Book Review: Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs

I'd planned to cover Angelfall by Susan Ee as my first book review on this newly revamped blog.  And while I still promise to do that, I have to say a few words about Kathy Reichs' latest monstrosity, er, novel because I feel morally obligated to spare other readers the pain of experiencing this book.

Normally, I’m a fan of Kathy Reichs.  I’ve read all of her other books and really enjoyed most of them.  Until now.

The thing I like most about the Temperance Brennan novels is the amount of time spent detailing Brennan’s work as a forensic anthropologist.  The information she learns from the bones is what makes her unique and interesting, and consequently, is what really makes or breaks these books.  I think that was the main problem with this one: very little time was devoted to Brennan spending time with the bones.  Instead, she spends most of her time chasing a quarry all over Canada (a quarry who turns out to be mentally challenged, yet manages to outsmart Brennan, Ryan, and their Royal Mountie friend for quite some time).

Another problem I had with this book was the love triangle.  The on-again, off-again relationship between Brennan and Ryan has gotten tedious at this point, so Reichs decided to spice it up a bit by throwing in a second guy.  Great, just what this series needed.  Not.  And as usual, at the end of the book, Brennan had still made zilch progress romantically, despite the fact that she’s apparently the type of gal no guy will ever get over.

Which bring me to my next point.  I’m by no means a feminist, yet by the time I finished reading this book, I was somewhat offended by Reichs’ portrayal of female characters.  (Her heroine excepted, of course, who is such hot stuff that guys are always fighting over her!)  Brennan ragged on the physical appearance of practically every other woman she met in this book.  Most of the women she encountered were prostitutes, some of them mentally challenged, forced into a horrible lifestyle because they felt they had no other options.  They're deserving of pity, and instead of being sympathetic, Brennan's looking at them thinking about how very white-trash they are, or how fat they are (because apparently anyone who weighs more than 100 lbs. is basically obese), or how leathery their skin is, or how skanky their clothes are.  Really nice, Brennan. 

 

And since I get the vibe that Brennan is basically just Reichs herself with a fake name, I'm kind of disgusted with this woman's inflated opinion of herself.

But I think the biggest problem for me was the sheer implausibility of the plot.  It began with the discovery of several sets of bones, which turned out just to be a side-plot in the tale of a much bigger conspiracy that eventually got so convoluted and honestly, uninteresting, that I ended up not really caring at all.  I didn’t care about diamonds or drug dealers!  I wanted to know the story behind those bones, which Reichs finally wrapped up for me as an aside in the space of about a paragraph tacked on at the end. 

And of course, as in every Temperance Brennan novel, Good Ole Tempe manages to get herself kidnapped at the end.  You would think one of these days she would wise up and learn to recognize a trap when she sees one, or at least develop the good sense to call and give Ryan a head's-up before she willingly walks into said trap.  But alas, some people never learn.

And having said all that, I may have had my fill of Temperance Brennan.  The TV show got so implausible I quit watching midway through last season, and we'll see if I even crack open the next book.  Doubtful.