Customer Reviews

Cross Bones

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I had read Kathy Reich's previous books and picked this one up not realizing the plot revolved around Orthodox Jews and Israel. As an Orthodox Jew who spent 10 years in Israel, I looked forward to seeing how Reich would deal with those topics. In her previous books, if she put a street in Montreal where it didn't belong, it didn't bother me because I didn't know any better. In this book, the constant barrage of factual errors was incredible. I can't believe that any of the folks she credits in the introduction actually read the final manuscript. Where to begin? An ultra-Orthodox man is killed under mysterious circumstances, which begins this investigation. Tempe Brennan gets a tip that he was killed because of something in an old photo--which turns out to be remains spirited away from the excavation at Masada in the 1960s. She and her boyfriend, Andy Ryan, then get to travel to Israel and run around trying to find out of these bones belonged to Jesus and/or his family members. I found the whole plot totally unbelievable. Throughout the book, Tempe and Ryan keep harping on the fact that Masada is a sacred place and claiming that Israelis would be upset if they knew that followers of Jesus had been up there. This is supposed to be the chief source of the book's tension. Baloney!

Masada is an important historical site with emotional value to secular Israelis as a symbol of Jewish survival, but it has no sacred status. The Nazarenes themselves were just another Jewish sect, no different from the many other sects that abounded at that time. They were just Jews who believed that Jesus was the messiah. Shortly before, there were Jews who believed that Bar Kochba was the messiah. Later, there would be Jews who thought Shabbatai Tzvi was the messiah. Why would anyone Jewish care if Nazarenes were on Masada? The decisive break between the Nazarenes and the Jewish people did not come until later. I can see why Christians would be upset by the theory that Jesus survived and had a family, but I don't see anything in this whole busines that would bother Israelis. So, the problem with the book is that if you don't really accept that people would kill and murder to prevent this information from getting out, the whole plot is just silly.

There were many small things, too. When Ryan and Brennan visit the grieving widow, she is wearing pants. No ultra-Orthodox woman wears pants, period. As they leave, she puts her hand on Ryan's hand. No ultra-Orthodox woman touches a man other than her husband. But what really blew my mind was that as Ryan and Brennan approach Jerusalem on their drive in from the airport, she gushes over the view of the Temple Mount. She must have Superman's vision because when anyone else enters Jerusalem from the highway they get a spectacular view of the central bus station and the national convention center. You have to drive clear across town to get to the Old City, where the Temple Mount is located. Even fiction has to have some basis in reality when you are using a real place. Her demonization of the Chevra Kedisha was appalling. These are brave people who spend much of their time collecting body parts after a terrorist attack and seeing that they have proper burial. They also try to insure that bones found in archeological sites receive proper burial, and I can't see that there is anything wrong with this. Human remains are more sacred than a mountain top and should be properly buried; archeologists can find enough artifacts to keep them busy on a site without having to treat bones like potshards. Native Americans feel the same way about their burial sites.

Aside from everything else, the Brennan-Ryan romance is getting stale. And he's starting to speak as if Janet Evanovich were writing the dialogue. I think this is my last Kathy Reich book.

This story is a change of pace for Temperance Brennan fans, who are used to a grimmer touch. While the present day mystery is real enough (the murder of an Orthodox Jewish importer who was apparently executed for his complicity in an antiquity smuggling business. But this story quickly takes second place when Brennan discovers that she might very well be performing an autopsy on the bones of Jesus Christ.

Years previous to these events in Montreal the archeological excavation at the fort of Masada in Isreal discovers a chamber with the bones of 25 individuals. Something about this discovery causes the archeologists to suppress the information (this actually happened). Somehow Avram Ferris, the victim, had gotten mixed up with as set of these bones and now it has cost him his lift.

But whose skeleton is it? Could is be a Christ who never actually died, one of the Jewish defenders of Masada, or a frightened Christian convert caught in the rush of the Roman effort to end the insurrection. And just to make things more convolute, when Temperance travels to Israel with Ryan, her lover, to investigate the crime, she is catapulted (literally) into a mystery that might very well be the Jesus family tomb.

