Customer Reviews

Wisdom of the Bones

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This was my first Christopher Hyde book, purchased prior to take-off from an international airport and finished (all 400-some pages) upon landing six hours later.

Needless to say, it won't be my last.

Hyde seamlessly integrates fact and fiction during that fateful weekend in Dallas nearly forty years ago. Having said that, this is _not_ a book about the assassination of an American president, per se. It _is_ the story of horrific events that occur before, during and after one of the defining moments of our time, and the mindset and priorities of our segregated society during the early '60s.

Hyde essentially picks up where history left off--the extremly careless investigation of mutilated African-American girls by a serial killer--and spins his tale from there. There was no justice for these girls then--that much is fact. Through Hyde's wonderful imagination and storytelling, they have their justice now...if only in the belief of what _should_ have been.

It's always amusing to read fictional situations involving real people. Put that in a hair-raising thriller by a storytelling master, and you have the literary equivalent of a drug addiction.

The afterword by the author helps us out some and highlights his skill; he teases apart the historical and the fantastical for us, letting us in on what was real and what wasn't.

This was one of the best books I've ever read. Fantastic job.

If you're looking for an exciting, interesting and informative noirish police procedural that will take you back in time to the days just before, during and after the Kennedy assassination, I very much recommend Wisdom Of The Bones to you. The story is about a Dallas homicide detective's attempt to solve one last case involving a young kidnapped girl before he loses his own life to a terminal heart condition.

Hyde is meticulous in his research and is terrific in describing this period with accuracy, grit and lots of color. Further, Hyde's suspenseful thriller is filled with real-life characters, about which he provides interesting and many little-known facts (at least to me) that enables this book to rise above the average historical thriller. Of particular interest to me (and I think will be to you, too) were the "factoids" Hyde provides about Jack Ruby. Wisdom Of The Bones is a book that succeeds on many levels ... plot, narrative style, multi-dimensional characters to name just a few ... and is one that will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you want to read on and on. Christopher Hyde's latest is well worth reading and one that should be near the top of your to-be-read list. Also, I'd recommend that you try Hyde's previous historical thriller, The Second Assassin.

Quite simply, I found this book to be one of the best novels I've read in a year!
It's well written and engaging with an excellent plot, historically based, gritty, hardboiled, noirish, atmospheric and hard to put down -- all with the Kennedy assassination serving as background to the time and setting. The historical base is not just the Kennedy assassination, but also the serial killings of the story itself. The hero of the story is also unique: a little rough around the edges, but likeable, and dying from congestive heart failure which is described in some detail.
A warning though: some scenes are graphically detailed, but these help the story. Never a dull moment in this Christopher Hyde masterpiece!

Dallas, November 1963
To most people these words mean one thing - the JFK assosination.
But surely you don't think, that no other crime was commited in the city at the same time?
This is the story of one of those crimes. On November, 20 a mutilated body is found in a dump. A detective, who is days from retirement, due to declining health (he only has months to live) is assigned the case. And Ray Duval is not going to leave behind an open case. But two days later all hell breaks loose in Dallas, and no one cares about a dead antiques dealer and a black girl... Ray takes a one-man crusade to track his killer, who may be connected to Jack Ruby and some other shadowy figures.
Hyde gives a wonderfull feel of time and place, weathing the historical element into the story, making it a sub-plot and not the main one. Ray is a great character - he starts out as a big bully, but as the book goes you start to see more of him, making him one of the most rounded characters in recent thrillers.

Christopher Hyde takes us back to Dallas, November, 1963 where a horrible murder occurred. No, not that one-- actually a serial killer is at work. A cut up mutilated body is found in a refrigerator at the local garbage dump. Homicide detective Ray Duval is assigned the case. Duval, diagnosed with congestive heart failure is given a death sentence by his physician. With only a few months to live, Duval diligently tries to solve the case and by doing so save lives. His search reveals the murder is similar to some unsolved crimes 25 years ago. After the assassination of President Kennedy, he is virtually on his own in that the entire resources of the Dallas PD is working on the President's death. The stark contrast of the death of Kennedy to the death of a young black girl is both heartbreaking and illustrative of the times.
This is a fine book written and to be appreciated on many levels. It is much more than a typical serial killer novel. It is, in actuality, a searing indictment of the times. Having a penchant for characterizations, Hyde has created a very real detective hero in Ray Duval and that is the major strength of this work by an experienced novelist. Civil unrest, political upheaval and the very essence of life and death are all themes explored in great detail. Problems include a plot that goes on a bit longer than it should, as well as a solution that comes out of left field along with a predictable conclusion. A worthwhile nominee.

