Devil Bones [Hardcover]

Kathy Reichs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2008

hard cover, book club edition

Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; Book Club Edition edition (2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416584951
• ISBN-13: 978-1416584957
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #607,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathy Reichs, like her fictional creation, Temperance Brennan, is forensic anthropologist for the province of Quebec. She is Vice President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, serves on the Canadian National Police Services Advisory Council, and is one of only fifty-six forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. A professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Reichs now divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal. Deja Dead, her debut novel, brought her fame when it became a New York Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. In 2007 Break No Bones was short- listed for the Ellis Award for Best Novel. Kathy Reichs is the inspiration for the television drama Bones; her latest novel featuring Temperance Brennan is Devil Bones. Her newest release, 206 Bones, is due out in the summer of 2009

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Deftly Plotted Mystery, Lots of Pagan Religion, Jammed with Medical Details, and No Romantic Movement, September 4, 2008

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Devil Bones: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels) (Hardcover)

If you are a long-time fan of this series, I've written this review for you. You can skip this book if you want to. In terms of series continuity, I'm sure Dr. Reichs will be able to put in two sentences near the start of the next book to handle what happens in this one.

If you haven't read any books in the series, don't start with this one. Start with Deja Dead, a much better book.

If you like mysteries that are hard to solve as a reader, you will like Devil Bones much better than most readers. That's also true if you are fascinated by pagan religions and cannot get enough information about dead bodies.

On the other hand, if you want an entertaining story that's an easy read, you will probably think this is a two-star book. The book also features an easy-to-hate politician who makes the story less appealing. If you like to see Dr. Tempe Brennan's love life get somewhere, this book is pretty close to a zero.

Let's face it. We all have bad days. Tempe seems to be having one throughout this book. That also makes the book more of a downer than it had to be.

Tempe is called out when an apparent root cellar turns out to contain a human skull, associated with what looks like some sort of pagan religious rite. Tracking down the rest of that body becomes the focus of much of the story in Devil Bones. Soon thereafter, a body is dumped that displays satanic signs. Are the two events connected? How?

The investigation has many unexpected twists and turns, most of which wouldn't have happened if Tempe had been a little sharper in assessing one of the clues. If you are quicker than Tempe, you'll unravel the mystery faster than she did. But you'll probably miss the real criminal until all is revealed unless you have ESP.

I learned way too much about pagan religions and medical details from this book, but I liked the mystery being difficult to solve. So I rounded up from two stars to three.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "We...fear things we don't understand.", August 31, 2008

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Devil Bones: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels) (Hardcover)

Temperance Brennan, the forty-plus forensic anthropologist, explores alternative religions in "Devil Bones," the latest Kathy Reichs thriller. An employee of the state of North Carolina, Tempe is under contract to Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. She examines "the burned, decomposed, mummified, mutilated, dismembered, and skeletal." This time around, she has a great deal on her plate. First, she is called to a "chamber of horrors" containing human and animal remains and various objects, including cauldrons, statues, candles, and dolls pierced with miniature swords. Was this the site of some sort of satanic ritual? Next, a dog walker finds a headless body near a lake. The victim's torso had been carved up with various markings that might also point to a ritualistic killing. These findings set off a firestorm, fueled by hysterical media coverage and the ranting of a grandstanding politician named Boyce Lingo, who decries "murderous devil worshippers" allowed to go unpunished. Tempe is livid not only about the leaks, but about Lingo's wild speculation and baseless accusations.

Tempe, who teams up with Erskine "Skinny" Slidell, an unkempt but hard-working and insightful homicide detective, is destined for much grief as she tries to make sense of these seemingly unrelated cases. Not only are they bashed by Lingo and disreputable reporters, but they are also frustrated by contradictory evidence, a lack of credible witnesses, and leads that go nowhere. In addition, Tempe's personal life is in turmoil, as she struggles to come to terms with her alcoholism, her ex's engagement, and her mixed feelings for Andrew Ryan, the Montreal detective who stole her heart and then proceeded to break it.

In "Devil Bones," Reichs imparts a great deal of geographical, sociological, and historical lore about Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, plus a great deal of information about maggots, putrefaction, and skeletal remains. The author's didacticism can be grating at times, although hard-core forensic junkies will most likely be fascinated by Reichs' detailed and exhaustive explanations. The plot is carefully constructed, albeit dizzying in its complexity. One of the book's main themes is the ubiquity in our country of such ideologies as Santeria, voodo, and Wicca. Are the practitioners of these unconventional belief systems harmless individuals who should be allowed to practice their faith in peace, or do they pose a threat to the population at large?

Although "Devil Bones" is exciting and suspenseful, it is far from realistic. In an interview, Reichs admits that it is rare for a forensic anthropologist to go into the field along with detectives to question witnesses and work cases from an investigative angle. Although the mysteries are involving enough, the story's most appealing angle is its focus on Tempe's midlife crisis. She cannot keep her opinions to herself, even when her boss orders her to be silent. She still has trouble avoiding alcohol and the oblivion it provides. In addition, she hates being alone, but is afraid to trust any man after the betrayals she has suffered. Anyone who has followed Tempe during her long and arduous journey will want to accompany her once again as she tries to solve some of the strangest puzzles she has ever encountered.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Best of the Series, September 3, 2008

By 

E. Durham (lakehurst, nj) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Devil Bones: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels) (Hardcover)

I have to come to expect so much more from the series than this book was able to offer. The historical background is dry and uninteresting, not the usual transfer of intriguing information by the author. It is not that the topic is not interesting to me as I am a practicing member of an earth-oriented religion. However the intellectual areas do not mesh with the interpersonal on a level I have come to expect from the author. The use of ending a paragraph negating all that was just written in terms of dire future events became annoying. Bringing an new romantic character and then not developing him at all was a letdown and the coming of Andrew Ryan into the storyline seem trite and contrived as if he was there as a useless appendage. His part was also never developed to satifaction. Lastly we have he ex-husband and dragging in all THAT involves with the half his age fiance' and again the developement was left undone. I think the book would have been better served to leave off so many personal demons, including the off the wagon drinking binge that happens and then is treated as if there were no physical effects and fewer mental ones. All in all it was an OK read, but not up to standards of the other Tempe Brennan novels.