This is an excellent intellectual thriller that has our forensic archaeologist and her detective lover trying to piece together both the current story and the events of 2000 years ago. Somehow the stories are related, and discovering how means solving the murder. Or dying if Temperance isn't careful. But prepare yourself for a delightful trip though history and modern Israeli politics with a story that is sometimes reminiscent of a Dan Brown novel and sometimes just hardboiled detection.

The story focuses primarily on Temperance, this often turns Ryan into either a sex object or a simple source of facts. But things are more interesting with him than they are without him so there's no cause to complain. Kathy Reichs adventures into new territory and makes a go of it.

Kathy Reichs latest thriller, "Cross Bones," features forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan, who divides her time between laboratories in North Carolina and Montreal. Tempe is currently in a committed relationship with hunky Canadian Detective Andrew Ryan (he of the Viking blue eyes), who is her partner both professionally and personally.

When the body of an Orthodox Jew named Avram Ferris turns up in a state of advanced putrefaction in Montreal, Tempe is called in to help determine the cause of death. Adding to the mystery, a stranger named Kessler passes Tempe a photograph, stating that it provides a clue as to why Ferris was killed. The photo shows a supine skeleton, and various elements in the picture indicate that it was taken at an archaeological dig. Tempe calls her pal, Jake Drum, a colleague at University of North Carolina-Charlotte and an expert in biblical archaeology, to shed some light on the photograph.

Jake believes that the picture was taken at Masada, Israel, in 1963. He further states that it may contain explosive evidence that Yigael Yadin, the archaeologist who excavated Masada, wanted to keep hidden from the world. Ferris' death and the puzzling photograph lead Tempe, Jake, and Ryan to Israel, where they encounter intrigue, violence, and ever more complex biblical conundrums involving skeletal remains.

The resemblance between "Cross Bones" and Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" is strictly intentional. In fact, Tempe mentions Brown's blockbuster bestseller more than once, with a wink to the reader, as if the Reichs is saying, "Sure, this is another 'Da Vinci Code' clone, but I'm putting my own spin on it." Unfortunately, Reichs doesn't quite pull it off. She populates her book with dozens of characters, including violent fanatics who want old bones to stay in the ground, Ferris's bereaved relatives, a corrupt Israeli antiquities official, and a priest with a deadly secret. This book is so convoluted that Reichs is forced to spend many pages explaining the various plot points, and this slows the narrative down considerably. It is obvious that the author has conducted extensive research about Masada and Jesus, and I applaud Reichs's scholarly attention to detail. However, by the end of the novel, the lengthy explanations become a bit wearying and repetitious.

Much of "Cross Bones" is formulaic. As in most novels of this type, the heroine places herself in unnecessarily perilous situations more than once, and then scrambles to save her life. There are frantic chase scenes, stilted, cutesy, and preachy dialogue, the obligatory twists and turns, excessive reliance on exclamation points and italics to grab the reader's attention, and, of course, a final violent confrontation. The characters are devoid of any depth, and although the biblical riddles that Reichs offers are as intriguing as any of Dan Brown's, many more questions are raised than Reichs can ever satisfactorily answer. I sincerely hope that in the foreseeable future, we will see an end to the spate of "Da Vinci Code" imitations.

I usually love Kathy Reichs books. This one I found incredibly boring, pedantic and uninteresting. The dialogue between Tempe and Ryan peculiar to say the least, staccato, juvenile and ridiculous. The storyline could have been told in 100 pages. Tempe came across as a know it all and lectured at every oportunity, half of which was incomprehensible to the layperson. Also some of the comments made couldn't be connected to the conversation. In actual fact had I been given the book without being told the author I would never have recognised it as being written by Kathy Reichs. Very disappointing.

I've been a fan of Reichs's work from her first novel. I've found her Brennan character engaging, and her story lines well thought out and interesting.

I found this particular book to be very disappointing. As Reichs writes in her Afterword, she wrote this novel to, in essence, indulge her interest in archeology. The problem is, she wrote a very confusing (to me) book with a story line that was very hard to follow. I had a hard time keeping straight the various antique skeletons that are driving the plot, the various dig sites, why various political groups were so intent on hiding/destroying/acquiring/whatever these assorted ancient remains.

