Flash and Bones (Temperance Brennan, #14)

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Flash and Bones (Temperance Brennan #14)

3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 · rating details · 7,388 ratings · 784 reviews

Kathy Reichs—#1 New York Times bestselling author and producer of the FOX television hit Bones—returns with a riveting new novel set in Charlotte, North Carolina, featuring America’s favorite forensic anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan. Just as 200,000 fans are pouring into town for Race Week, a body is found in a barrel of asphalt next to the Charlotte Motor Speedway....more

Hardcover, 271 pages

Published August 23rd 2011 by Scribner (first published 2011)

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Aug 26, 2011 Sue rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, library-book, read-in-2011

Either the formula is wearing thin or I'm tiring a bit of the formula but I didn't love this latest installment in Kathy Reich's long-running series about a forensic anthropologist. This episode takes place in her home town of Charlotte, home to NASCAR, and has tie-ins to the race business. It also links to American extremists, and several missing people.

I'm not going to give away plot points here. My main problem with the story and its telling was the telling: too many repeated comments about h...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Juli rated it 5 of 5 stars

Classic Reichs. All of the good stuff are here in this book, sans Andrew Ryan & the new love interest Charlie.

This novel takes place in her home town of Charlotte and covers one of the more basic Charlottean essentials... NASCAR.

Full of adventures with twists and turns, where Tempe finds her self between horrors and her safety is in jeopardy. So typically it's just as I would have expected and incorporates all the things that I love about Tempe.

It was a little weird with the ex-husband and h...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reason for Reading: I read all the author's books. I've got myself slightly behind but will get caught up shortly.

First I'll start by saying I enjoyed the book very much. It was actually quite refreshing. Reichs seems to have removed herself from the cookie cutter mold she had let herself slip into lately, not that I don't always enjoy her books to a 3 or more but they do follow a pattern. Here we have Tempe entering a new world, one she isn't familiar with, that of Nascar Racing and she has to...more

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Mar 10, 2012 noelle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: do-not-own, ebooks

It was 1:50 p.m. My sweat-soaked tee was pasted to my back. My hair was yanked into a ratty knot. Sand lined my scalp and undies. Nevertheless, I was humming. Al Yankovic, “White & Nerdy.” What can I say? I’d watched a YouTube video and the tune lodged in my head.

wow, off to a really terrible start, aren't we, kathy reichs?

conclusion: why do i keep reading these ridiculous, ultra formulaic books

so boring

so bad

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May 11, 2013 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Have you ever read a book and found yourself thinking ‘did I just learn about _____ without even realizing it?’ and then get struck by the fact that you enjoyed learning what you learned because it was so flawlessly woven into the story you read?

If you haven’t, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of one of Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan books – though I’m sure you’d do just fine picking up any book in the series, I would suggest starting with the first - “Déjà Dead.”

In a particularly strange...more Have you ever read a book and found yourself thinking ‘did I just learn about _____ without even realizing it?’ and then get struck by the fact that you enjoyed learning what you learned because it was so flawlessly woven into the story you read?

If you haven’t, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of one of Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan books – though I’m sure you’d do just fine picking up any book in the series, I would suggest starting with the first - “Déjà Dead.”

In a particularly strange turn of events I was sitting at home reading “Flash and Bones” last week after having watched a particularly interesting episode of the Travel Channel’s “Mysteries at the Museum.” In this particular episode they did a piece on an umbrella used in the assassination of a journalist in London in 1978. With that story in the back of my mind I curled up to read. Imagine my shock when I “hear” the voice of Temperance Brennan speaking about the assassination of Georgi Markov in 1978 London by a ricin pellet shot by an umbrella. Now she was drawing comparisons to a suspicious death in the novel but I had to stop for a few minutes to let the whole ‘wow’ of the situation settle in. For some reason I had heard the same story twice on the same day.

Getting past the strange coincidence that was the story of Georgi Markov, Kathy Reichs spent the next few hours entertaining me while also teaching me. While immersed in the world of car racing and southern militias I learned about the history of NASCAR and stock car racing (did you know that while rare-ish today, women were pretty big players in the racing world from the beginning? And who knew that it all started with people running moonshine during prohibition in the 1920s?).

