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Break No Bones  By  cover art

Break No Bones

By: Kathy Reichs
Narrated by: Dorothee Berryman
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Publisher's summary

The inspiration for the hit Fox series Bones, Kathy Reichs explores another high-stakes crime from today's headlines, in a case that lands forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan in the middle of a gruesome international scheme.

Summoned to South Carolina to fill in for a negligent colleague, Tempe is stuck teaching at a lackluster archeology field school in the ruins of a Native American burial ground on the Charleston shore. But when Tempe stumbles upon a fresh skeleton among the ancient bones, her old friend Emma Rousseau, the local coroner, persuades Tempe to stay on and help with the investigation. When Emma reveals a disturbing secret, it becomes more important than ever for Tempe to help her friend close the case.

The body count begins to climb. Tempe follows the trail to a free street clinic with a belligerent staff, a suspicious doctor, and a donor who is a charismatic televangelist. Clues abound in the most unlikely places as Tempe uses her unique knowledge and skills to build her case, even as the local sheriff remains dubious and her own life is threatened.

Don't miss any of Tempe Brennan's investigations.
©2006 Temperance Brennan, L.P. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"This novel confirms the series' place in the front rank of the ever-expanding forensic thriller subgenre." (Publishers Weekly)

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What listeners say about Break No Bones

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Unbearable Narrator

I love Kathy Reichs, and the story is wonderful, but this narrator is the worst ever. There is absolutely no difference in the way she characterizes each person. She mispronounces common words (the Sioux Native Indians Tribe's name is pronounced to rhyme with shoe and not sooWEE, the way you'd call a pig.) The narrator has no sense of rhythm, blows the jokes, and has a voice that is somewhere between Shari Lewis (of Lambchop fame) and Kathleen Turner during a bad case of bronchitis. I wish I had read the other reviews before I downloaded this, because I could have saved myself a credit. I am going to have to buy the book because this narrator is just too awful to have to sit through. What WERE they thinking?

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Unbearable reader

This reader is as bland as it gets. She has no gift for inhabiting the characters. This book has a lot of scientific and technical aspects, and with a lifeless voice, I found myself unable to concentrate on what was going on. I couldn't even finish this, and wish I'd read the reviews before I bought it.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Terrible narrator

This narrator made Tempe sound like she was in her 60's or 70's. The book was a little slow, but my goodness, the narrator made it even slower. I, too, wished I had read the other reviews and I would have given this one a pass.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Very disappointing

I'm a fan of this series, but this installment was WAY below par. The mystery is disjointed and rather dull. Temperance Brennan has turned into an adolescent idiot. And the NARRATOR.... oh, dear. The narrator has a slow, nasal speech pattern and timid, girlish delivery style that's totally unsuited to the material. She also has so little variation in her voice that it's often hard to tell which character is speaking.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

I miss Michele Pawk

I've been a huge Reichs fan since her first book and have thoroughly enjoyed the transition to reading by listening. Michele Pawk (previous narrator) did a phenomenal job bringing the subtlety and humour to life and made Tempe seem complicated, yet interesting and relatable. This new reader is not suited for the book. Her French is exquisite, but her Tempe is horrible. With such a prickly character, you need a reader that udnerstands Tempe and her universe and this one seemed very wrong for it - this Tempe was peevish, irritating and fickle and the narration brought out the flaws in the story (of which there weren't many, granted, but this reader made them seem blatant). The three stars could've been more, had I not been so annoyed by the narration.

Bring back Michele Pawk!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good Story; Awful Narration

As with all Kathy Reichs novels, the story is sound, but in this particular reading, the narrator was absolutely terrible! She sounded as though she was reading an instruction manual rather than a good, solid mystery. Very distracting and disappointing.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Terrible narrator; Look elsewhere

The story, although somewhat slow, is actually quite good. However, this cannot make up for the detriment to the entire experience contributed by the narrator. I have never listened to an audiobook with such monotone, ill-fitting narration. The voice comes off as distant, uninterested and extremely pompous. Too bad too. Kathy Reichs deserved better than the narrator provides.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Distracting reader

I wanted so much to love this book, as I've loved all of the authors others.
But, It was near impossible to listen to the narraters voice...the completely WRONG voice for Tempe who we've come to love as this young, full of spunk, sharp witted and bright character.
I suppose if you've not listened to other Kathy Reich's audiobooks you wouldn't realize this, but I have and it was so disturbing, it was all I could do to finish listening.
Puleeeeze....don't chose this reader again for Tempe's character...all wrong.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

No Bones About It...

...is this author wordy! Interesting characters, decent plot, but this book is evidence that manuscripts simply aren't edited any more. Advantage? You can lose your concentration on your ride home, take a phone call, and pick up with the narrative not having missed anything essential. Good, but v-e-r-y frustrating at times.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

The Narrator Spoils the Book

I am a Reichs fan, and have listened to all of the Tempe Brennan series. I could not get through this book. The story is good, but the narrator was impossible to understand. The enunciation was garbled and/or muffled to the point I could not comprehend most of what was said. Her delivery was flat and made it difficult to follow the dialogue of individual characters. After restarting several times, I finally gave up.

A REAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND WASTE OF BOOK CREDIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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3 people found this helpful