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Aug 06, 2011

Bree rated it:

I quite like the Temperance Brennan novels. I've read all of them and so far there's only been 1 that I really didn't enjoy at all, which I think is a pretty good strike rate when there's been 12 of them. Well unfortunately, my toll now stands at 2/13. I didn't get into this book either.

Like Brennan, Reichs herself is a forensic anthropologist and she always claims that she never writes a novel and puts Temperance in a medical situation that she herself hasn't been in personally. She's More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Richard rated it:

I've been a longtime fan of this series (and the show) but I must admit, this newest effort was such a wank job. Uninteresting story with a resolution that was so confusing, I didn't understand what was going on even as it was explained to me.

Reichs strains mightily to get Tempe out of the office and into the line of fire and shoehorns into the narrative 2-3 action scenes that feel forced and are unbelievable. The end, when both Tempe and Ryan's daughters are put in danger, is a se More...

6 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

CJ - You Carry On As If I Don't Love You rated it:

To keep this short -

Tempe is back for her thirteenth book and I haven't been so intrigued about the victims for a very long time. It's a good thing to because this book is not full of Tempe's indecision about Ryan "leaving her" (although in my opinion, he gave her a chance to fight in the book before they break it off it is about the victims and their weaknesses that led to a chain reaction 40 years after Vietnam.

Soldiers dead in Vietnam, a body found in Canada More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Sandie rated it:

Recently took a short trip and decided to take along Kathy Reichs SPIDER BONES on CD to help alleviate the boredom of a ride across the desert. I came away from the experience vowing never to read or listen to another offering in this series. My dissatisfaction stems from many sources. I will attempt to enumerate just a few.

1. Her relationship with Ryan. The green-eyed monster rears its ugly head every time another woman comes on the scene, in this case Honolulu medical examiner More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Doug rated it:

I really like the Kathy Reiches books that I have read, and I really like Tempe Brennan as a character, but this book falls short on so many levels.

I am listening to it on audio, and I discovered that the mystery only really begins at nearly the end of the novel. The rest of the book involves two cases, one that has something to do with a Vietnam war vet who was buried but is discovered as only recently having died, and Tempe must then find out who was buried in his grave. The More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Amy rated it:

If you like to read voraciously, and/or you like Patricia Cornwell, and/or you like forensic crime stories, you will probably like this series. For some of my lighter reading, I like to read series books...sometimes I'm a lazy reader, and if I'm reading a series, I'm not learning as many new characters. I was very satisfied with Kathy Reichs in this respect...like Jonathan Kellerman, Michael Connely, Patricia Cornwell, and Stephen White. The book Dr. Brennen was not nearly as satisfying as the T More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Thebookmistress rated it:

What I like about the series is the Montreal setting, where applicable, and the police procedural/forensic stuff. What I thoroughly disliked, enough to stop reading the series, was the way Temperance was always the center of any mystery, going alone into every lair of evildoers, being the motivation behind every nutcase's decision to start killing people...

I am glad I picked up this one. The Hawaii setting was interesting. There was still a lot of her personal life, but, for once, ther More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Sharon rated it:

I'm a big fan of Kathy Reichs' books, of which Spider Bones is the most recent. In this outing, protagonist Temperance Brennan is asked to bring her forensic anthropology skills to bear when three different sets of remains are identified as belonging to the same man.

Clearly, this is impossible.

Brennan is whisked off to the military's Joint Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Command (JPAC), because the man in question, John Lowery, is cited as having died during the Vietn More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 06, 2011

Andrew rated it:

Ok I will admit its been some time since I have read a Kathy Reichs book and I had forgotten how twisted and interwound the plot can be - maybe a few years away from her work allowed me to forget this and enjoy the story style all over again - No it is not Bone its something wholly different and to me far more enjoyable for it. I wont comment on the book - if you want to know about it read the blurb as any more and I will give the plot away and that is for people far more eloquent and creative t More...

