Review: Virals by Kathy Reichs

Title: Virals
Author: Kathy Reichs
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult
Buy: Amazon ~*~ Barnes & Noble
Add to your Goodreads shelf
Caution: May contain spoilers

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Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever.

As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent.

Fortunately, they are now more than friends they're a pack. They are Virals.

~synopsis from Goodreads
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My Thoughts:

Virals is one of those stories with a really boring start. Once the mysteries start to unravel and questions arise, you get engaged. So my first thing to say, do not just give up when you read the first several chapters (basic information and back story), it gets better!

Tori, who is the niece of Temperance Brennan (from the series of the same name that inspired the Bones TV show), and her friends are troublemaking kids with good intentions. They let their curiosity get the better of them and go too far into restricted areas in the Loggerhead Island Research Institute. While in there, they kidnap a wolf dog named Cooper to help nurse him back to health. He had been subjected to Parvovirus XBP19. Tori was familiar with Parvovirus but this kind wasn’t the same.

In the meantime they find themselves in a not-so-safe position: discovery of information on a cold case murder. In their attempts to solve it, everyone seems to turn against them and hide evidence. During their research and sleuthing, they discover strange things happening to them. It seems to point to when they rescued Cooper. But why? All he had was a virus that can be passed from dog to dog, not dog to human… or so they thought. Turns out this strain is untested and potentially highly dangerous since the side effects are unknown. It makes them essentially like wolves. This completely changes the game, and might very well help them get to the bottom of this case.

From kidnapping Cooper on, it was great. I didn’t like the few sections that were told in third person surrounding Karsten and the lab. Then again, I’m usually not a fan of stories told in the third person. Other than the dull beginning and the few third person chapters, I really liked the story. I loved how once they became Virals they could talk to each other through the mind, including with Cooper. It was intriguing, and I thought it was a nice touch to have the side element of forensic anthropology. Also, having a cold case crime being solved was awesome. Not much of that in YA literature. So, bottom line: it was good, and I can't wait to see the next installment in Kathy Reichs YA series.

 My Rating:

Very Good: Stay up late

Follow Friday #25

Alright! Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read and is a way for book bloggers to get to know each other better. Just go to their pages and follow the directions, and you'll be making some new friends! Our featured bloggers are the following Life Between Pages & Confuzzled Books. Congrats to being featured this week! ^_^

Q.If you could have characters from a particular book meet and form an epic storyline with characters from a particular TV series, which would you choose and why?

A. Gah! Something I have to think about... (one moment)... Aha! Gossip Girl (TV show) meets Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan series--OR--Bones (TV show) meets Cecily von Ziegesar's Gossip Girl series. Why? Isn't it obvious? It would be awesome. Murder mysteries plus a bunch of gossiping socialites with bonus catfights and real fights? I call that good television, or, good books.


Happy Follow Friday!!!

~Jessica

Review: Déjá Dead by Kathy Reichs

For the Bones fans in the blogosphere, I would like to tell you about the book that got it all started. Now, the TV show and the book aren’t similar personal detail wise. The only similarities are the following: the name “Temperance Brennan” and the forensic anthropology. Tempe on the TV show has been said to be more alike in personality to Kathy Reichs herself. Tempe in the book is a divorced mom of one daughter, she’s a recovering alcoholic, and the book takes place in Canada.

This novel is truly an amazing piece. It is beyond full of detail on everything, but especially the forensics. It’s actually a good thing for the reader to be familiar with the TV show because the references and medical terminology could be hard to follow (unless of course you work in the medical/forensics field). I know I catch a lot more detail on other programs since I’ve picked up so much from Bones.

This particular story is about a girl being found in a plastic bag: decomposed and cut up. Tempe needs to identify the victim to find some answers. This crime scene is strangely familiar though. It reminds her of another girl who was found in almost the same way. She is convinced that the two cases are related, yet the detectives (especially one of them) refuse to believe in the possibility. She will not give up on provint that they are linked. So she searches (often by herself and not safely either, which is reminiscent of Tempe on Bones at times) to find the truth.

The pace of the book was a bit frustrating in the beginning (this is the first novel of this kind I have ever read), but then I had to realize that this wasn’t an episode of a TV show. Everything that takes place in real life with homicides takes hours upon days upon weeks upon months to get results and answers. As you get to the middle, things start to pick up with the little clues and ideas and details that surface. Reichs describes all the processes of identifying weapons used, identifying victims, etc. She discusses Tempe’s thoughts and fears and opinions, not only relating to the case, but also her own personal life, which is significant to understanding the way she is.

My opinion (without spoiling the details) is that this is a very compelling and well written book. For anyone who’s a Bones fan (or anyone who is a crime show fan), this book is a must read. The ending is powerful, and it certainly makes you want to watch her solve another case. And you’re in luck, because there are more Temperance Brennan novels (currently 13 are published, with #14 coming out soon) and there’s a Young Adult companion series called Virals by her as well.

Bottom line, if you love Bones (and other forensic novels), pick up this book. You’ll love it.