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Virals (Virals #1)

by Kathy Reichs, Brendan Reichs (Goodreads Author)

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 14,696 ratings · 1,483 reviews

Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus tha...more

Hardcover, 448 pages

Published November 2nd 2010 by Razorbill (first published November 1st 2010)

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Nov 29, 2011 Lucy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: blah-world-building, make-room-for-that-sequel, milking-a-money-cow, mystery, oh-the-hype, sci-fi, wasn-t-for-me, young-adult

The Good:

1. The main character, Tory Brennan, is the sort of a smart, self-confident heroine that YA sometimes lacks.
2. The rest of the cast are entertaining and developed. The whole group is a bit like Big Bang Theory meets Veronica Mars. Intelligent, techy, unabashedly nerdy, and willing to use all those skills for a little breaking and entering.
3. The story is solidly set in a vivid and well-described location. The author never loses her sense of place and time.
4. It's (view spoiler)...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Alicia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, young-adult, middle-grade, mystery-or-thiller, own-kindle, series-quit

I'm a sucker for good writing, and in my opinion, the writing in this book is excellent. Varied and vivid verb choices, great word-painting, and a unique narrative voice appropriate for the fourteen-year-old narrator. I am floored.

Action-junkies may not love this book as much as I did because it was definitely a slow burn. At its heart, it was a murder mystery, and plenty of groundwork was laid. I actually enjoyed all the groundwork because the narrative voice always kept it fun and light. Even...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Book Chick City rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller-crime-suspense, young-adult, book-list-2011

7/10 on the blog

Some of you may know the author Kathy Reichs because of her adult crime novels featuring Temperance Brennon, or through the TV show, BONES. This is the author's first venture into the YA forum and I must say I am pretty impressed. 'VIRALS' is a mixutre of mystery, intrigue and, surprisingly, elements of the supernatural, but as I love the supernatural this was a welcome surprise and definitely added to my enjoyment of the book.

The writing flows very well and Ms Reichs' incredibly...more 7/10 on the blog

Some of you may know the author Kathy Reichs because of her adult crime novels featuring Temperance Brennon, or through the TV show, BONES. This is the author's first venture into the YA forum and I must say I am pretty impressed. 'VIRALS' is a mixutre of mystery, intrigue and, surprisingly, elements of the supernatural, but as I love the supernatural this was a welcome surprise and definitely added to my enjoyment of the book.

The writing flows very well and Ms Reichs' incredibly vast writing experience shines through. The main character is Victoria "Tory" Brennan and she's fourteen years old - usually this is a little on the young side for me when I'm reading young adult fiction, but Ms Riechs gives her character a maturity beyond her years and because she's just like her great aunt Temperance it's believable, in fact it reads very realisitcally and I liked Tory pretty much from the first page.

Tory's friends are just as intelligent and into different geeky things - they make a great team: Shelton, who's into gadgets, Ben, the muscle-man and Hiram, the comedian - all have something to bring to the group.

It was also refreshing to read a young adult novel that wasn't filled with romantic triangles and love-lorn teenagers. Although Tory does have a crush or two she isn't paralyzed by it, instead she's a strong independent young women. There are moments where I rolled my eyes at the simplicity of certain aspects of the story, such as breaking into a highly secure laboratory to steal evidence - I'm not really sure a fourteen year old would have the knowledge or skill to achieve such a goal, but I enjoyed the fun ride all the same.

The other aspect that I didn't particularly like was near the end when instead of calling her friends by their names, as she had done for the entire novel prior to this point, Tory began to call them VIRALS. I felt that this was only used to coincide with the title and it quickly became annoying. You wouldn't suddenly go from calling your friend 'Hiram' to 'the viral' or as a group 'the virals' - it was a bit odd.

The other characters such as parents and police are all a bit frustrating but as I was reading the novel through the eyes of a fourteen year old maybe that's why I found them to be so annoying. They wouldn't listen to Tory, even when she and her team of buddies had found human bones and thought it was a murdered girl they were looking for, and her Dad's girlfriend was the most irritating of all - I just wanted to bonk her on the head with something hard. But they're all well written and flesh-out so they didn't read like silly charactures but like real people.

The paranormal element is very subtle and only comes into play in the second half of the book but lays the foundations for future novels featuring Tory and her friends, that I hope will be as exciting as this one.

VERDICT:

Overall, 'VIRALS' is an engaging and entertaining read. There are a few negative points, but they are minor and overshadowed by a fun and past-paced story that I had difficulty putting down at times. There are lots of twists and turns that made 'VIRALS' a pleasure to read and I would definitely recommend it to young adults and adults alike.(less)

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Mar 09, 2011 Maja rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, audiobooks, reviewed-in-2011, role-models

Kathy Reichs is the author of the Temperance Brennan series. She is a forensic anthropologist, so both the books and the TV series Bones are loosely based on her life. Knowing all this, I expected something different from her YA novel, and that’s exactly what I got.
I loved this book! Tory Brennan is 14 years old, living on a very small island near Charleston with her newly discovered father, a marine biologist. With her three friends, she somehow saves a wolf-dog from an institute, but they all...more Kathy Reichs is the author of the Temperance Brennan series. She is a forensic anthropologist, so both the books and the TV series Bones are loosely based on her life. Knowing all this, I expected something different from her YA novel, and that’s exactly what I got.
I loved this book! Tory Brennan is 14 years old, living on a very small island near Charleston with her newly discovered father, a marine biologist. With her three friends, she somehow saves a wolf-dog from an institute, but they all soon become very ill and start experiencing strange things. At the same time, they discover some old bones, so the four of them begin an adventure made all the more interesting by their new abilities.