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Aug 09, 2011

Ian rated it:

I found this latest entry in the usually excellent Tempe Brennan series a little dissappointing. A set of bodies are misidentified (or are they) in both a confusing and convoluted scenario. However the characterisation and humour is still there and this is what (for me) sets the series apart from similiar formulaic series.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Mel rated it:

Reaad the vast majority of this book in one sitting today. I love Kathy Reichs' way of writing. She makes us belive that Tempe is just another person, someone we can relate to. Too often writers turn their main characters into "super heros"

Tempe in the books is a person with worries and feelings of inadequacies in some areas of her life, but with a good working knowledge and histlry of experience in her field of endeavour. Reichs' makes us feel that we could all be the T More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Daniela rated it:

A few of Kathy Reichs books between this one and her first novels gave the impression as if they were hastily put together. She more than redeemed herself though with Cross Bones and this book, Spider Bones, definitely delivers as well.
It's about a mix up of bodies and identities. To describe more would already be a spoiler as the action is packed so condensed that you cannot write about it without giving something away. The story grabs you from the first page and moves fastwith lots of tw More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Liz rated it:

I have to admit, I've never read a Kathy Reichs book before this one. I'm a devout fan of the TV show "Bones", but once I learned there weren't too many similarities between the two, I just kinda forgot about them. Oh, I was so wrong! I absolutely devoured this in under 24 hours. The case was totally intriguing, and it was such an easy read. I really didn't fee lost at any moment, regardless of what I've missed in previous books. I think I may have to start making her a regular author More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

noelle rated it:

i thought that this was finally going to be the book where something horrible doesn't happen to temperance brennan, but hahahahah! halfway through she is driven off a cliff into the ocean. THESE THINGS DO NOT HAPPEN TO PEOPLE EVERY YEAR OF THEIR LIVES. your husband doesn't get shot in the face one year and you don't get buried in a sewer tomb the next. bad things do not rain down on people like that. maybe your car breaks down and you can't afford to feed yourself, but you aren't being targeted More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 18, 2012

Jodi rated it:

Spider Bones is another addition to the list of Temperance Brennan novels penned by Kathy Reichs.
I’ve always enjoyed Kathy Reichs novels. They are entertaining and actually have enough descriptors of autopsies included making the reader feel connected to Brennan’s demanding career as a forensic medical examiner.
This one starts with a male corpse found drowned in Hemmingford, Quebec. The victim has apparently died in the act of a bizarre sexual practice. When the corpse is identified More...

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Oct 11, 2011

Shy rated it:

1) Why must the publisher change the title in other countries? Can't they just give readers a bit more credit for not being dumb?

2) Well, it's another entertaining novel, good for a relaxing read. The moral of the story is as ever: if you're invited to accompany Dr. Brennan while she travels somewhere as part of an investigation, DON'T. You will be put in danger, kidnapped, shot at, threatened with violence, etc. I'm amazed she hasn't run out of variants yet. The plot itself is nicel More...

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Sep 29, 2011

Lyn rated it:

Being a huge fan of the TV series, I really really really want to love the books.

I don't.

I try and I try and I try, but at some point I have to shake my head and move on to something else.

I'm a student at uni and like to read crime novels for light relief between study, assignments and exams. I want something that pushes me to think, but that entertains me at the same time. Somewhere along the line, Reichs fails to achieve this.

I've tried to work More...

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Sep 11, 2011

Ashland Mystery rated it:

Spider Bones is concerned with the identification of military personnel remains. It's a bit of a complicated plot that draws together a drowning in Quebec, the exhumation of a veteran buried in a North Carolina grave and shark attacks on a Honolulu beach. It's a good, fast read, just right for a flight between Medford, Oregon and Las Vegas, California.

It's been a while since I've read one of Kathy Reichs' masterful Temperance Brennan books. I love the series so, and it's always a let More...

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Sep 06, 2011

Meryem rated it:

I listened to this on CD while driving. So the numerous technical explanations and jargon were less of an issue for me than if I had been turning pages.

The story kept me interested, although it was contrived and overdone. Did the guy who died in the pond really have to have been engaged in such a ludicrous activity, or is Reichs exploiting and 'showing off' a case she worked on? It certainly does nothing to promote an interest in the character of the dead man. The manner of death shou More...

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Jul 11, 2011

Miss Walker rated it:

Summer Book #8. I was really excited to read one of the books written by Kathy Reichs, the forensic anthropologist whose life inspired the television show "Bones," which I love. I knew when I picked up "Spider Bones" that I would be reading a murder mystery, which isn't a genre I spend a lot of time with, but despite my unfamiliarity with the genre I am still disappointed.

The unraveling of the murder(s) were intriguing enough, but the characters were not all that More...

