Customer Reviews

Twenty-Seven Bones: A Thriller

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nasaw typically writes a great thriller, and this is no exception. The disheveled former FBI agent Pender is back on stage to bring another serial killer to justice. In this case, the stage is the fictional island of St Luke (think US Virgin Islands), and the serial killer(s) are already quite advanced in their careers. Nasaw spends some time going into their motivations, which are fascinating and well-thought out; he develops several characters fully and dramatically; and he effectively uses the island culture, its people, its history, and its geography as well. Nasaw is a pro and knows how to write a tight story.

This kind of book is never going to appear in the literature section of the library, but if you are looking for a great summer crime story, you could do a lot worse than to read 27 Bones, or any other of Nasaw's books for that matter.

Phil and Emily Epp are anthropologists, they are serial killers too. Weird serial killers. It started for them when they were spending time with a native culture that believed they could absorb a person's soul by inhaling their last breath. Emily, because of a strange accident, wound up sucking in the tribal leader's dying breath and it changed her. It changed hubby Phil as well. Now they want more, so along with the tribal leader's son, they set out to get their fill, because they've all come to believe that that dying breath will make them live forever. Only trouble is, somebody has to die to give up his last breath.

The gruesome threesome wind up on the island of St. Luke, where they inhale a lot of last breaths by cutting off the right hands of the locals, sucking in as they expire. This they do for years, but all good things must come to an end and the beginning of theirs happens when a few of the bodies wash ashore and the local cops learn that they have a serial killer on their island who they call the Machete Man.

Ex-FBI agent E.L. Pender is back from Mr. Nasaw's excellent works, "The Girl he Adored" and "Fear itself" and he's come to St. Luke to match wits with the killers. He's not there long before he becomes friends with Holly Gold, who has come to the island to raise her deceased sister's children and now it's important that he find the bad guys before anything happens to them. This book has it all, scary bad guys, a girl and kids we care about and an anti-hero, hero who is just outstanding. Tension, suspense, thrills and chills galore.

Twenty Seven Bones starts quickly with a prologue that grabs the reader and sets the stage for a page-turner. With a story line that is intimately connected to island tribal rituals (which may be fact or fiction) the book has an eerie, believable quality. When two serial killers get introduced to these tribal practices, the stage is set for a killing spree on an island influenced by ancient Danish dynasties. An adventurous pace continuing right up to the last chapter and characters that were believable and well described were strengths. The book's weakness involved the author's quasi-pornographic style. I am not sure who the author was targeting, but other than twenty-something males, the sophomoric fixation with the "big uns" and the "tee tees" went beyond titilating to a nauseating level. A controlled level of seductivity would have been more intrigueing. In other words, this is not a book I would recommend to my mother.

This book introduces a bunch of characters within the 100 first pages, too many if you ask me. The start is slow, after page 100 each page is a strugle to turn, it's just a bit boring. The plot is weak, as is the motive. The only thing that saves this book from getting just one star from me is the nice background setting the auther sets fort he story. He did his research, to bad a great background donsn't make a great story.

I found myself completely engulfed by this book! this was my third book I have read by Nasaw and he did not disappoint! I love this as much as I love the others! and I'll continue to read any books he writes!

The overall plot of this book was interesting but I found the writing style to be quite off putting. Too many sentences were interrupted with explanations in brackets. I feel the writer would have been much better off letting the reader be guided by good, descriptive writing, rather than trying to squeeze in every possible last detail he could.

I will not repeat the plot of this book which others have already done and done better than I.

I was very disappointed in this book mainly because the serial murderers were marginal to the story. I enjoy crime fiction and, for me, the battle between good and evil is where all the tension and interest come from. The bad guy(s) must be as compelling as the good guy. In this story, the married perverted psychopathic serial killers started off so full of promise. But, very soon, they became just plain old boring. Their twisted motivation suddenly became secondary. The author made the error of making his antagonists silly, incomprehendsible and - worst of all - dull!

Most of the characters on Saint Luke are moderately interesting. But, moderate interest just isn't what I want to feel when reading a book. Strangely, I became more involved in the love story between the middle-ages FBI dectective and the mysterious "woman-with-a-past" than any other part of the plot. Other characters were flat.

I agree that the ending was pretty anti-climactic.

You won't hate the book but I suggest you lower your expectations before you start reading. This is not a thriller.

It hooked me fast, kept me and I really enjoyed the twists and turns in the book. Liked the characters too! Have passed it on to others to read!

I borrowed this book on CD from the library and it was incredible! I found myself taking the long way since I listened in the car! Captivating, suspenseful, an awesome story. (If you listen rather than read, not safe for young ears!)

I throughly enjoyed this thriller about a couple who believe the way to enternal youth is breathing a dying person's last breath. Couple this with their island helper's penchant for collecting the right hands of this couple's unfortunate victims, and you have a tale that is not to be missed.