Bones Are Forever: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Book 15)

"Bones Are Forever" is another marvelous forensic anthropology thriller by Kathy Reich. As in all her books, this one is filled with fascinating medical, forensic, criminal, historical, and scientific details. The characters and dialogue are skillfully realized, the story authentic and believable...and each chapter irresistibly propels you into the next with clever (and often annoying) cliffhangers. In fact, it's quite hard to put the book down! Best of all, it's easy to get lost in the story and forget you're reading at all. At times, it seemed like events were playing themselves out in my mind's eye like a movie or TV drama.  The book starts with the discovery of the remains of three newborns in a small squalid apartment of a young prostitute living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It appears the woman has been killing her full term babies as soon as they are born and stuffing them in various hiding places in her home. Temperance Brennen, a forensic anthropologist, and the star of Reich's series of "Bones" thrillers, is called to examine the decayed body, mummy, and bones of the three tiny victims and to help with apprehending the killer. The case takes Temperance--along with two male criminal investigators--to Edmonton and later to the far northern frontier settlement of Yellowknife. Temperance has past and current romantic relationships with both of her colleagues on this case, and this adds  complications and interest. As the evidence mounts, the case becomes a jumble of conflicting and confusing leads. There are more questions than answers and, as usual, Temperance seems constantly to be getting herself into dangerous circumstances in order to uncover the truth. When I was seventy percent of the way through the novel, I figured out the why, but it wasn't until the end of the novel that I knew the who. I was satisfied with the ending and felt it was well supported by all that had come before without any overt literary obfuscations or tricks. I learned a great deal about the First Nation people of Canada and about some of their existing social, economic, and cultural problems. It was a good strong story and a very good book.If you enjoy this genre, Kathy Reich is one of the best, and this novel is a very good example of her skill.

From some of the previous reviews, I see some people did not like this book. I mostly liked it. The mystery was pretty good - but I do agree - I learned way more about diamond mining that I ever wanted to know.Dr. Reichs did not go into as much detail on the forensics as she has in the past. Maybe she thinks we already have learned all we can. At any rate, less on the diamond mining and more on the case would have been better.She also needs to have her chapters flow a bit better - rather than making so many of last paragraphs rival a season finale of TV. We're already planning to turn the page (in just a second or two).While some people have commented that there was no forward movement on her relationship with Detective Ryan - I thought it was fine. He's unhappy about her past relationship with the Mountie but also concerned for his daughter. He needs to sort his own feelings out. I don't think he's over Tempe just yet. As far as Tempe and the Mountie. She was clear that she felt he was a mistake from her past and time and distance did not diminish that feeling. And the fact that RCMP Hasty didn't share that feeling - just annoyed her. I'm thinking most women would have the same reaction. He did seem to think he was a stud that she was pining for - which is about 180 degrees from what she was feeling.One thing Tempe needs to work on is to quit getting herself into circumstances where she's in so much danger. For heaven's sake - she's been around law enforcement enough - she should be able to have a clearer idea about when and how to ask for help. If she were to act a bit more professionally, she would be taken more seriously by law enforcement personnel.Anyhow the book's pretty good - just do what I did and skim over all the diamond mine stuff. It doesn't add much to the story.

I've been a long-time fan of “Bones” on TV. I've seen Kathy Reichs mentioned as the author of the books on which the series was based. I hadn't realized she also writes some of the scripts.The Temperance of the TV series is as different from the original as night and day. In the books she's also a forensic anthropologist, but she works in Canada and North Carolina. She also has several ex-boyfriends. One of them, Detective Ryan, is a major player in BONES ARE FOREVER. The TV Temperance would never let a man know she cares about him, unless he's Booth. The original can't seem to help herself. She's also not as vain and conceited. Some might say Temperance, the TV character, is only stating a fact, but she is somewhat off-putting.Unforgivably there are no “Squints” in BONES ARE FOREVER. Love them. The original character is also more willing to get out into the field on her own. I don't remember her being in the field without Booth, the FBI agent, in the TV series.This book is about dead babies. A woman turns up at a hospital, bleeding from her nether regions. She's obviously just had a baby, but when Temperance has been called in to offer her expertise on a dead baby, and she and the detective identify the woman, who has several aliases, as the mother. A forensic test reveals she may be Native America. During the investigation they find two more dead babies traced to the same woman. She has a record as a prostitute.The story then moves to Edmonton, where Ryan and Temperance team up with a sergeant in the RCMP; there's sexual tension between Temperance and Ollie, too. And they find another dead baby.The plot then takes a twist. Adults are turning up dead, including relatives of the prostitute. And the whole thing involves diamond mining. I didn't even know there were diamonds in Canada, the Northwest Territory, specifically.There's no doubt there's more characterization in the TV series, and minor characters “The Squints” and other lab technicians play a much larger role. The Reichs series is much more traditional mystery series, except for the main character's occupation, which Reichs also claims.

Having read books by Kathy Reichs for many years, I did find this book just as good, apart from the over emphasis on the gold and mining application for permits et cetera which was very hard going but, I suppose, somewhat necessary for the story. That part could have been made much shorter whilst still being included. However, having said that, it was a sad but very touching story of how a young, half aboriginal girl with learning difficulties struggled to find her place in society. Told with feeling as only this talented writer can.