In November 1963 in Dallas, homicide detective Ray Duval has received a death sentence from his doctor. In a year or maybe two, if he's lucky, he will die of congestive heart failure. The only thing that is important to Ray is his job and he knows that he will never be able to pass the annual physical exam that he is due to take in a week.

On November 20th, Ray is called to the scene where a man is found in the city dump, sliced up, skinned, and decapitated and stuffed into an old icebox. He wants to solve this case before he is forced to retire but the victim had many enemies in both his personal and professional life. He gets a lucky break when he stumbles on the fact that over two decades ago, at least twelve children, most of them black died in the same way as the victim of Ray's current case. When two more black children disappear in Dallas, Ray is sure that the deaths are all linked together and he intends to solve the case before dying.

WISDOM OF THE BONES gives the readers a sense of place during the Kennedy assassination especially with Jack Ruby threaded throughout the story line, being questioned by the protagonist about the case and ignoring his other activities. The who-done-it is well plotted and is solved by good old-fashioned police work that includes a lot of legwork. Christopher Hyde shows his ingenious ability to provide an atmospheric thriller inside a powerful police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

Someone is killing the little girls. Again.

A suspense thriller and a fine police procedural.
This one has a fascinating premise. Set in Dallas, in 1963, the book covers five days, from November 20 through November 25. It involves the off-camera activities of several residents of the city who were involved one way or another in the calamitous assassination of the President of the United States. Yet, this is not another book about that calamitous event.

This is the story of one dying homicide detective of the Dallas, Texas, Police Department, who is assigned to track down the murderer of an antique and rare book dealer of the city, one Jennings Price. He is murdered and then left in a particularly hideous manner. Detective Ray Duval has other troubles. He's dying. Doctors have given him less than a year to live and he knows that he won't pass his upcoming police physical. He'd like to solve this last murder before he ends his career.

The pending visit of the president is merely a distraction. Duval goes home to see his father and older brother in a town several miles north of Dallas. He knows this is probably the last time he will ever see these people and he'd like to settle a few resentments with his family. While he's there a chance remark about several thirty year old killing of small girls, triggers a connection to the murder of Price.

Through the rest of the book Duval battles indifference, racial attitudes, the shooting of the president and hi own dwindling strength in a last attempt to find a monstrous killer and save one life before the end of his own. A powerful, teeth-grinding and supremely suspensful thriller that touches the nerve endings of anyone with an interest in good writing, good stories, recent history and the mystery genre.

Set amongst the Kennedy assassination, though it really deals very little with that whole can of worms. Of course that doesn't mean that Hyde didn't take some interesting detours down a conspiritorial trail in dealing with that aspect of Dallas in November 1963.
Ray Duvall, a retiring Dallas Police Detective with heart disease in its final stages, and a bad case of father issues and sybling rivalray to match, must track down a serial killer with a penchant for young black girls. With all eyes and man hours focused into finding and prosecuting JFK's killer Ray must fight against his remaining time on Earth to catch a killer of young Black Girls in Texas 1963.
Searching through Dallas' seedier side of Dallas our intrepid Dectective runs into Jack Ruby, and Hyde's plot line sometimes mirrors Oliver Stone's JFK with searching for a killer amidst secretive, and highly placed homosexuals.

Actually, other reviews have described the book well. This is as much a novel about Detective Duval as it is about solving the crime. Interesting things to learn about WWII, Dallas at the time of Kennedy's assassination, etc. Be sure to read the prologue.

This is definitely one of the most underestimated books out there. Hyde brilliantly weaves a serial killer story within the days of Kennedy's visit to Dallas and assassination, avoiding clichés and pitfalls the whole way. All of Christopher Hyde's books are fantastic, but this might be the best.