I’m (almost) certain that the DNA cannot be altered the way it’s described in Virals, but THAT story is definitely more believable than angels, vampires, weres, sidhe-seers and whatnot. What we have here is a classic whodunnit spiced up with a touch of supernatural.

I liked that there was no love story in Virals. Tory is only 14, so I don’t think it would be appropriate to have her fall madly in love with some boy just by looking into his eyes. I was thanking various deities for that little treat. I’m not saying she hadn’t developed a small crush, but that only made about 2% of the story. Also, the solution to the puzzle was not obvious. Reichs is very experienced so I expected as much.

So why did I give four instead of five stars? Tory Brennan was a bit too smart for her age. They discovered a 40-year-old skeleton and she somehow managed to determine age and gender in less than 5 minutes. I get that she inherited her aunt Tempe’s brains, but did she also inherit her knowledge? It was a bit ridiculous. Also, the beginning was slow, but I understand that this is the first installment and the foundation had to be laid.

My overall experience was somewhat ruined by the narrator, Cristin Milioti. The fake southern accent she used for some of the characters almost drove me crazy! She has a pleasant voice, but a flat intonation, so I often tuned out while listening to the parts with very little dialogue.

The next installment is called Seizure and it’s coming out on October 18th. I will definitely read it.
(less)

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Nov 11, 2012 Twiggy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller, wtf, annoying-heroine

Oh dear!

I think she's made too much money and her editor couldn't face being honest about the whole thing.

This is clearly Kathy Reichs attempt to enter the teenager/ young adult market with a combination of mystery thriller /DNA science/ high school cotillion/ with supernatural powers thrown in for good measure...

Well I suppose it was an original combination.

What really made me hate it, was the fact that she set it in the same 'world' as that of Temperance Brennan and the teenage heroine Tory...more Oh dear!

I think she's made too much money and her editor couldn't face being honest about the whole thing.

This is clearly Kathy Reichs attempt to enter the teenager/ young adult market with a combination of mystery thriller /DNA science/ high school cotillion/ with supernatural powers thrown in for good measure...

Well I suppose it was an original combination.

What really made me hate it, was the fact that she set it in the same 'world' as that of Temperance Brennan and the teenage heroine Tory is her great niece. Given the developments by the end of the book, this was just really problematic as regards the concept of realism and made me worried for good old Tempe.

Anyway this starts of with 4 really super smart teenagers living on a remote island off Charlston whilst their families work on a nearby research island. Of course they just happen to attend the smartest private school in Charlston, where they can be picked on by the rich kids, except for Tory , who naturally attracts the attention of the two most popular boys at school.

Our fearless team like messing about on the research library and seem to go out of their way to just be annoying. Tory finds a set of dog tags on the island. This means that at all costs she must identify them. Any means are justified. Full day research in the public library followed by felony break in to the lab in order to use specialist equipment to clean the god damned things , returning to the scene, digging up a dead body, refusing to call the police until after same, interfering with a crime scene, lying to everyone, identification of disappeared dead body ( at all costs), identification of murderer ( again at all costs - without telling any adult) etc etc etc.

what happened to teenagers just wanting to go out and get drunk?

Anyway all of this was annoying enough but on top of that we have secret experimental dog who contaminates them all with wolf DNA and they end up with super powers.

The ending was even worse. Again no adults involved.

Total car crash.
(less)

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Oct 22, 2012 Karyn rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Tory is too much of a Mary Sue, teen fiction or not. Her life is perfect in a haphazard way and follows a very predictable plot line—one which I guessed from the very beginning, and one that my friend caught on to after merely skimming through the pages. My slight detest for anything teen fiction probably had some kind of influence as I read through Virals, though. What I will say is that Reichs has excellent diction. When I wasn't stopping every two seconds to start a new sentence, I was admiri...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Kendall rated it 3 of 5 stars

AMENDED REVIEW...See bottom for first review.

My students voted this the best Truman book, so I decided to give it another chance after abandoning it. It actually turned out to be a fun read, but I'm CONVINCED that an editor/publisher etc. actually wrote the first few chapters to dumb the book down and make it supposedly more appealing for a YA audience. The writing completely changes from meaningless, inauthentic internal dialogue to snappy, competent writing. I'm sorry that I didn't give it mor...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Veronika rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own

Reakce po dočtení: Ta holka je ale svině!

Můj názor:

Autorka
Kathy Reichs je úspěšná americká spisovatelka, která svoji kariéru vybudovala na detektivních románech. Narodila se v Chicagu, ale nyní pracuje jako soudní antropoložka v Severní Karolíně. Je jedním z padesáti soudních antropologů certifikovaných americkou radou soudní antropologie. Roku 1998 obdržela cenu Arthur Ellis Award za knihu Déjà Dead ze serie Temperance Brennan. Kniha Virus je její první román pro dospívající, ve kterém vystupuj...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Amy or "Ames" rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult, 1st-in-series, sci-fi, library-books, read-in-2011, weres-shifters, series-abandoned

Refreshingly nerdy. This is The Big Bang Theory crossed with Bones (TV series based on Reich’s books). Nerdilicious.

