Bare Bones

Kathy Reichs

2003 • 306 pages

Ratings33

Average rating3.6

"Down time" is not a phrase in Tempe Brennan's vocabulary. A string of disturbing cases has put her vacation plans on hold; instead, she heads to the lab to analyze charred remains from a suspicious fire, and a mysterious black residue from a small plane crash. But most troubling of all are the bones. . . . Tempe's daughter's new boyfriend invites them to a picnic — a pig pickin' — in the North Carolina countryside, where a cache of bones turns up. But are they animal or human? X-rays and DNA may link the crimes, but they can't reveal who is closing in on Tempe and her daughter — and how far they will go to keep her from uncovering the truth.

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Series

Featured Series

22 primary books25 released books

#6 in Temperance Brennan

Temperance Brennan is a 25-book series with 22 released primary works first released in 1997 with contributions by Kathy Reichs and Lee Child.

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Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

Joyce

This installment was not the best but it was interesting.

October 6, 2016

Melanie

I have decided to challenge myself to read books which I own. This is frugal. This is a logical plan. The only problem...there are many “series”of books that I own some but not all of. For this reason I made an adjustment to my plan. I chose several owned books from different genres and series and decided to read those series in order until finished filling in the gaps with free library loans.

This book falls into my Mystery Series Category as I work my way through the Temperance Brennan Series. It also falls into the category of a Library Loaned “filler”.

I tell you all this because as you can see from my low star rating I did not love this book. I myself am baffled by how Luke warm my reaction was to this particular story. Whenever I react this way to a series/author that I enjoy I find myself trying to solve my own mystery. It's almost like the autopsy of a break up.

You know..the age old question...WHY?

I wondered if I rushed through the read watching my “holds” timer on other books tick down, concerned I couldn't read all my loans before the books were magically returned via the internet?

I wondered if I didn't enjoy it because the further I got into the novel the clearer it became that I had in fact read it many years ago...so maybe that's why it was predictable?

I wondered if I was just too tired, or too hot (it has been the most hot and humid summer on record where I live), or too distracted....

It couldn't possibly be that Kathy Reichs had failed me.

Alas however, I have come to a decision.

This book was not my favourite because Tempe is in danger (again) warned off by a mysterious villain (again). She accidentally falls into a mystery (again) with so many convoluted threads and connections that at times they are hard to follow (again) but ultimately forgivable because you enjoy the book (not so much this time). Then Tempe is in a truly dangerous conundrum near the end of the book (again) because she has headed off to confront a villain (again) and is miraculously rescued by a law enforcement tough guy (again) who somehow manages to save her despite herself (again)...

sigh

It pains me to say this one was redundant for me...maybe it's not Kathy it's me.

The books were not released 2 weeks apart and if I had not read them all back to back I may not have noticed or been bothered by these structural similarities.