Break No Bones

By: Kathy Reichs

Narrated by: Dorothee Berryman

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

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)

This author has amazing imagination!

She is talented beyond anything I can articulate, truly crazy, unbelievable great talent. I have read or listen to almost every single book in this series and I find myself losing time, staying up way too late when I was supposed to be reading myself to sleep and completely ignoring my "to do" list until I finish the book. As a retired nurse I have a medical background so it makes sense that I find this series easy to read and understand but the way these stories are written and/or edited It makes sense that it's so appealing to people with no medical background. I love the geographic differences and the detail used in explaining both of the areas Dr. Brennan calls home! I could keep writing good things about this series for hours but I need to start dinner.
Oh yeah please tell Ms. Linda that we hope she feels better soon. I think I speak for a bunch of listeners when I say that I like her voice and inflection as Dr. Temperance Brennan better than probably anyone in the whole world.

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.

Decent plot, hard to listen to this narrator

I've listened to about 8 of Kathy Reich's books and in general I don't mind the overly technical descriptions and somewhat drawn out plots, but this particular narrator was really hard for me to listen to. She had an overpowering southern accent and overpronounced too many words. It made such an impact on the content of what she was reading that I felt it changed the personalities of the main characters (Ryan and Brennan). I've gotten used to their characters from all of the previous books and she both changed their back and forth banter and made the "Brennan" character feel quite a bit older.

The plot and story line was still good, so I guess I would recommend reading this one rather than listening to it. And I think maintaining some level of consistency in narrators is important to make sure the characters come off as the author intended.

The performance has a HUGE impact

Dorothee Berryman, the audio performer, nearly ruined this book. While Reich’s first-person narrative has some flaws and may create challenges for any performer, the awful accent that Berryman tries to put on as a South Carolinian accent is abysmal.

The mystery is not bad and the Tempe Brennan character continues to hold her own.

Great book from a strong author.

I am working through the entire series and recommend the author to anyone who enjoys mysteties.

Liked the book, not so much the narrator

For the first couple of chapters the narrator's accent bugged me, but I got used to it. It was very slight, but it was noticable in the beginning. Otherwise the book was great. Another "page turner" from Kathy Reichs.

Slow start, but strong ending - overall good liste

This book was a litte slow to get started, but once I got into it, I enjoyed it. The story line was good and I warmed up to the main characters quickly. This was my first Kathy Reichs and I will be going for others. I love the dynamics with Tempe and the ex-hubby and am rooting for Tempe and Ryan to pull through together.

Pretty Good

I enjoyed this book. I found the reading fine and do not feel it distracted from the story. It is the first of the series I've heard so I've not been spoiled by perhaps better readers. I enjoy the TV show and the actors and find the books just as good or better.

another great novel by Reichs

made me laugh and made me cry, all while keeping me on the edge of my seat. another great Reichs novel. if you haven't done so already, read the previous books in the series first. it's not required to follow this story, but makes it more enjoyable.

Reichs' writing style relies heavily on first person narration and descriptive imagery. i love her narrative style, it keeps you immersed in the story and on the edge of your seat during the more climactic moments in the plot.

Not Reichs' best but good

Any additional comments?

This was well thought out and kept me interested. What I want to address here is to the reader (s) who ignorantly complained of the the pronunciation of what they thought was Sioux, when in fact it is Sewee. The Sioux were never an East Coast island tribe. Easy to Google. And for those of you who remarked on the protagonist heroes' jurisdiction, Reichs explains this in every one of her novels, and which reflects her real life job titles. Pete and Ryan were just visiting. In truth, medical examiners and coroners are rarely involved in actual detective work or the interviewing of suspects. We can thank TV's Bones and CSI for that; just makes for better mysteries. Castle and Law & Order have more realistic MEs or coroners.