Speaking in Bones

A Novel

By: Kathy Reichs

Narrated by: Katherine Borowitz

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

No one speaks the language of suspense more brilliantly than Kathy Reichs, number-one New York Times best-selling author of the acclaimed Temperance Brennan series. In Speaking in Bones, the forensic anthropologist finds herself drawn into a world of dark secrets and dangerous beliefs, where good and evil blur.

Professionally, Temperance Brennan knows exactly what to do - test, analyze, identify. Her personal life is another story. She's at a loss, wondering how to answer police detective Andrew Ryan's marriage proposal. But the matter of matrimony takes a backseat when murder rears its head.

Hazel "Lucky" Strike - a strident amateur detective who mines the Internet for cold cases - comes to Brennan with a tape recording of an unknown girl being held prisoner and terrorized. Strike is convinced the voice is that of 18-year-old Cora Teague, who went missing more than three years earlier. Strike is also certain that the teenager's remains are gathering dust in Temperance Brennan's lab.

Brennan has doubts about working with a self-styled websleuth. But when the evidence seems to add up, Brennan's next stop is the treacherous backwoods where the chilling recording (and maybe Cora Teague's bones) were discovered. Her forensic field trip turns up only more disturbing questions - along with gruesome proof of more untimely deaths.

While local legends of eerie nocturnal phenomena and sinister satanic cults abound, it's a zealous and secretive religious sect that has Brennan spooked and struggling to separate the saints from the sinners. But there's nothing, including fire and brimstone, that can distract her from digging up the truth and taking down a killer - even as Brennan finds herself in a place where angels fear to tread, devils demand their due, and she may be damned no matter what.

©2015 Kathy Reichs (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Fans who follow the series will be delighted with this strong entry, with its gripping first chapter. Listener newcomers will be easily drawn in by Borowitz's involving style." ( AudioFile)

Smart Woman Acting Like an Idiot

I enjoyed the early books where Brenna actually acted like a forensic anthropologist. Now she runs around as an amateur detective and walks into situations where the dumb blondes in the horror movies wouldn't go alone! She tells Ryan that his protectiveness is unnecessary, and she can handle herself, and then walks into yet another situation where she requires a male or two to rescue her . This is just getting stupid. A book about a scientist should be a procedural mystery, solving cases primarily in the lab, not trying to be an action adventure hero.

Awful book, the "scary" parts made me LOL

Tempe has to be the stupidest intelligent woman I have ever encountered. She does one moronic thing after another. By the end I was hoping that she would finally be killed after she needlessly rushed into another dangerous situation. The "scary" parts toward the end literally made me burst out laughing. This book was an insult to the reader's intelligence. The only positive thing I can say is that the narrator was good. Too bad her efforts were wasted on such a bad book.

Tempe is brilliant yet brainless at times.

What did you love best about Speaking in Bones?

Speaking in Bones kept my attention and I always enjoy the Temperance Brennan books. I look forward to a new book coming out but there will always be a portion in the story that I become so angry at Tempe and/or Kathy Reichs that I really want to stop listening. Why have this brilliant, smart, highly qualified character act so brainless at times!!!

What did you like best about this story?

Kathy Reichs kept tossing Red Herrings and all seemed plausible at the time. I wasn't sure what was happening until the very end when the author wanted the reader/listener to know. Excellent job!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did - kept my attention and kept me guessing.

Kathy Reichs is Back!

I stopped reading Kathy Reichs because her books got so maudlin but this one was great!!

Bones

Excellent. Could not stop listening. Did not have it figured out till the end.

great ending

First I have to say I love mulitple narrators! It always adds a little more to the performance. As always Kathy Reichs stories keep me hooked. This one
had me holding my breathe at the end. I didn't see it comng until it almost hit me!! Great story.

Characters have gotten too unbelievable

Temperance Brennan is supposedly too old, too smart, too experienced, too well educated to keep getting more and more lame-brained and impetuous with each book. Her actions have just become unbelievable, stupid. The relationship with Ryan isn't much better as it jumps all over the place. First, we have Ryan's unknown illegitimate almost grown teenage daughter. And oh, she happens to be a heroin addict. Off Ryan goes, and more and more ridiculous story lines follow. Now Brennan suddenly is acting about as mature as a 12 year old unable to make a decision, unable to have a mature conversation, acting like a witch with a capital B. The terrible characters have now gotten where they take away from the basic story.

Held my attention

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan is good at bones. But as a sleuth, she sure can get herself in hot water. And she does in this novel. There was at least one time when I thought we were at the end of the series. Tempe is trying to get to the bottom of a head found in a bucket, and she wanders into a church of religious zealots. Author Kathy Reichs is a master of suspense, and this book just flew by.

And lo and behold, her longtime boyfriend Andrew Ryan proposed to her! She's having some trouble deciding whether to accept — because her ex-husband did her so wrong.

I didn't really like the story, but it was a page-turner, and that made the book for me.

Love it

I love this series, I always save it for my lunchtime walk at work - something to look forward to and perk me up for the afternoon! So interesting - well written and performed!

🙂🙂🙂

I liked this book to the point that I had to buy the paper version in the doubt to have missed something. And I do not regret. J Charles