Flash and Bones

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Kathy Reichs
Pages: 271
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary: Just as 200,000 fans are pouring into town for Race Week, a body is found in a barrel of asphalt next to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The next day, a NASCAR crew member comes to Temperance Brennan's office to share a devastating story. Twelve years earlier, Wayne Gamble's sister, Cindi, then a high school senior and aspiring racer, disappeared along with her boyfriend, Cale Lovette. Lovette kept company with a group of right-wing extremists known as the Patriot Posse. Could the body be Cindi's? Or Cale's?

At the time of their disappearance, the FBI joined the investigation, only to terminate it weeks later. Was there a cover-up? As Tempe juggles multiple theories,the discovery of a strange, deadly substance in the barrel alongside the body throws everything into question. Then an employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention goes missing during Race Week. Tempe can't overlook the coincidence. Was this man using his lab chemicals for murder? Or is the explanation even more sinister? What other secrets lurk behind the festive veneer of Race Week?

My Take: I really like Kathy Reichs books because she has the science but she also has the people. The novels that she writes are full of just enough action and just enough drama to keep you focused while at the same time, teaching you something that you didn't know or telling you how something works. She thinks about things and adds things that I would never even think about had it not been for her novels. She's great.

I've read all Reichs novels so now I'm just trying to keep up with the character, Temperance. I want to know what will happen to her, I want to know how she will solve what seems to be an unsolvable mystery. I'm curious to know how it ends and that it what propels me to finish these books.

I said before that there is just enough action to keep our interest and that's true. It isn't over loaded with useless detail but uses the action to move through the story. Each one of her novels has something happen to Temperance. She always gets herself into some kind of trouble and I find that as I read I get excited to find out what she will get herself into next.

Since Kathy Reichs is a real forensic anthropologist, the science is real. You really do learn some things. I think that's great because it makes the whole thing seem much more real.

Final Thoughts: If you like science, mysteries, racing, and just a touch of good drama, than this is a good novel for you. one thing that I love about Reichs' novels is that you don't have to read them all. She always gives an introduction so if you want to read only this one, you could. It's all around good.

P.S. Fun Kelsey factoid: Next year I will be going to school for anthropology and Kathy Reichs is the reason. ☺ Also, if you have read any of Kathy Reichs novels and haven't already than you should check out the Television show, Bones. It airs on Global and Fox (cable).

(This season is done but whatever!)