she gets a call to come to Charleston, connecting to another mystery from her past.
A medical waste container washes up in Charleston, with two bodies wrapped in plastic and tied with electrical wire. Their fingers have been chopped off and so are their teeth – to prevent identification. Tempe immediately recalls another case from 15 years ago, when a similar container washed up in Montreal, with two bodies similarly packaged and rendered unidentifiable. It is either one hell of a coincidence or the two cases are related in the most unthinkable manner – their killer is the same and is still eluding justice. Meanwhile, in neighboring South Carolina, a deadly bacteria attack is underway, which eats human flesh and is highly contagious.
But a certain type of genetic mutation is leaving some people highly susceptible to it, while others are immune to it. The spread of the disease has to be stopped before it acquires epidemic status and many more die. Tempe, meanwhile, ties up with her longtime live-in partner – Andrew Ryan. The two work diligently on the US and Canadian ends of the mysterious bodies, aided by local law enforcement. Understandably, the narrative is replete with scientific terminologies – both in terms of forensic work as well as genetic research, but they are well explained for the layman to grasp.
Conclusion – Book Review of The Bone Code
As I mentioned earlier, the abundance of scientific jargon does not veer into purely academic territory but stays within the grasp of a normal reader. The chemistry between Ryan and Tempe is cute – like it would be between two middle-aged people in love, not the fiery teenage love spawned purely out of surging hormones. With three storylines that initiated the novel, Ms. Reichs never loses sight of anyone at any point in time and keeps pulling on individual threads to keep them relevant.
While this makes for an intriguing read, for me, a certain spark was missing which could transcend this into the realm of the excellent. But let’s not split hairs, I did enjoy it and was never bored by the pace of the story. Definitely an attractive read.
*I hope you have enjoyed reading this book review as much as I have enjoyed writing this! Do watch this space for more such reviews and navigate through the links below for more… Thank you!! *
I have myself never read mystery and crime suspense kind of novels, rather always have preferred watching it in movies only. Do you think Novels serve us more than movies? Do I need to start reading these sorts of Novels too? Will they be equally interesting? I am genuinely interested in knowing this because the way you reviewed this book made me think that it’s even more interesting!
Well, thank you for your kind words! Yes, books are far more interesting and detailed than movies, one main reason being they are not limited by time. Also, the author’s imagination and a director’s vision may differ, so the end products may be different.
But there are wonderful movies which are not based on any book and many books which are far better than the movies made from them. If these sort of novels interest you, then you definitely should read them, so I guess, you start reading one and then see what you feel…
Hope this helps, thanks for reading and commenting!
Thank you so much for helping me in this. I will definitely start reading crime and suspense books now! ❤️