Reichs does not talk down to her audience. This book is all about science and technology and the era of the digital age. The author is a real-life respected scientist so happily, for once, I can say that the science is real and the leaps made into the unknown/paranormal seem plausible. This is authentic science fiction. Take that, I Am Number Four!

Although slow to start, 14-year-o...more

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Jun 27, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jennifer by: jennsicurella@verizon.net

Shelves: sci-fi-other

I'm a big fan of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan series as well as Bones, the TV series it's vaguely based on. When I heard about Virals, I knew I had to read it. While it's very different from her other work, Virals is very similar in both the scientific atmosphere and deep character development.

Tory Brennan is Temperance's grand-niece. For those familiar with the books, Tory is the granddaughter of Harry, Tempe's sister. Tory mentions Tempe a lot even though she only learned they were related...more I'm a big fan of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan series as well as Bones, the TV series it's vaguely based on. When I heard about Virals, I knew I had to read it. While it's very different from her other work, Virals is very similar in both the scientific atmosphere and deep character development.

Tory Brennan is Temperance's grand-niece. For those familiar with the books, Tory is the granddaughter of Harry, Tempe's sister. Tory mentions Tempe a lot even though she only learned they were related a few months before and has only met her once. Tory is a science nut and Tempe has been her idol for much longer than she knew of the relation. The one thing that left me wondering was is it possible that Harry has a 14 year old granddaughter? I always got the feeling Harry and Tempe were in their forties from the books.

Virals sticks close to Reich's style. There are intelligent, yet easy to understand explanations of the science mentioned. The characters are believable and easily invested in. As in the Temperance Brennan series, Virals is full of never see them coming reveals.

The similarities end there. Virals has an added edge of science fiction not found in the other books. The idea, while weird, is well broached and convincingly described. The kids gain abilities and the focus is on how the abilities affect them and how they use them. Once the transformation is complete, there doesn't seem to be any downside to what they've become. The book is much more concerned with what the kids are capable of rather than the seemingly "supernatural" creatures they become. I find this take with the genre leaning more science fiction than paranormal extremely well done.

In Virals the mystery of what the kids are becoming is only part of the whole. The true mystery involves a long missing girl and the hunt for her killer. As these things usually go, the adults don't believe the kids and the kids refuse to stop until they find the truth, placing them in grave danger. The abilities the kids gain aid in solving the mystery and in keeping them from harm during the investigation. The missing girl mystery was a bit obvious but there were a few surprising twists along the way.

Virals is a very promising start to a new series with the possibility of being amazing as long as the focus stays on the abilities and the science. I'm excited by the premise and will definitely be looking out for the next book.(less)

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Aug 09, 2010 Angela (Reading Angels) rated it 5 of 5 stars

My first thought when finishing this book was along the lines of "Wow, so much better than I expected!".

Tory is the niece of my beloved Tempe (from Bones) and she's a little mini-version of her. So smart, and so young that it blows your mind. Tory and her crew of friends are all smart in their own areas, and I loved following the adventures of this nerd herd! They live on a remote island, so they really have to come up with their own fun. Tory is obsessed with a pack of wolf-dogs on a remote isl...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Leon Aldrich rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: unfinished-crap

I want to like this author. I really do. And this piece of fiction is young adult. I couldn't get past Reich's attempt to legitimize the protagonist by linking her to Temperance Brennan as a relative. Like that somehow will make the story-line stronger? Then to top it off, one of the main characters is named, Hi. Really? That was the best you could come up with?

Supposedly Reich's writing gets better after her first book. But of the two I've attempted, when there are SO many good books out there...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Leandra rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a very, very good read! The mc, Tory, has a lot of different things going on: a murder to solve, new abilities to learn how to deal with(like a super-duper new sense of smell, hearing, and sight), and having to wear pink to her first debutante experience. For those who like romance, there's a bit of crushing going on(which doesn't go where you would expect), but I think the next book will lead into something more between Tory and Ben, one of the other Virals. At least I hope! The banter...more

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Nov 29, 2011 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, mystery, teen

Kathy Reichs is the author of the Temperance Brennan novels that have been adapted into the TV show Bones. Reichs takes her popular formula and turns it into a teen storyline by adding the paranormal. The main character is Tory Brennan, Temperance’s niece. Just like her aunt she is into science. When she finds an old pair of dog tags, she and her friends sneak into the research facility where her father works so that they can use the equipment to restore the tags and discover who they belonged t...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Monkey888 rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Ages 10-16. No one who thinks deeply into plots.

I originally started to read this book after completing the Temperance Brennan Series. They had set a high bench mark with complex just-believable if you squint plots, strong characters and quality writing, supported by Reichs' knowledge of forensic Anthropology.

I'd liked the series so I thought, hey, why not give virals a go?

