Fatal Voyage (Temperance Brennan Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Kathy Reichs (Author) "I STARED AT THE WOMAN FLYING THROUGH THE TREES..." (more)
Key Phrases: médecine légale, incident morgue, victim packet, Bryson City, Lucy Crowe, High Ridge House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
When forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan joins the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team mobilized to investigate an airplane crash in North Carolina's Smoky Mountains, she literally stumbles on a body part that doesn't match up with the remains of any of the plane's passengers. The leg she grabs out of the jaws of a coyote feeding on the carnage scattered around the site belongs to an unidentified elderly man, and seems to have no connection with the disaster. But an abandoned hunting lodge near the crash site does, although before Tempe can figure out exactly how they're linked, she's pulled off the DMORT unit and forced to stand idly by as her professional reputation goes up in flames. When Andrew Ryan, a detective familiar to readers of Kathy Reichs's earlier books (Deja Dead, Death du Jour, Deadly Decisions), appears on the scene, another mystery begins to unfold. There seems to be no trace of two men on the plane's manifest, Ryan's partner and his seatmate, a criminal who was being escorted back to Canada via Washington, D.C., the doomed flight's final destination, to stand trial for murder.

As usual, Reichs serves up a solid helping of forensic science as the DMORT operatives do their thing, and Tempe traces the remains of a man killed 40 years ago to a series of ritual murders of senior citizens, and further to those whose influence was responsible for her firing. Reichs keeps the narrative moving along despite the somewhat ponderous technical and scientific information; her pacing is brisk and her series heroine in fine form. Tempe's romantic life gets more interesting with every new adventure. A solid thriller that will please the best-selling author's regular readers and serve as a good introduction to new ones. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
With four crime thrillers to her name, Reichs (Deadly Decisions) seems to have settled into a comfortable routine with forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, whose adventures grow more engrossing with each outing. Here, Tempe takes on an especially gruesome case in a richly plotted tale about an airline crash, missing body parts and cannibalism. The story opens in the rugged backwoods of North Carolina, where Tempe must identify the dead from the remains of a passenger jet that spiraled straight into the ground. While rummaging through the grisly debris, she comes across a foot that doesn't appear to match any of the 88 dead people aboard the jet. As investigators determine what brought the plane down, Tempe looks into the mystery of the foot. That seemingly well-intentioned pursuit gets her fired. Her ouster appears to be the doing of Lt. Gov. Parker Davenport, an ambitious politician taking an abnormal interest in the crash. Tempe, determined to restore her reputation, plows back into the case on the sly. What she finds is evidence of a chilling, depraved episode in local history that upends many common perceptions about North Carolina's political and business elite. Reichs, herself a highly accomplished forensic anthropologist, expertly directs a busy plot that moves with electrical force in the final quarter. She capitalizes on the morbid yet captivating aspects of the forensic trenchwork, yet never lets it overwhelm her story. But it is Reichs's ongoing development of Tempe a woman in her 50s with a mature understanding of human nature, and a self-deprecating sense of humor that truly lifts the book above many of its peers. (On-sale: July 17)

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671028375
• ISBN-13: 978-0671028374
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,234 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 4 in The Temperance Brennan Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Back On Track, December 13, 2001

By	W. Kaplan "calyndula" (Wynnewood, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fatal Voyage : A Novel (Hardcover)

Kathy Reichs is back in the game with this exciting forensic thriller, a fast-paced mystery that echoes the brilliance of the first two books in this series.

This time, the venue is North Carolina, and the action begins quickly as Tempe Brennan is called to the scene of a gruesome commercial plane crash. The gritty realism of the crash site, combined with Reichs' usual unflinching descriptions of the victims' remains, forms the backdrop for a mystery that begins when Brennan finds a human foot she suspects is not part of the accident.

Suddenly, Brennan is yanked from the case, her name smeared across the press, and her professional reputation put in serious jeopardy as she is accused of "tampering with a crash site." Of course she has done no such thing--as followers of this series know, Brennan is a straight-arrow forensic anthropologist whose work ethic is scrupulous. So what's going on? That question forms the rest of the story, as Brennan struggles to solve the mystery of the foot and to save her good name. She has some powerful enemies bent on stopping her, not the least of whom is the state's attorney general.

There are some satisfying plot twists to this story as well: Brennan's cop friend Ryan is part of the investigation. Ryan's long-time partner was a passenger on the doomed airliner, and his remains cannot be found. The partner was escorting a well-known prisoner back to Canada for trial. Did the crash have something to do with freeing the criminal? Was he even on the plane? What caused the plane to go down? The theories are rife, and Brennan is itching to get back on the scene. Dogged by the press, in danger of losing her job at the university, humiliated and angry, she throws herself into the parallel mystery of the foot--and uncovers more than she bargained for.

