Short & Sweet Review: Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title: Spider Bones

Author: Kathy Reichs 

Series: Temperance Brennan, #13 

Narrator: Linda Emond 

Published: August 2010, Simon & Schuster Audio 

Length: 9 hours 30 minutes 

Source: Library

Kathy Reichs—#1 New York Times bestselling author and producer of the FOX television hit Bones—returns with the thirteenth riveting novel featuring forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan.

John Lowery was declared dead in 1968—the
victim of a Huey crash in Vietnam, his body buried long ago in North
Carolina. Four decades later, Temperance Brennan is called to the scene
of a drowning in Hemmingford, Quebec. The victim appears to have died
while in the midst of a bizarre sexual practice. The corpse is later
identified as John Lowery. But how could Lowery have died twice, and how
did an American soldier end up in Canada?

Tempe sets off for the
answer, exhuming Lowery’s grave in North Carolina and taking the
remains to Hawaii for reanalysis—to the headquarters of JPAC, the U.S.
military’s Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command, which strives to recover
Americans who have died in past conflicts. In Hawaii, Tempe is joined by
her colleague and ex-lover Detective Andrew Ryan (how “ex” is he?) and
by her daughter, who is recovering from her own tragic loss. Soon
another set of remains is located, with Lowery’s dog tags tangled among
them. Three bodies—all identified as Lowery.

And then Tempe is
contacted by Hadley Perry, Honolulu’s flamboyant medical examiner, who
needs help identifying the remains of an adolescent boy found offshore.
Was he the victim of a shark attack? Or something much more sinister?

A
complex and riveting tale of deceit and murder unfolds in this, the
thirteenth thrilling novel in Reichs’s “cleverly plotted and expertly
maintained series” (The New York Times Book Review). With the smash hit Bones now in its fifth season and in full syndication—and her most recent novel, 206 Bones, an instant New York Times bestseller—Kathy Reichs is at the top of her game.

*** Short & Sweet Reviews are short, quick reviews. These will mainly be used for series books where I have already done full reviews on some of the earlier books or for books that I feel will suffice with a quick review. These will not be used for review requests or blog tours. 

My thoughts: There are some books in a series that are just better than others – some that you are just not going to like as much. This is one of those books that I just didn’t care for as much as I did the others. But, I read it because I really do enjoy this series as a whole and I’ve read some of the later books and want to fill in all the missing pieces. I’m a big fan of reading series in order, mainly for the character development and feel that I’m missing a few vital pieces of information, so for that reason, I stuck with this book.

The case that Tempe was working on in this book took her from Montreal to North Carolina to Hawaii. Along for the ride to Hawaii were Tempe’s daughter Katie and Andrew Ryan and his daughter Lily. That provided for some interesting moments as Katie and Lily didn’t quite get along most of the time. And Tempe and Ryan are still trying to figure things out as far as their relationship status goes…are they/aren’t they a couple? Who knows!!! They definitely are starting to remind me to another fictional couple – Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli with their on-again/off-again relationship status.

I guess it will be the very last book where all this will be solved. Along the way, there will be some interesting cases and some not-so interesting cases, this one being one of those not-so interesting ones to me. Oh well. On to the next one!   

Audio thoughts: I’m so happy that Linda Emond narrated this one…I really do enjoy listening to her and it’s been nice having her narrate a bunch in a row. I think she narrates the next one, too!!!

My only complaint about the audio is that the tracks are really long – 10-15 minutes long. If you want to re–listen to a part or if you move from car to house with the cd‘s, it’s not very convenient as those with shorter tracks. 

Books in this series:

1. Deja Dead                                14.  Flash & Bones
2. Death du Jour                       15.  Bones are Forever
3. Deadly Decisions                 15.5  Bones in Her Pocket
4. Fatal Voyage                         16.  Bones of the Lost
5. Grave Secrets                        17.  Bones Never Lie
6. Bare Bones                              17.5  Bones on Ice
7. Monday Mourning              18.  Speaking in Bones
8. Cross Bones                            
9. Break No Bones                    
10. Bones to Ashes                    
11. Devil Bones 
12. 206 Bones
13. Spider Bones