I have more heckles than I could possibly cram into a review, so here are my main points,

A few pages in I was already sceptical. Being a 14 year old girl, the same age as t...more I originally started to read this book after completing the Temperance Brennan Series. They had set a high bench mark with complex just-believable if you squint plots, strong characters and quality writing, supported by Reichs' knowledge of forensic Anthropology.

I'd liked the series so I thought, hey, why not give virals a go?

I have more heckles than I could possibly cram into a review, so here are my main points,

A few pages in I was already sceptical. Being a 14 year old girl, the same age as the protagonist, Tory, I instantly found flaws in her thinking and boasts of superior knowledge. While I'm not the smartest in my grade, nor have I skipped, I found myself instantly at a higher level of thinking than Tory. Her knowledge seemed to flit spontaneously from ridiculously technical, using complex jargon much like the Temperance Brennan books, to simple, below average teenage girl.

A throwaway line of perceptiveness "But I wasn't as perceptive then. Hadn't evolved." at the start of the book intrigued me, yet throughout the book, Tory remained as socially blind as ever right through to the final page, possessing an incapacity to predict even the most obvious of enemy action. This is in conformity with the first few pages, which seem to hold a different writing style and more untruthful throwaways than I'd think possible.

Aside from this, the gross female stereotypes and Tory's gender isolation puzzles me. What kind of school would not have a single pleasant girl in it (the only one that seems nice blows it at the end)? This makes me wonder if Tory's the problem, although no evidence is put forward to say that she is anything beyond flawless ... well ... no DELIBERATE evidence.

Beyond the simple weaknesses in Tory's character, there are issues with all of her friends, relatives and acquaintances. Dumb confessions progress the story, horrid naivety supporting this further. Sudden character changes don't do much for it.

Then there's the faux science as this detective novel shamelessly crosses the boundaries of sci-fi fantasy. The crossing of DNA stumped me as I questioned Tory's scientific conclusions as they came belated to my realizations as to what is going on.

Finally, there's the simplicity of the finds and rare, quick, perspective changes from first to third person. This only made the story harder to finish as I glanced over pointless babble I had registered or even read from another character several chapters ago.

Somehow, despite all of the above, the novel had a certain level of readability to it. Throughout my endeavour, I found myself locked in a constant internal debate between putting the crappy thing down and finishing it mindlessly, despite my constant frustration.(less)

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Feb 25, 2013 Mrs. ReaderPants rated it 1 of 5 stars

More reviews at Mrs. ReaderPants.

BIG SPOILERS HERE, BUT YOU AREN'T MISSING ANYTHING ANYWAY...

REVIEW: Oh, this book. What a mess. Right away, I noticed choppy writing, info-dumping, numerous interruptions in dialogue, and teen characters who do not act anything like teens. I can appreciate that these teens are smart, but seriously? They guessed a high-security door code on the first try? They found a hidden key to a restricted area in the first place they looked? Granted, the code and the hiding...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Maythavee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I’ve read Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan series so I was curious to see how her work would be when she writes for young adults. It turns out that she did a great job with Virals. I really enjoyed it.

Tory Brennan was a great main character. Her intelligence is probably her most unique trait. I loved how she inherited her aunt’s (Temperance Brennan) curiosity and to prove her theories right. Her ‘pack’ was also another thing that I really liked: Hiram, Ben and Shelton were fantastic supporting...more

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Jan 27, 2013 kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

this was actually better than I thought it would be but I have two major problems with it - it was too long and lagged in the middle (also why is it that when an adult author writes a teen book, they tack on like 150 pages more than the books they write for adults?!?!) AND for the love of god, (minor spoiler b/c it touches on this right at the start of the book) the plot would have been perfectly fine without the virus altering their their DNA and leaving them with canine DNA mixed in, thus basi...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Nico Macdougall rated it 2 of 5 stars