"Fatal Voyage" is a strong and satisfying mystery, and Tempe Brennan is back in form as the strong, no-nonsense, and likeable woman we came to know in "Deja Dead." Yes, she is vulnerable, especially in the scenes with her ex-husband Pete, whom she still loves, and in her acerbic courtship dance with Ryan, to whom she is deeply attracted. It's good to see Reich finally get control of Brennan's personal side, describing her interactions with the two men in her life in a sympathetic and believeable manner. Brennan's incredible strength in the face of professional adversity, her dogged determination to do right by the victims whose remains she must identify, and her tenacity in solving the mystery that is somehow connected with her banishment from the crash scene juxtapose nicely with her vulnerable side. And her interactions with a brand-new character, an irrascible dog who has become her simultaneous bane and companion, adds some much-needed humor to this very grim tale.

It's good to see Reichs AND Brennan back in form. If the rest of the series is as strong and well-written as "Fatal Voyage," Reichs will definitely remain a formidable contender in the forensic mystery genre.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars grisly side of forensics, July 23, 2001

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fatal Voyage : A Novel (Hardcover)

The plane crash in the back wooded mountains of Swain County North Carolina is brutal as body parts are severed and tossed everywhere and with all eighty-eight people on board dead. The first non-sheriff department person to arrive at the grisly scene is Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist working for the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team. Tempe has worked several nasty scenarios, but this one may be the worst yet as the nightmare turns potentially personal. She learns that the TransSouth Air plane carried the University of Georgia men and women soccer teams and some fans, which could include her daughter visiting a player. However, she soon finds out that her daughter is not on the deceased list.

As Tempe works along with other Feds, state and local officials, she finds a leg that does not belong at the site. She begins to investigate the extra body part, but soon is fired for “officiously” showing her interest in the limb. Desiring to regain her reputation shattered by the spin-doctors, Tempe continues her investigation in spite of pressures from high officials in the state and threats to her life.

FATAL VOYAGE, the fourth Brennan tale, is a powerful story that brings to life the grisly side of forensics at a disastrous crash site without allowing the details to overwhelm a strong plot. The story line is exciting, but the tale belongs to the heroine whose feelings run the gamut of human emotion during the novel. Kathy Reichs has written a terrific novel that will send the audience seeking the previous Brennan stories that are also well written, but not quite as great as this one is....

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most Satisfactory!, January 24, 2002

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Fatal Voyage : A Novel (Hardcover)

'Deadly Decisions,' the predecessor to 'Fatal Voyage' was something of a disappointment when compared to Kathy Reichs' first two novels about Temperance Brennan. Too much attention was paid to family and emotional problems, too much of a 'pity me' attitude, and, to be blunt, a very monotonic plot. Reichs' writing carried the book through, but if the stories would have continued in that pattern the series would have suffered greatly. One Patricia Cornwell is enough.

This tale, which starts out with Tempe's arrival at a horrific plane crash in the mountains of North Carolina, is something else again. Not only is she writing much more like her old style, Reichs has also picked up the pace and cleaned up some of her characterization considerably. Tempe's involvement in the crash site as a forensic anthropologist assigned to the gruesome task of piecing together the remains of 88 victims is a fascinating study. Many of the victims are college soccer players, and the loss of life brings an almost overwhelming sense of grim tragedy to the tale.

To add to the mystery, one of Tempe's walks around the crash site precipitates her into a confrontation with coyotes over a human foot. Tempe is rescued by her old friend, and almost lover, Montreal detective Andrew Ryan. Ryan is in North Carolina because his partner, Jean Bertrand, was on the flight escorting a criminal back to Canada. Surrounded by tragedy Tempe and Det. Ryan find themselves thrown together in an uncomfortable intimacy. One which provides most of the humor in this macabre story. The foot, in the meantime, has it's own mystery - it seems to belong to no one who was on the plane.

Unexpectedly, Tempe finds herself being hounded by Parker Davenport, the Lt. Governor, and Larke Tyrell, the medical examiner. Soon her only friends at the site are Ryan, a FBI agent, and Sheriff Lucy Crowe, who has no affection for Davenport and a great deal of savvy on her own. Investigations into the origin of the 'extra' foot trigger a reaction that verges on attempted character assassination. Finally, Tempe is banned from the crash site. Rather than simply go home, Tempe decides to fight back, and launches her own investigation. With amazing results.

The interplay between the techniques used in solving the plane crash and the knowledge that Temperance brings to bear on the solitary limb is fascinating. For those who read forensic mysteries because they love the details, 'Fatal Voyage' is a great treat. The gradual unfolding of the rest of the plot, with its historical and political themes is done seamlessly, without introducing any unnecessary complication. And the rich characterization is a surprise bonus, as Tempe confronts some of her own issues head on, pointing to further developments. We can expect Andrew Ryan to reappear, and I have to hope that Sheriff Crowe also becomes a regular. Reichs has outdone herself.