Virals

Reviewer: Kelsey

Author: Kathy Reichs
Pages: 454
Format: Hardcover (available in paperback)
Rating: 8 out of 10

My Summary: Tory Brennan was probably born for adventure…and to be a geek. After all, her aunt is famous forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. When she moves to the middle of nowhere with her father, a marine biologist, who she had never known, she has a hard time adjusting. She meets a few people who are just as geek as she is though and they have the same need for adventure.

This group of teens save a wolfdog pup from a secret lab only to end up being subjected to a rare strain of parvovirus which changed them and their DNA. With their new found talents they now have to solve a murder. Through it all they stick together.

My Take: Being a fan of Kathy Reichs novels really helped here. I already had a feel for her style of writing even if this was her first Young Adult novel. With Kathy Reichs always comes mystery, science, adventure, action, and of course murder with a side of good friendship. It sounds a bit crowded but I think that Kathy Reichs does it near flawlessly.

I think that this novel shows a really good set of friends. I’m not so sure that my friends would do for me what Tory’s did for and with her. Also, they may all be a bit geeky but they definitely all have their own personalities which keeps things interesting.

Plus, there is a lot of good suspense in the novel and I didn’t see the end coming, at least, not the whole end. It’s refreshing to read a novel where the end is a surprise but still makes sense. You ask yourself how you didn’t figure it out.

I believe that the book came out at a good time. There are many others of the like on shelves everywhere. None of those are quiet like this novel though.

I don't want to spoil anything so here is just a quick overview for the second book in the series:

Seizure

Author: Kathy Reichs
Rating: 8 out of 10

Brief Summarization: Ever since Tory Brennan and her friends rescued Cooper, a kidnapped wolf pup with a rare strain of canine parvovirus, they've turned from regular kids into a crime-solving pack. But now the very place that brought them together - the Loggerhead Island Research Institute - is out of funding and will have to shut down. That is, unless the Virals can figure out a way to save it.

So when Tory learns of an old Charleston legend about a famous she-pirate, Anne Bonney, whose fortune was never found, she can't believe her luck - buried treasure is exactly what she needs to save the Institute on Loggerhead! Trouble is, she and her friends aren't the only ones looking for it. And this time, the Virals' special powers may not be enough to dig them out of trouble . . .