I don't really know what I expected from this book. After reading the summary and seeing how the main character and her friends would become human-canine hybrids, I guess some part of me just said, "I want to see what happens next." I can't think of any other reason I would really want to read this book. I sort of expected an actual mystery from this mystery novel, and instead I got something science-fiction-y, with an undertone of mystery.
Throughout the entire book, the mystery brought up by th...more I don't really know what I expected from this book. After reading the summary and seeing how the main character and her friends would become human-canine hybrids, I guess some part of me just said, "I want to see what happens next." I can't think of any other reason I would really want to read this book. I sort of expected an actual mystery from this mystery novel, and instead I got something science-fiction-y, with an undertone of mystery.
Throughout the entire book, the mystery brought up by the discovery of an old dog tag resurfaces but is almost constantly eclipsed by the weirdness of the Virals' transformation and their string of major felonies. (By the way, where did the name "Virals" come from? At some point, the main character uses that name as if it meant something, but it seemed to come from nowhere. Maybe she was aware of her series' name.) The actual mystery seems to take a backseat to the rest of the action pretty consistently.
And what does this action consist of? The transformation of the characters into dogpeople. After they start their little transformations because of a special virus that changes their DNA (because that's how science works), they use their powers for crimefighting. Or rather, for a series of escalating felonies that somehow serves to solve the case. Just change the motivation a little bit, and this could be a story of how an ordinary group of teenagers turns into the world's first supervillains.
But aside from this, none of the characters are particularly likeable.
Tory is the instigator of all the felonies, and I guess we're supposed to like her because she's smart, and cares about puppies, and gets picked on by the mean girls at her school, but I ultimately can't get past the fact that she seems like a natural at masterminding robberies and getting others to help her do them. What was her mom before she died, a catburglar?
Then there's Ben, who just seems super moody half the time, and just not very talkative the other half. I expected him to be the love interest at first, but that didn't turn out to be anything. Yet at least. My guess is that his feelings for Tory will be revealed in subsequent books. His main purpose is to have a boat for the gang to travel around on.
Hiram (or Hi, as they abbreviate his name rather confusingly) is the...comic relief I guess? He's described as a little less than fat, though fat enough to be funny when he runs. He is also the one that has the most experience lying, mostly to his overprotective mother, and at one point coaches the rest of them on how to beat an interrogation.
Shelton is kind of a nonentity. He's apparently black and asian, but after the first chapter or so, I found myself forgetting about him. I'm still not sure what exactly he brought to the table. Oh wait, he was the lockpicker. For this group of crimefighters that are TOTALLY not a step or two away from being master thieves.
What we have here is a group of friends that are not particularly charismatic (with the exception of Hi), are all rather smart, and use these talents to break into a research facility, a public library, and a mansion. Also, they have a secret base. Add their doggy powers to this, and you have one hell of a supervillain team.
My main problem with the actual plot, though, is that once they get their doggy powers, all of their breakthroughs are only achievable with those powers. On several separate occasions, they can only get out of risky situations or discover key evidence because they are suddenly super fast, or have an amazing sense of smell. And the worst part is, they can't really control this until the end of the book, and even then it's kind of a fluke. If they could control their powers, it would just be another characteristic, like their criminal talents or their intelligence. But instead, it's a science fiction plot device, only showing up when it's necessary. Temperance Brennan would never rely on this crap to solve a case. But that's the real problem with this book. I expect more or less the same from Temperance Brennan's niece as I expect from Bones herself, but her niece just can't deliver. She's not as well trained, doesn't have the same resources on her side, and is more angsty (but not that much more, thank god).
On a related note, though, I am really glad that there wasn't much of a love interest plot in this book, as there are in so many other Teen Fiction books. But that's probably being saved for the next one.(less)

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Jan 02, 2013 Tanja rated it 4 of 5 stars

Victoria „Tory“ Brennan ist vierzehn Jahre alt und lebt auf einer der kleinen Inseln vor Charleston mit ihrem gerade erst vor sechs Monaten neu entdeckten Vater, genannt Kit, der mit seinen einunddreißig Jahren und seinem Dasein als Workaholic nicht gerade der geborene Vater ist. Aber er gibt sich Mühe, so viel steht fest.

Als sie eines Tages mit ihren Freunden Ben, Hi und Shelton einen Ausflug nach Loggerhead Island, einer Nachbarinsel macht, wo auch ihr Vater arbeitet und wo es den schönsten S...more Victoria „Tory“ Brennan ist vierzehn Jahre alt und lebt auf einer der kleinen Inseln vor Charleston mit ihrem gerade erst vor sechs Monaten neu entdeckten Vater, genannt Kit, der mit seinen einunddreißig Jahren und seinem Dasein als Workaholic nicht gerade der geborene Vater ist. Aber er gibt sich Mühe, so viel steht fest.

Als sie eines Tages mit ihren Freunden Ben, Hi und Shelton einen Ausflug nach Loggerhead Island, einer Nachbarinsel macht, wo auch ihr Vater arbeitet und wo es den schönsten Strand gibt, nehmen die verhängnisvollen Vorgänge ihren Anfang. Denn als die vier sich im Wald verlaufen und sie ein Affe, ganz außer sich, mit Früchten bewirft, entdecken sie eine alte Armeeplakette.

Tory, abenteuerlustig und ebenso an der Wahrheitsfindung interessiert wie ihr großes Vorbild, ihre Großtante Dr. Temperance Brennan, bricht daraufhin kurzerhand mit ihren Freunden in dem Forschungsinstitut ein, in dem ihr Vater arbeitet und in dem es die nötigen Gerätschaften gibt, um die Plakette zu reinigen und ihren Besitzer herauszufinden.

Als sie bei ihrem Einbruch auf ein geheimes Labor stoßen, in dem der Wolfshundewelpe gefangen gehalten wird, den Tory erst Monate zuvor gerettet und ihn daraufhin Cooper getauft hat, nehmen sie ihn mit, schließlich ist er an einer Krankheit erkrankt, die nur für Hunde- und Wolfswelpen gefährlich ist.

Nach und nach werden Tory und ihre Freunde krank, während Cooper immer fideler wird. Sie haben Schübe seltsamer Lust auf rohes Fleisch oder Nagetiere, was in Tory bereits einen Verdacht aufkeimen lässt. Doch dann finden sie heraus, dass der Besitzer der Armeeplakette im Vietnamkrieg gefallen ist und seine einzige Tochter kurz darauf unter noch immer ungeklärten Umständen verschwand. Dies lässt Tory nicht los – bis sie sich an eine unebene Stelle erinnert, direkt neben dem Fundort der Plakette.

