Cross Bones: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels)
by Kathy Reichs
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Book Summary Information
Author: Kathy ReichsReader: Michele Pawk
Edition: Audio Cassette
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Published: 2005-06-28
ISBN: 0743544358
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Book Reviews of Cross Bones: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels)
Book Review: The Girls Get a New Lease on Life
Summary: 5 Stars
"Cross Bones," (2005) is the eighth in the Dr. Temperance (Tempe) Brennan series by Kathy Reichs. The first, "Deja Dead," brought her instant acclaim when it became a New York Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. Then, as frequently happens, the series seemed to get a bit tired. Nevertheless, it was translated to the highly-successful current "Bones" television series. Reichs is, of course, an outstanding, best-selling author of forensics mysteries; a Chicago girl who is extremely well-qualified and -backgrounded to be writing such stories. She holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. She is currently professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte; forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina; and for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaries et de Medecine Legal for the province of Quebec, Canada (located in Montreal). The writer's creation Brennan strongly resembles her: she seems also to know very well what she's doing in a forensics laboratory,works in North Carolina and Montreal, and spends quality time in Chicago.
The book opens with the discovery of the body of a murdered Jewish antiquities/religious artifacts dealer in Montreal. Brennan soon realizes that his death is linked to Israeli archaeological activities and sales, and she's leaving the bleak Montreal winter behind, jetting to Jerusalem, with her good friend and companion Montreal Detective Andrew Ryan. There, she meets up with old friend, biblical archaeologist Jake Drum, and involves herself with several hotly-debated archaeological issues dating to ancient times. And here Reichs delivers a headlong plot that really is ripped from some of the more interesting recent headlines. Tempe is caught up in the controversy as to whether an ancient limestone ossuary (a container for bones, used by ancient Jews) recently offered for sale, is actually, the final resting place of Jesus' brother James, as claimed; and whether it really did come from a tomb that may be that of Jesus' family, if he, controversially, did have a family. (There actually has been such an item offered for sale by millionaire Israeli antiquities expert/dealer Oded Golan in 2002. It has been declared a forgery, and he is under arrest. And, recently, as is well-known, the book "The Da Vinci Code," by Dan Brown that has been made into a movie by the same name, has suggested that Jesus did have a more extensive family than the Catholic Church has ever, historically, been willing to acknowledge.)
Brennan also involves herself with the apparently true historical fact that more bodies than were ever publicly reported were recovered by archaeological digs at one of Israel's most sacred sites, Masada. That's a famed mountain where ancient Jewish zealots are supposed to have fought the occupying Roman armies to the death. Each of these controversies, of course, has substantial implications for the world's major religions, Christianity, Judaism, and, by extension, Islam.
Alfred Hitchcock, legendary director of mystery movies, once famously said that the hardest thing in creating a new mystery was to find a believable "MacGuffin," that is, the thing the plot revolves around, that everyone is seeking. Reichs has found an extraordinarily gripping MacGuffin for "Cross Bones." I could hardly put the book down. The author's forensics is fresh and interesting, as ever. Her writing style is swift, lively, witty and humorous in this book, with the tiny caveat that I did not need so many reassurances that the Brennan/Ryan affair is going well. Some of Reichs' intermediate books in the Brennan series seemed a bit stale. However, judging from this one, the girls seem to have gotten a new lease on life.
Summary of Cross Bones: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels)
"A gripping and explosive new thriller from internationally acclaimed forensic anthropologist and New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs, featuring Temperance Brennan and Detective Andrew Ryan on the trail of a modern murder and an ancient biblical mystery... When an Orthodox Jewish man is found shot to death in Montreal, Temperance Brennan is called in to examine the body and to figure out the puzzling damage to the corpse. Unexpectedly, a stranger slips her a photograph of a skeleton and assures her it is the key to the victim's death. Before she knows it, Tempe is involved in an international mystery as old as Jesus, and one that could lead to the rewriting of two thousand years of religious history. As Tempe investigates, she learns that the stranger's picture shows bones uncovered during an archaeological dig. She discovers the Montreal shooting victim ran an import business that just might have been a front for the trading of black market antiquities. Along with Detective Andrew Ryan and biblical archaeologist Jake Drum, Tempe travels to Israel to probe the origins of the skeleton and the ancient crypt in which it was found. Together they make a startling discovery that raises radical questions about Christ's death and places them squarely in the middle of a swirling controversy. Could one of the tombs really be Christ's last resting place? Are the bones in the ancient ossuary the last remnants of James, the brother of Jesus, as the inscription claims? Or has someone concocted an elaborate hoax? Using her skills as a forensic scientist, Tempe plunges into the most controversial case of her career. The stakes have never been higher -- the more she learns, the greater the danger. And though Ryan is sexier and more engaging than ever, he may not be able to protect Tempe in this place where there seem to be so many foes. Cross Bones, with its lightning pace, intricately plotted story, riveting and state-of-the-art forensic detail, is Kathy Reichs's most compelling and dramatic novel yet. "Unabridged Books
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