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Jul 11, 2011

Teresa in Ohio rated it:

This. Used. To. Be. A. Must. Read. Series. But. It. Took. Three. Attempts. To. Finish. This. Book. It. Starts. In. Quebues. With. A. Discovery. Of. A body. Whose. Identity. Was decleared. Dead. Years. Ago. In. Vietnam. This. Ttakes. Us. There. With. That. Body. Being. Dug. Up. And. Then we. End up in Hawaii. Confusedk??? There. Is. More. Tempe. Is. Forced. To. Consult. On. Local. Case. That. Somehow. Involves. Gangs Ithink. After. Closing. This. Book. I. Am lost as to. What. I read.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2011

Kristen rated it:

Page 65, and so far the story is pretty compelling. This is the first Kathy Reichs book I've read in years and years. I don't know if I forgot, or if it's a new thing she's doing, but the sentences are incredibly short in this book. The average sentence is probably not more than 7 words long, if that. It makes for a choppy and jerky read, and sometimes it feel like I'm reading her notes for a rough sketch of the scene, and not the finished product. I'm not crazy about the style, but as I sa More...

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Aug 01, 2011

Molly rated it:

During my recovery from gallbladder surgery, I became addicted to Bones re-runs.

On long flights, the best I can hope for is attention spent on an escape novel. I always pack incorrectly and this is what I got at the airport shop.

I wish this book shared the quirky charm of the television series, but the Tempe of the written series, at least in this case, as it is the only of the series I have read thus far, is incredibly different. The Tempe of the visual persuasion has th More...

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Dec 08, 2011

Alex rated it:

I have been a fan of Kathy Reich’s series since my friend, Simone gave me a copy of Déjà Vu….since then I have read and enjoyed every single book in the Temperance Brennan Series but her latest Mortal Remains (also published under the title Spider Bones!!!!!) …did not do it for me!!!!!. It’s almost as if this book was written by someone else….it lacked depth…I just never got totally into the plot…
Why did I find this book disappointing?
*The plot – the story starts in Canada, with a More...

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Jan 25, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan helps to identify Quebec drowning victim as John Charles Lowry, only to discover that the same John Charles Lowry was killed in Vietnam and returned to the U.S. to be buried in North Carolina in 1968. Here's where things begin to get weird. Author Kathy Reichs does a superb job of weaving a fictional tale about the real JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command), which helps to locate, retrieve and identify remains of American soldiers, sailors, airmen and mar More...

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Jul 11, 2011

Melanie rated it:

Definitely not my favorite Temperance Brennan to date - a little short on the plot, heavy on the acronyms, and full of coincidences. And, too, I thought that Paretsky's _Body Work_ (which I just finished) worked much better as an oh-the-stupidity-and-horrors-of-war novel - I would have been much more satisfied if _Spider Bones_ had stuck with Vietnam rather than overtly calling attention to parallels with present-day Afghanistan.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 24, 2011

Bogdan rated it:

I was recommended this book by an acquaintance, and I was hesitant to read it at first.

When I got into it, the main thing that kept me going through it was the scientific jargon between different types of anthropologists.

The chemistry between the main characters was honestly kind of bland. Although this may be due to the fact that Temperance Brennan is supposed to be a robot. Having seen bones the series beforehand, i've found the Temperance of this book to be different. More...

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Oct 02, 2011

Anne rated it:

The Reichs template is getting really tired here. This time it's a merry mix-up of bodies and it's Temperance to the rescue. But, of course, Temperance also gets to go to Quebec, North Carolina, one of the New England states and Hawaii to sort them all out, just like a normal person would. Because Kathy Reichs (as a forensic anthropologist) has been a overseer to the organization which repatriates missing U.S. servicemen from all over the world and numerous wars, we readers get to be lectured on More...

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Jul 11, 2011

Heather rated it:

Boring. During the first half of the book I kept asking myself, "WHY am I reading this?" The set-up is way too long, we need the story to start sooner, we need to be pulled in and CARE. FINALLY, about 3/4 into the book, something exciting happened and I found myself wanting to keep turning the pages. But still, too little, too late.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Holly rated it:

This book reminds me of the old carny game of putting a pea under a cup and then moving the cups around while maintaining a distracting chatter. I spotted the "pea" early in the book and spent much of the rest of it wondering why the characters hadn't noticed it, too. Still, it's a good, exciting mystery well-worth a weekend read.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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