Body Bags [Turtleback]

Golden Christopher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

""The first day at college, my professor dropped dead. The second day, I assisted at his autopsy. Let's hope I don't have to go through four years of this....""

When Jenna Blake starts her freshman year at Somerset University, she's not only living on her own for the first time, she's moving closer to the father she never really knew. It's an exciting time, filled with new faces and new challenges, not to mention parties and guys and...corpses?

Jenna feels torn about her future. She'd like to be a doctor like her mother, but she can't stand the sight of blood. Her father, a criminology professor, thinks he has the answer and sends her to interview for a job with the medical examiner -- an interview that takes place in the middle of an autopsy.

When a congressional aide goes violently insane and then drops dead, the pathology team at Somerset Medical Center discovers that his brain was ravaged with disease -- and loaded with insect larvae. As Jenna starts her new job, she is drawn into a web of terrifying disease, dangerous politics, and intriguing mystery. And when one of her professors ends up dead, she starts making connections even the police haven't seen...connections which will bring her face to face with a pair of killers: one medical, and one all too human.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jenna Blake has greater concerns than making friends or choosing a major during her first semester at Somerset University near Boston. At her parents insistence, she accepts a job as an administrative assistant to the medical examiner at Somerset Medical Center; her new position gives Blake insightAvia Golden's (Ghost Roads) well-rendered autopsy descriptionsAinto some bizarre campus events involving people suddenly seized by uncontrollable violence. Unwittingly at the center of an international conspiracy (which draws the attention of the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control), Blake is marked by a killer whose technique demonstrates Golden's sense of the truly morbid and her knack for uncomfortably realistic medical dialogue. The college atmosphere lends itself to the unpredictable plot, and Golden does well in developing the personalities of minor characters, including Jenna's new college friends, her parents and her supervising doctor. The killer and his motive, on the other hand, are never fully developed. Jenna will be back soon, however; this title launches Golden's Body of Evidence series.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606205055
• ISBN-13: 978-0606205054
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,178,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the award-winning, bestselling author of such novels as The Myth Hunters, Wildwood Road, The Boys Are Back in Town, The Ferryman, Strangewood, Of Saints and Shadows, and (with Tim Lebbon) The Map of Moments. He has also written books for teens and young adults, including Poison Ink, Soulless, and the thriller series Body of Evidence, honored by the New York Public Library and chosen as one of YALSA's Best Books for Young Readers. Upcoming teen novels include a new series of hardcover YA fantasy novels co-authored with Tim Lebbon and entitled The Secret Journeys of Jack London.

A lifelong fan of the "team-up," Golden frequently collaborates with other writers on books, comics, and scripts. In addition to his recent work with Tim Lebbon, he co-wrote the lavishly illustrated novel Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire with Mike Mignola. With Thomas E. Sniegoski, he is the co-author of the book series OutCast and The Menagerie, as well as comic book miniseries such as Talent, currently in development as a feature film. With Amber Benson, Golden co-created the online animated series Ghosts of Albion and co-wrote the book series of the same name.
As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies The New Dead and British Invasion, among others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, the online animated series Ghosts of Albion (with Amber Benson) and a network television pilot.

The author is also known for his many media tie-in works, including novels, comics, and video games, in the worlds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Angel, and X-Men, among others.

Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, February 21, 2000

By 

Hanna (LA, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body Bags: A Body of Evidence Thriller #1 (Mass Market Paperback)

When I saw this book on the shelf @ my fav booksore, I knew that I just had to read it. I love horror stories, especially when they have a medical component. Christopher Golden is wonderful at catching each character at it's best- or it's worst, which makes them very real and believeable and is the essence of a good horror story, or any story for that matter. Jenna has struggles with liveing up to her mother's expectations, trying to make decisions about her career and her life, while still trying to fit in and have fun. And she is adventurous enough to decide that she is going to figure out what's going on. This is a great book!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing and original..., July 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Body Bags: A Body of Evidence Thriller #1 (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is much like many others Christopher Golden has written, including the Shadow Saga: refreshing and original in its own right. When I first saw this book, I had my doubts about it, but once i read past the first chapter, I knew I'd be looking out for the rest of the series.

I personally enjoyed the well-conceived plot, as well as the realistic characters. Many young adult books these days seem more suited for preteens, for example, the Sabrina the Teenage Witch series, Fear Street (in a slight sense), Sweet Valley High, and numerous others, but an actual teen, or young adult, would really enjoy this book. For one, the main character, Jenna Blake is a freshman in college (for most "young adult" books, the main character(s) is/are in high school), and that gives it a plus. Then there's the not-so-perfect family that Jenna Blake has, giving it a realistic touch, along with the slight friction between her parents. Of course there's also the hesitation Jenna feels at going away to college, and the obligation she feels that she has to fulfill her mother's hopes for her to become a doctor. Jenna Blake is not your average high school/college bimbo whose life is perfect, but instead a teen who could exist easily in the real world, and whom I certainly identify with.

Golden has brought yet another great novel into the literary world, and I sure hope he will bring in more of his own original pieces, not just books based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or X-Men or whatever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book any horror fan MUST read, September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Body Bags: A Body of Evidence Thriller #1 (Mass Market Paperback)

"Body Bags" introduces us to Jenna Blake, college freshman, EveryWoman, trying to find out what she wants to do with her education and her career - and who she is. Packed with horror and intrigue, the reader is caught up in Jenna's life, her heartbeat and the reader's matching in rhythm at each suspenseful turn.

The BODY of EVIDENCE series by Christopher Golden is a must-read. Body Bags first, then Thief of Hearts, and then the future BoE books in the works. You can't go wrong with Christopher's works, and "Body Bags" is an excellent example of that. Read. This. Book. Now.

Then read "Thief of Hearts", etc.