In all honesty, while reading this book I was kind of busy shrugging my shoulders when I wasn't scratching my head. Figuratively, of course. I found myself thinking "who cares?"

Every author is entitled to blow one from time to time. Hopefully Reichs has this out of her system now. My advice: pass on this one. Read her earlier books, and wait for the next one.

In CROSS BONES, forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs' eighth novel featuring Dr. Temperance Brennan, our heroine is called in to determine if the death of Avram Ferris, an Orthodox Jewish man in Quebec, was murder or suicide. Her examination seems to indicate that Ferris was murdered. Her conclusion is confirmed when an acquaintance of Ferris's hands Tempe a black and white photograph of a skeleton, taken in Jerusalem in 1963, and tells her its subject is the reason Ferris was murdered.

Tempe discovers that the photo was taken during an archaeological dig of Masada, the long-ago site of the Jews' last stand against the Romans. Along with her lover Detective Andrew Ryan, who is investigating Ferris's murder, and biblical archaeologist Jake Drum, Tempe travels to Israel to investigate the origins of the photographed skeleton (which they crudely nickname "Masada Max"), and to explore ancient burial caves in and around Jerusalem. While in the city, she makes a startling discovery that could raise radical questions about the beliefs of millions of people around the world. Is it possible that Jesus survived his crucifixion on the cross and, rather than being resurrected as Christians believe, lived to the ripe old age of 80, and was buried with the rest of his family in a tomb deep in the Hinnon Valley? In CROSS BONES, Tempe takes on the most controversial and dangerous case of her career--and the stakes have never been higher.

Kudos to Reichs for being brave enough to write such a controversial book. But that's about all she gets kudos for with this one. Shame on you, Kathy, for feeling like you needed to buy into the "DAVINCI CODE knockoff" trend. And yes, I'm going to compare the two: If Reichs is going to mention that novel in CROSS BONES (which she does, more than once), you can be sure I'm going to make the comparison. The premise of CROSS BONES is the same: The main character discovers a secret that could have earth-shattering results for Christianity. You're better than that, Dr. Reichs, as your previous seven books have proven.

And while I can put up with the fact that the plot is similar to THE DAVINCI CODE, what I can't accept is that the writing is so similar. I mean, I love Dan Brown as much as the next person, but c'mon, folks, he's not the best writer, is he? Sadly, Reichs' writing also suffers greatly in this book. Her sentences are short and choppy, her dialogue is stilted, her prose is juvenile, her humor falls flat. And I've had just about enough of those heavy-handed cliffhangers at the end of every chapter. And don't you think she's told us enough that Ryan's eyes are blue? Sapphire blue, Viking blue, ocean blue, baby blue...it's all blue, Kathy, we get it.

I have read all of the Tempe Brennan novels, and I've loved them all--that is, until I read CROSS BONES. I found absolutely nothing redeeming in this novel. All of the forensic science I've always found so interesting in Reichs' novels is dry and textbook-boring in this offering. Her character development is nonexistent in CROSS BONES; she focuses totally on the plot rather than on the characters involved. While her descriptions of Montreal and North Carolina in previous novels have been vivid, her portrait of Israel is dry and detached. Although she mentions in her Epilogue that she flew to Jerusalem to do research for this novel, her depiction of the city is lifeless, and it reads as though she picked her descriptions of Israel straight from a travelogue.

Perhaps one of the reasons I had such a strong negative reaction to this novel is that its subject made me very uncomfortable. I am a Christian myself, and even reading this novel made me feel sacreligious. I think what bothered me was Reichs' flippant writing; Tempe, Jake, and Ryan, are constantly making some snide, sarcastic comment about the life of Jesus. I think Reichs could have taken more care not to be offensive. Yes, THE DAVINCI CODE tackled similar subject matter, but at least Dan Brown wrote with a little more respect. Aside from that, it is clear Reichs has disdain for organized religion of all kinds. In CROSS BONES, Christians are fanatics, Jews are radicals, Muslims are fundamentalists. You'll never hear any of them referred to in the pages of this novel without those tags.