Die vier ziehen los und entdecken nach langem Graben schließlich ein Skelett. Ein Skelett, das die zweite Armeeplakette bei sich hat und bei dem es sich zweifellos um Katherine Heaton handeln muss. Doch ehe die vier die Polizei alarmieren können, erscheinen bewaffnete Männer auf der Bildfläche und machen mit Schusswaffengebrauch nur zu deutlich, wie wenig willkommen die Kinder sind.

Als sie kurz darauf wiederkommen – mit ihren Eltern und der Polizei – ist das Skelett verschwunden und nur Affenknochen liegen in der Grube. Aber Ben, Hi, Shelton und Tory geben nicht auf. Sie ermitteln weiter und kommen am Ende einem mehr als vierzig Jahre alten Komplott auf die Spur, was zugleich die Geburt der Virals ist …

Bisher kannte ich nur die Hörbücher von Kathy Reichs Tempe Brennan oder eben auch die Fernsehserie, die auf den Büchern basiert. So war Virals also mein Debütroman in Sachen Kathy Reichs. Und er war – für eine Krimireihe, die für Jugendliche konzipiert ist – eigentlich auch ganz gut. Ja, wirklich. Richtig gut. So gut, dass ich mich auf mehr freue.(less)

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Dec 27, 2012 Inga rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, thriller

Kathy Reichs started a new book series for young adult readers, the first book is called Virals.
Tory Brennan is the niece of well-known character Tempe Brennan but they don't know each other that well, although they are very alike.
Tory just lost her mum in an accident and has to live with her marine biologist father on a small island at the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. All adults living on that island work on yet another smaller island which is a research facility where monkeys and a sma...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Neil rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was introduced to Kathy Reichs through the television show, "Bones," which airs on the Fox Network. My family and I were spending the night in Salt Lake City. For a reason I can't remember, I was in need of the internet and printer capabilities. At the time, the best option was a public library. While entering the closest branch of the SLC library district, I saw a poster on the wall with Kathy Reichs name on it. While consulting a librarian, I discovered that there had been a book signing for...more I was introduced to Kathy Reichs through the television show, "Bones," which airs on the Fox Network. My family and I were spending the night in Salt Lake City. For a reason I can't remember, I was in need of the internet and printer capabilities. At the time, the best option was a public library. While entering the closest branch of the SLC library district, I saw a poster on the wall with Kathy Reichs name on it. While consulting a librarian, I discovered that there had been a book signing for the latest book in the 'Virals' series the night before. Had we ended up in SLC a day earlier, I would have been thrilled to meet this awesome forensic anthropologist.

After a work accident, I found ebooks to be a much more feasible way to read books, as e-readers are much easier to handle, and consequently less painful. I discovered that as a library card holder, I could check out ebooks from the local library. This led to my discovery that there was only one title in my library's ebooks collection written by the creator of the character Temperance Brennan: a book I had written off reading, because it was for young adults. Normally, I proudly read any age delegated classification of books, but at the time, this book was not a priority.

The SLC visit put it back in my mind, and as the current semester of online college courses left me hungry for recreational reading, I checked out "Virals," the first book in an ongoing series of the same name. Not relishing the pain of excessive walking, I often read books on the kindle app on my iPhone. This is where my reading of this title commenced, but my wife began devouring the most recent Caleb Carr book on a Kindle, and my semester of school wrapped up, I was able to read more voraciously.

However, I suppose that since this is a 'review', I should desist with the name dropping and long winded explanations and say something about what's in the book itself. To do this, I deem it best to stick with the basics, so readers may enjoy the journey themselves, should they decide to read it. If the TV show based on the author's previous works is not a big enough endorsement; please allow me to vouch for this book. If you aren't taken aback by young adult fiction, then by all means give this book a shot.

The book is a first person account told by the daughter of an employee of a college in South Carolina. I enjoyed the many pop culture tie-ins, especially the references to Tolkien-verse (the universe of the fictional works of the great philologist). I am partial to great female characters, especially when they are as smart as the main character of this book.

So, go out and give this book a go. If for some reason it's not your cup of tea, I promise, there are worse things you'll be forced to do, such as wait in line at a stop light.(less)

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Nov 05, 2012 Grace Jung rated it 5 of 5 stars

Snap.Her canine abilities shot through her making it possible to hear the conversation of whispers 50 yards away. Kathy Reichs created a plot that grabs your attention and keeps it until you've finished the book Virals.The book is filled with breath taking action and suspense. You could try to guess at what will happen in the next scene but likely it will be wrong because it is so unpredictable. For instance one moment Tory, the female lead, spots a metal tag which leads them to discovering a mu...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Skyril rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ok, ok, the storyline was ok. It had potential, I suppose I would say, and it wasn't all bad. I kind of liked the characters, although a lot of the less important ones were really cheesy and typical. But mostly I didn't enjoy this book very much.

The main reason? Good grief, Kathy Reichs doesn't know the difference between a period and a comma! She thinks periods take the places of commas, and it's just so bloody irritating. There were more fragments in this book than sentences, and THAT'S an und...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars! I only have minor issues with this book.

