Time to break out the shovels and dig into the latest Temperance Brennan suspense story. Tempe, as she is called, is the forensic pathologist creation of novelist Kathy Reichs, who writes her crime stories in a way that would do CSI proud.
In “Break No Bones,” Doctor Brennan is teaching an archeology class, and finds recent bones at the ancient site. The county coroner is deathly ill, so it’s up to Tempe to prescribe an ID for the victim.
Forensic pathologists will revel in the graphic detail given to the cutting, slicing, and dicing in the procedures – the rest of us can look up the medical terminology or skip over the passages. (It’s forgiven just like looking away when the CSI gets up-close and personal in TV autopsies.) In fact, if you’ve seen “Bones” on the Fox network, you’ve been watching Doctor B at work.
“Break No Bones” is the ninth book in her series, but Reichs manages to seamlessly present the backstory, allowing first-time readers to keep up with seasoned fans, and Tempe is a down-to-earth character with a real-life outside the morgue.
The story involves a free health clinic in South Carolina, a missing private eye, and bodies that begin turning up as regularly as Southern hospitality. It doesn’t take much detective work to figure out what is going on, but that may be a good thing, since Tempe is more of a Watson than a Holmes. She huffs and blusters, and in the end, the crime gets solved.
Fans of Patricia Cornwell will find an updated heroine. Especially if short sentences appeal. And clause fragments. Really.
Even for those who’d rather be outside while the autopsy is on, Reichs provides a solid story, a believable character, and an understanding of the science that brings it all together.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Alexandria Link
Don't ask suspense author Steve Berry why his secret-agent character is nicknamed "Cotton."
In his latest Da Vinci style thriller, Berry makes a point of saying it's "a long story." If the explanation is longer than "The Alexandria Link" it's no wonder readers are left guessing. At 500 pages, there should be plenty of time for character basics (like their nicknames) - but Berry relies on Action! Action! Action! in chasing down the lost library at Alexandria, a collection of scrolls that disappeared 1,500 years ago.
The premise that the library still exists could make for an interesting book, but in "The Alexandria Link" the hunt is reduced to a series of cryptic scavenger hunt clues.
Plenty of readers will love Cotton Malone, a former agent for the U.S. Justice Department, who tired of the chase and settled down in Copenhagen to run a bookstore. (Berry also doesn't explain his character's decision to leave the US and his young son behind.)
His ex-wife no sooner appears in the shop claiming their son has been kidnapped, when the store explodes and the two are left clinging to an upper-story window ledge, arguing over their failed marriage.
Cotton Malone speaks several languages, has special agent weapons training and a photographic memory, but he doesn't recall a handgun with an ammunition clip is not a "revolver." He forgets his training too, particularly in removing his bullets so the gun will go Click, Click, Click and the enemy will stand up in triumph - the way they always do, presumably.
There's also a European business cartel in league with al Qaeda, a biblical mystery involving the major religions, a double-crossing government employee, and a plot to kill the US president.
As to the origin of Cotton Malone's nickname, Berry may be saving that for another five-hundred-page-thriller.
In his latest Da Vinci style thriller, Berry makes a point of saying it's "a long story." If the explanation is longer than "The Alexandria Link" it's no wonder readers are left guessing. At 500 pages, there should be plenty of time for character basics (like their nicknames) - but Berry relies on Action! Action! Action! in chasing down the lost library at Alexandria, a collection of scrolls that disappeared 1,500 years ago.
The premise that the library still exists could make for an interesting book, but in "The Alexandria Link" the hunt is reduced to a series of cryptic scavenger hunt clues.
Plenty of readers will love Cotton Malone, a former agent for the U.S. Justice Department, who tired of the chase and settled down in Copenhagen to run a bookstore. (Berry also doesn't explain his character's decision to leave the US and his young son behind.)
His ex-wife no sooner appears in the shop claiming their son has been kidnapped, when the store explodes and the two are left clinging to an upper-story window ledge, arguing over their failed marriage.
Cotton Malone speaks several languages, has special agent weapons training and a photographic memory, but he doesn't recall a handgun with an ammunition clip is not a "revolver." He forgets his training too, particularly in removing his bullets so the gun will go Click, Click, Click and the enemy will stand up in triumph - the way they always do, presumably.
There's also a European business cartel in league with al Qaeda, a biblical mystery involving the major religions, a double-crossing government employee, and a plot to kill the US president.
As to the origin of Cotton Malone's nickname, Berry may be saving that for another five-hundred-page-thriller.
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