I have read all of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan books and really enjoy them - well most of them, a couple have not been to my taste exactly - so I had Bones Are Forever on preorder and eagerly set about reading it when it arrived and I have to say that initially was really disturbed by it.The novel begins as Temperance Brennan and her colleagues in Montreal recover the body of a dead baby that has been stuffed behind a vanity unit. As they examine the apartment, they discover more babies hidden. The most disturbing part is that there is clear evidence that these babies have been killed on purpose and concealed. The hunt is then on for their mother, a hunt that will take Tempe and former lover Detective Andrew Ryan to Edmonton and desolate Yellowknife, where they will discover that the babies are merely collateral damage in a higher-stakes game.So the baby part really upset me - I know this was the designed response, but I did have to put the book down for a few days as my imagination did terrible things to me where those babies were concerned. After that, when the story moves away from the babies, Bones Are Forever is much more like the previous Tempe adventures; action, peril and Tempe managing to always fall down on her face!I love the Brennan books as they have the right amount of scientific method, without it getting in the way of the plot. Tempe uses a range of forensic techniques to get to the truth and they are all written in an interesting - although I'm sure simplified - way. I can't claim to be scientifically gifted, but I have looked up a great deal of the techniques from the books, just to see if they're real and I have actually learned something *it's a miracle*.Although, as I said, I was a bit upset by some of the subject matter here, it shouldn't be shied away from as it does happen, so it's certainly not put me off joining Tempe on her next adventure!

I hate to write this, I really do, but Reichs' Brennan books are just getting all the same now. At some point in the plot, usually near the end, Tempe will be grabbed by the bad guys but will get away/be saved (usually by Ryan). Early on, she will have at least one accident causing her physical injury - if it were real, she would be scarred horribly! There will be increasing amounts of technical and scientific detail that most of us (a) don't care about and (b) don't understand. The latter is what started killing off my interest in Cornwell's Scarpetta novels, by the way.The only saving grace is that Brennan is NOT Bones. That's just a money-spinning travesty that Reichs should be ashamed of, IMHO. How you could create a character like the book Brennan and turn her into the TV Bones is just beyond me. I can't think she needs the money that badly. The (early) novels as they stand would make excellent films or mini-series rather than the US tosh.I do like Tempe and would like to see her with Ryan. The current on/off (but mostly off, except when it's on) status is getting very wearing. Either get it on or get it gone.Another bonus for me is that the cat Birdie continues to be safe!I hope she doesn't go down the same sad road Patricia Cornwell has gone because it will then be one series fewer for me to read. I'll buy the next one but if the plot is basically the same, it'll be my last.

Reading the Temperance Brennan series is like going to a master class in how this kind of genre of book, should be written.In this latest edition the forensic anthropologist is back in Montreal, and back on the case with the gorgeous Detective Ryan at his sexiest. She, Ryan and an old flame are tracking the killer of multiple babies, which leads Brennan to danger and new areas.It doesn't get better than this. Kathy Reichs produces such well rounded stories. They are intelligent and insightful with a little romance, a little danger and huge amounts of background information, which makes you feels as the reader that you are being allowed to walk around with her characters. Even the peripheral characterisations in her novels, such as her daughter, and her cat 'Birdie' are developed in each new adventure. She keeps the reader constantly updated, without boring new readers to the series with back stories from previous novels.Her skill is in allowing the reader to witness every smell and taste she experiences through Temperance, you really are looking through her eyes. I have read half of this book in one day and am now trying to pace myself as I know I will miss it, when I am done.When I first 'discovered this series it was already ten books in so I was very excited, because I could read as fast as I wanted to my hearts content. Now though I wait with baited breath for the next release.I have since visited Montreal, Canada as a result of the interesting and inviting descriptions from these novels, and I can not wait to visit Charlotte, North Carolina.

I am a real Kathy Reichs fan and have read all her Temperance Brennan thrillers. I am never disappointed even though some in this excellent series are not quite as excellent as others.Bones are Forever, in my mind, ranks amongst the best of them, and this time Tempe has to leave her "comfort" zones and usual stomping grounds of either Quebec or Charlotte for the hostile gold mining region of the North Western Territories of Canada.It all begins with the discovery of one baby's body, then another and yet another. The trail takes Tempe - and her ex, detective Andrew Ryan - to the almost frozen north.The community of Yellowknife is close-knit, everyone knows everyone else but no one knows nowt about the missing mother of the dead infants.As usual, there is a strong sense of reality through Reichs' research into the area's history that is mingled with humour and witty lines while the investigation is carried out and the culprit identified. Tempe not only helps to uncover the perpetrator/s but needs to borrow post mortem equipment (limited as it is) when an exhumation is deemed necessary.Also, as usual, there is the underlying chemistry between Tempe and Ryan which always makes me hope all is not lost. I loved this and I can't imagine a time when Reichs retires Tempe. My life of reading would not be the same again without another saga to look forward to.