But despite all this, I stuck with the novel, hoping for one of those trademark cleverly-crafted Reichs endings. Sadly, even in this I was disappointed. The ending is totally anticlimactic. Reichs takes the easy way out and gives her readers no answers, no explanations, not even some hypotheses to chew on. Just a rehashing of all the historical facts and some more not-so-witty-banter between Tempe and Ryan.

As a Reichs fan, I just can't tell you how disappointed I was with CROSS BONES. In fact, I'm not sure I'll be reading Tempe's ninth adventure--not unless Reichs steps back into the formula that's been working so well for her so far.

So I guess there's one major difference between THE DAVINCI CODE and CROSS BONES, after all: Brown, at least, tackled his biblical enigma with successful results.

I have read all Reich's books and own most of them. What a disappointment this one was. I nearly drowned in forensic science, paperdoll characters, impossible situations, and though I kept thinking the book would get better and somehow the plot would finally jell, it didn't. This book has no ending. It just stops, as if Reich's ran out of paper so she called it a day. My personal opinion is that she is trying to write her own, but improbable version, of something like the DiVinci Code and just doesn't come close to making the grade.

In Cross Bones, a book that is a bit of a departure from her usual fare, Kathy Reichs' main character Dr. Temperance Brennan investigates a murder of a somewhat seedy Jewish businessman Avram Terris, who is found dead in Montreal. Through various plot twists, Tempe and her main squeeze Andrew Ryan end up in Israel overtly investigating Ferris' murder. However, through their investigation, they end up involved in a mystery involving what appear to be first century bones that may be from the family of Christ.

Written in pure Reich's style, Cross Bones, is, as pointed out by another reviewer, similar in tone and pace to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. However, unlike Brown's suspenseful novel, Cross Bones fails to carry the reader to the same level of mystery and intrigue that fills The Da Vinci Code. Don't misunderstand my point. Cross Bones is a worthwhile read, but try as she might, Reichs' can't duplicate Browns success.

The characters in Cross Bones are believeable but not always interesting. The plot is a bit convoluted and in places stretches the reader a little too far.

Cross Bones is an interesting read but not typical Reichs.

I've read all of Kathy Reich's books, and enjoyed them for the most part. Some are better than others. But on this one, she's just way out of her league. I can tell, as others have mentioned, that she did quite a bit of research, and biblical archeology plus forensic anthrpology sounds like a pretty good pairing. But, she just doesn't make it work. The story is confusing (too many characters and subplots), and the book is really hampered by poor character development and BAD writing. I'm not sure what this new prose style is she's attempting, but it stinks. Also, Ryan and Tempe have about as much sexual chemistry as...well, they have none. Then, the ridiculous exchange of bad cop lingo at the end of the book (when she confronts Courtney Purviance) was just embarrassing.

Reichs can tell a decent story, and is dead on when it comes to forensic details (that's why we read her, right?). Kudos to her for attempting such an ambitious project, but in the end she just doesn't pull it off.

I love forensic thrillers, I love ancient history and archaeology. By education I am a molecular biologist. So I was immensely fascinated by Kathy Reichs latest thriller. Largely I was not disappointed by hearing the unabridged CD version. But the plot has one major drawback. It hinges much on the so-called "James Ossuary". This ossuary surfaced in 2003 in the antiquities black market. This ossuary and the so called "Stone of Solomon" have been at the center of major criminal investigation themselves. As it turned out both came from the same forgery shop of Oded Golan, where countless other forged antiquities were found. The ossuary it self is an original but the part of the inscription which reads "brother of Jesus" had been added by Oded Golan.

The BBC has produced a very exciting documentation about the scientific and criminal investigations leading to the exposure of these forgeries and the arrest of Oded Golan.

Since all this has become public before the publishing date of "Cross Bones" Kathy Reichs should have used this information in the resolution of her own fictional case.

But still she has made a point: If you mix religious zealotry into science truth always loses out.