So, I kind of felt like Tory was a little bossy. Way bossy. Her friends are pretty freakin' awesome to put up with her bossiness. I mean, if I had friends like Hiram, Shelton and and Ben, I'd be kissing their feet 24/7. They are so willing, helpful and loyal. Super shoutout to them.

Also, she was kind of, well, mean to Jason. Are you kidding me? If I had a guy after me like that, I'd totally like him. He's so sweet! :D Absolutely love Jason. And...more

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Sep 19, 2012 The Book Review Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review taken from my book review blog: http://thebookreviewlibrary.blogspot.com

I actually finished this book a while ago, and although I remember most of it, some parts I don't remember as well as when I first finished it. So any mistakes on characters, plot, etc are probably because of this!

I thought this book sounded interesting - it had a mix of action/adventure, supernatural and crime, which sonds a bit odd but was mostly fine when I was reading. To start with the book was quite slow, mainly...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Ryan James rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: kathy-reichs

I bought this book at a used English bookstore in Budapest. I am an avid Reichs fan and am almost completely up-to-date on her novels, except the last one out. I had not heard of this title, so was excited to come across it for about $6. Now I want to sell it back and am willing to do so for less than $1 or just toss it.

I am an educator with other 25 years of teaching. If this is a young adult book, something has gone far amiss in the field. The language goes from insipid to vulgar. This is the...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Lindley Walter-smith rated it 1 of 5 stars

This was entirely awful - badly written, misogynist, poorly plotted and characterised, borderline racist YA that entirely fails to suspend belief. The writing was technically bad, with nothing but choppy sentence fragments and rhetorical questions (which are immediately given redundant answers, every time). Tween readers are constantly condescended to. The four main characters behave in ways that make no sense, or are completely unrealistic - breaking effortlessly into high security labs, for ex...more This was entirely awful - badly written, misogynist, poorly plotted and characterised, borderline racist YA that entirely fails to suspend belief. The writing was technically bad, with nothing but choppy sentence fragments and rhetorical questions (which are immediately given redundant answers, every time). Tween readers are constantly condescended to. The four main characters behave in ways that make no sense, or are completely unrealistic - breaking effortlessly into high security labs, for example. Continuity is sloppy, subplots are never resolved, and there is even the basic error of absolute terror of using "said".

There is exactly one positive female character in this: the heroine. She's a deeply unlikeable "brilliant kid graces with a tall and slender figure" caricature who is a bitch to her father's girlfriend for being pretty, feminine and getting her expensive clothes (what) and spends her time mentally snarking and whining about the popular kids, but I am pretty sure we're meant to like her, anyway. Every single other female character? Vapid and/or evil.

There are no characters who are not stereotypes, which is where my unease with the way race is handled arises. Heroine is white (of course). Her friends are a Japanese/black boy who is naturally a nerdy bespectacled computer whiz, an overprotected Jewish stereotype, and a boy with Native American heritage who is... well, he's Jacob, essentially. The only excuse is that the author doesn't seem to think in terms other than stereotypes even when the (default) white characters are involved - rich kids are spoiled and shallow, Southern belles are sickly sweet, blonde cheerleaders are evil dumb cows, librarians are weedy and live alone with their cats...

The plot is stupid. Four kids rescue a wold dog hybrid from ebil vivisectionists and turn into superheroes with wolf powers, and it's all jumbled up with invesigating the death of a girl killed by ebil Big Pharma. It's rubbish, and the denouement revolves around a villain who has declared their intention of killing them all and disposing of them fast instead standing there explaining the evil plan for two chapters. Even at ten, I would have been disgusted with such sloppy writing.

I really can't think of a single saving grace for this one, and I'm unsure why I evern finished it, except that it's light and easy and there was a sort of trainwreck fascination it. It amazes me that, when there is so much good self-published stuff out there, Random House are putting their money behind things of this standard.(less)

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Jul 23, 2012 Ally Tiner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Tory Brennen a 14 year old girl lives on a remote island with her father, who is a biologist. She didn't even know she had a father till her mother died, and went to live with her dad. She meets three other geek boys like herself, and they become close friends, even sharing the same Wolf DNA when breaking into a lab stealing a wolf-pup, who was infected with a virus, and they caught it, and became Virals. (They have super hearing, strength, smell, and eyesight, like a dog, also sharing the golde...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Astrid rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, adventure, amazing-books, best-heroines, books-i-will-marry, exceeded-expectations, everyone-should-read, favorite-books-of-all-time, fingers-crossed, great-character-development, huhishouldsoreadthis, i-hope-its-as-good-sounds, i-need-my-cake-now, its-better-than-cupcakes, iwillgoinsaneifidontreadthis, oh-look-a-bunny, please-tell-me-theres-a-fourth-book, randomreads, sci-fi, stupid-library-hold-line, wow-that-sounds-interesting