Set in Temperance Brennan’s hometown in North Carolina, “Flash and Bones” begins with a body in a landfill and that body leads the reader on a quest with Brennan to discover who that body is. That quest eventually leads to the story of a missing couple whose disappearance went seemingly unnoticed. Finding out what happened to them takes Brennan and the reader on trips to race tracks, seedy bars and scientific research facilities. This story captured my knowledge seeking self and kept my attention to such an end that I finished in less than 2 days.
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Mar 07, 2013 Inga rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

Kathy Reichs‘ 14. Roman um Temperance Brennan - Fahr zur Hölle - spielt in Charlotte, wo jedes Jahr NASCAR-Rennen stattfinden. Auf einer Mülldeponie neben der Rennstrecke wird eine in Asphalt gegossene Leiche in einem Fass entdeckt. Doch bevor die Identität des Toten geklärt werden kann, konfisziert das FBI die Leiche und greift in die Ermittlungen ein. Gleichzeitig wird Tempe von einem Angehörigen gebeten, festzustellen, ob die Leiche einer der zwei verschwundenen Teenager sein könnte, die vor...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Charlynn rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's race week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and thunderheads are threatening when Temperance Brennan is called out to the track. Next to the famed venue, there is a landfill – a landfill that just so happens to have a set of remains recently unearthed from one of its mountains of rubbish. Based upon the body's location, it is presumed that the barrel containing the victim has been buried for at least ten years, but there's nothing cold about this case. It connects back to three missing persons –...more It's race week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and thunderheads are threatening when Temperance Brennan is called out to the track. Next to the famed venue, there is a landfill – a landfill that just so happens to have a set of remains recently unearthed from one of its mountains of rubbish. Based upon the body's location, it is presumed that the barrel containing the victim has been buried for at least ten years, but there's nothing cold about this case. It connects back to three missing persons – two of which have also been unseen for more than a decade, a disgraced former cop, the FBI, an extremist militia group, and, of course, racing. Due to the body's proximity to the track and its possible connection to the sport, the case quickly speeds out of control, pulling forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan along for the ride.

In this series' fourteenth novel, Reichs slowly eases her heroine in a new and different direction. Although Andrew Ryan's presence is still felt, it's distant, fleeting. A phone call here, an email there, and a few passing thoughts about the detective are all eclipsed by the introduction of a potential new love interest for Brennan. While neither acts upon their attraction, it is certainly there, along with charisma and an intriguing back story on the part of the rookie character, perhaps setting him up to be the North Carolina sidekick to Ryan's Montreal status.

Apart from this development, however, what is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Flash and Bones is its setting: smack dab in the center of the NASCAR craze. A sport predicated on tradition, it is often associated with a very conservative fanbase, and Reichs harshly (justifiably) exposes and explicates this. For those who are not fans of auto racing (such as myself), the novel's social, political, economic, and psychological commentary on the sport will appeal. However, at the same time, through Brennan, Reichs also shows an appropriate amount of respect for NASCAR, so that followers of the pastime will be entertained as well. The author achieves a healthy balance in her portrayal of racing. What is not so balanced is Reichs' writing style. Very staccato in nature, the book features choppy sentence structures, abbreviated thoughts in the form of short fragments, and far too many melodramatic, chapter-ending cliffhangers. These things are fine – desirable even – in moderation, but, unfortunately, Reichs did not show temperance in Flash and Bones. The work is thoroughly entertaining but certainly not her finest offering.(less)

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Sep 02, 2012 Helen Fields rated it 3 of 5 stars

There's no doubt about Kathy Reichs' expertise and you can tell by the way she writes that her knowledge is instinctive and easily passed on. I liked the protagonist. She is a strong and relatively uncomplicated woman who one can empathise with well, crucial as it's written in the first person. The plot was interesting although I didn't need quite the detail about Nascar and at times those elements bored me a little perhaps that's testament to the fact that not all your research needs to go in,...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Elise rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've read most of the Temperance Brennan novels, and this wasn't one of my favorites. Maybe I've just read too many of them at this point, because they all seem to follow basically the same plot. Brennan, the eternally brilliant forensic anthropologist, recovers a body under strange circumstances; something comes up during the autopsy; if the story is set in Charlotte, Brennan drives around and comments on the fact that like half the streets are named "Queens" something; interactions with one of...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-suspense

Flash and Bones is set in the main character's (and the author's) home town of Charlotte, N.C. The plot entwines narrative suspense with the natural excitement of a major NASCAR venue.

As usual, the characters are myriad and keys to the mystery are obscured by a complex network of smoke and mirrors. A less skillful author would leave the reader frustrated and confused. However, most characters are quirky enough to distinguish themselves one from the other. The main elements of the plot, red herri...more

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May 08, 2012 Kathy Davie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: suspense

Fourteenth in the Temperance Brennan forensic suspense series revolving around a forensic anthropologist who splits her time between Montreal and Charlotte, North Carolina.

My Take
The story had good bones---no pun intended, but there was a passion lacking in this. Although, Reichs appears to be setting us up for a new boyfriend. Mostly this one was a lot of tease romance-wise. Even Pete got used here.