I was to glad to stumble upon this book that, before even reading it, I shoved the paperback at everyone's face and forced them to read it, all because of the premise and cover. I mean, come on. It's so...what's the right word? Well, the cover makes the book look so dangerous and action filled. So, after shoving it in everyone's faces, I sat down and read, sitting up straight and smiling like a good little girl.
The first page. OH MY GOSH. I swear, Kathy Reichs sure knows how to hook the reader...more I was to glad to stumble upon this book that, before even reading it, I shoved the paperback at everyone's face and forced them to read it, all because of the premise and cover. I mean, come on. It's so...what's the right word? Well, the cover makes the book look so dangerous and action filled. So, after shoving it in everyone's faces, I sat down and read, sitting up straight and smiling like a good little girl.
The first page. OH MY GOSH. I swear, Kathy Reichs sure knows how to hook the reader in. The prologue is an action-packed, page turning scene complete with running, gunshots, and adreline and lots of fear. Right away, your blood runs cold wondering what will happen with the characters. Then you jump in to a few days before, and so Chapter one begins.
The entire plot and story was just fascinating. Every step you took into the story, the more impossible it was to put down. Tory Brennan is one of those rare heroines that you never find in Young Adult fiction anymore, the kind that has confidence, intelligence, and strength and strong leadership abilities. The fact that basically no amount of time is spent babbling about her looks and wardrobe only adds to how great this book is in comparison to other books, which may spend numerous pages just describing how beautiful the heroine is- and then spend even more pages talking about how the heroine doesn't think herself beautiful, before moving on to how popular and accomplished and amazing the heroine is. And then more modesty. But I am relieved to say that Tory Brennan is not only a great narrator, but she's not a Mary-Sue. Wow- I haven't said those words in a bit. What does that say about authors and books in the YA category? Not much. And that makes me embarrased for us teenagers. Anyhow, I loved Tory's way of narrating things and the fact that she focused on the important things. She was a leader in every aspect and not shallow at all. She was smart, and she didn't let her personal feelings(such as a crush) stand in the way of doing what she knows is right. She does what she feels is right, she creates very good plans, and she knows how to use team work to the best effect. She has perspective but still acts like a teenage girl- oh, wait. Back up. There is a reason I didn't give this book five stars, despite my deep love and infatuation for it. That being, Tory only has male friends. This is not a bad thing at all, seeing as how the people she hang out with are the people who are on an equal level of intelligence for her and they happen to be male, but it also made me notice something else about the book. Except for Tory, all the females are shallow, brainless, incredibly mean, and girly. This is sexist in some ways and I can't really approve of that. I mean, basically all the girls in this story are the same, stereotypical, girly Queen Bee that we find in Chick Flicks a lot. What does that say about girls? Nothing good. And it makes it seem like Kathy Reichs is really just trying to recreate Temperace Brennan in an adolescents body. I mean, don't get me wrong- I love Tory, and she does act like a teenager, goes to dances and crushes on boys - but honestly, I just can't get over the fact that all the girls were dense, superficial, mean, and girly. What made the whole situation worse is that one of the girls actually even (view spoiler). But besdies that, the plot was solid and original. Very original. The idea of using wolves in a non-paranormal aspect (like in Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer, Twilight, or Shiver) but rather a scientific one, is very original, and I think I really liked it. Ii also liked how there was next to no romance, but enough to satisfy those adolescent girls out there who would undoubtedly rate this book one star simply because of the lack of romantic affairs. This book was filled with mystery, and it was fun to watch Tory and her band of sci-fi geek friends (and I mean geek in the best way possible) solve mysteries, get in trouble, and use their intelligence to the full potential. There was so much action- this is a real page turner, if I've ever seen one - and still the normal, teenage girl aspects managed to sneak in once in a while to make Tory more relatable and less of a pure-prodigy that none of us could relate to. Really, the idea was very fresh, fascinating, and fun- I have never read a book so action packed. I am so glad I found this book. Everything about it was entertaining, and it actually made me smarter, I think (Or maybe that is wishful thinking on my part). There wasn't a lot of concrete and factual science used, but enough that you got an idea of what was going on. Reichs avoided going into detail about the science being used because of her target audience (teenagers), but she didn't avoid the science to the point that she was insulting our intelligence. I feel like Tory and her little gang are my friends, and another thing I enjoyed was that they were willing to use their geekness for the greater good and for breaking an entering. There seemed to be, like, four climaxes in this story, and at some point it was so intense and interesting that every muscle in my body seemed to freeze, and I'd hold my breath in anticipation. Except for the whole "girls are evil and shallow" concept, this book couldn't have gotten any better for me. The characters have good qualities and backgrounds and are very appealing and interesting to read about, very well fleshed out. I really, really, really enjoyed this bool and I can't wait to get my sticky hands on a copy of Seizure.

Review and others like it at www.thebookwormeats.blogspot.com (less)

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Virals-place for all who enjoy Virals	7	32	Mar 28, 2013 08:52pm
Just started reading	6	18	Mar 25, 2013 01:35pm
Should Ben and Tory get together??	6	33	Mar 11, 2013 09:16am
What did you think of this book?	2	12	Mar 11, 2013 09:11am
Who do you prefer, Ben, Shelton or Hi?	68	119	Mar 04, 2013 03:21pm
I found out the name of the 3rd book!!!	30	153	Feb 23, 2013 08:09pm

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About Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. A...more

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Bones to Ashes (Temperance Brennan, #10)

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Trivia About Virals

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Quotes from Virals

“Why do all your brilliant ideas involve felonies?” — 124 people liked it

“An elite confederacy of nerds. My peeps” — 101 people liked it

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Virals (Virals #1)

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