Brief visits to the racetrack with a lot of forensic investigating as Tempe, Slidell, and Cotton...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh Dr Temperance, I do much prefer you in book form. For the record, I did record the whole last season of Bones that played in 2011, and have only finished watching it before the new year. I know the series and book are different, but I like the smart doctor, the more lengthy medical explanations without the cheesyness we get on screen.

In this novel there are a couple of stories centred around NASCAR racing in

Charlotte, which for me is a bit of a snooze. As I'm not into cars, although I can ap...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Jenna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-forensic

In the past, I have enjoyed the Temperance Brennan novels by Kathy Reichs, but this one fell rather flat for me. I did read the entire book, but it was an "easy" read and I figured I might as well find out who "dunnit".

I think why I did not enjoy this book as much as some of the others is that there was a lot less "forensic" information in the story -- except of for the discovery of a body in a barrell which pulls Dr. Brennan into the observation, her forensic skills are not really that needed...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really like the Temperence Brennan series of books and I look forward every August to the next one being released but I'm sad to say that this is the first one which I feel was a let down. It actually hurts a bit to say that because I do really like this series of books.

It was still a nice read, but it wasn't anything special for me. Some of it I know is just my personal preferences - I missed getting to 'see' Montreal and I really missed the Tempe/Ryan relationship (even friendship) and bant...more

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Oct 10, 2011 Jane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Flash and Bones is a great title! I've read some of Kathy Reich's "Bones" series and love the TV show so was predisposed to liking this book ... and I did.. But I didn't love it. The writing, storyline and characters are all good and, frankly, her good is better than some authors' best, but it isn't her best.

I liked the NASCAR setting and having the protagonist Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist, staying in her home town of Charlotte. I liked the past situations influencing the story...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Ellie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

It's saying something that I chose a Temperance Brennan book as an easy going in-flight read. I remember the days when they were quite challenging, trying to decipher medical terms and a smattering of French. I can't decide if Kathy Reichs has kust lost interest in the series or is pruposefully dumbing it down for TV audiences. It does seem a bit of a coincidence that the books started going downhill after Bones got popular!

So, a body is found encased in a barrel of tarmac in landfill adjacent t...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Marleen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story starts when a body is found in a barrel of asphalt on a refuse dump next to the Charlotte racetrack. As soon as the discovery of the body is made public, possible identifications come from two sides.
A young man claims it might be the body of the boyfriend of his sister. Both his sister and the boyfriend disappeared without a trace 12 years ago, and the young man desperately wants answers.
Another possibility is a middle aged man who has recently been reported as missing in the area by h...more The story starts when a body is found in a barrel of asphalt on a refuse dump next to the Charlotte racetrack. As soon as the discovery of the body is made public, possible identifications come from two sides.
A young man claims it might be the body of the boyfriend of his sister. Both his sister and the boyfriend disappeared without a trace 12 years ago, and the young man desperately wants answers.
Another possibility is a middle aged man who has recently been reported as missing in the area by his wife.
Dr. Tempe Brennan examines the body and although she can’t completely rule out either of the two suggested identifications, she can’t confirm them either. And before she can perform further examinations, the body has been claimed and destroyed by the FBI.
Frustrated and suspicious Brennan decides to dig deeper into the disappearance of the two youngsters but soon finds herself attracting the attention of right-wing extremists and an ex-cop with a dubious reputation.
While Charlotte is gearing up for the big races the mysteries only appear to be getting deeper, and Brennan can’t be sure who she can trust while at the same time she is being threatened by someone.

I always enjoy the Temperance Brennan mysteries. They come with enough scientific and specialist knowledge to make me feel as if I’m learning something, although the information never takes away from the tension and pace of the story.
Brennan makes a good and interesting leading character. She is an independent woman who knows what she wants but realistic enough to know that she can’t always get it, and sensible enough not to wallow in self-pity.
The books almost always come with some light relief from the action. In this story the smiles are provided by Summer, the soon to be wife of Brennan’s ex-husband who has problems getting her groom to participate in the wedding preparations.
But, most importantly of all, the mysteries in this series work. While they are deeply puzzling, the solutions always make sense and don’t make the reader feel as if they have been misdirected.
I really hope Reichs will continue writing Temperance Brennan books for many years to come.
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Sep 13, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

This fourteenth book in the long-running Temperance Brennan book series takes place during Race Week in Charlotte, North Carolina. When a metal drum is exposed after some soil erosion in a landfill, Tempe is called in because inside the drum is crumbling asphalt and from the asphalt, seemingly reaching for rescue, is a human hand. This particular area of the landfill has been closed down since 2005 and the operators think the burial of the drum took place between the late nineties and 2002. Clea...more

This fourteenth book in the long-running Temperance Brennan book series takes place during Race Week in Charlotte, North Carolina. When a metal drum is exposed after some soil erosion in a landfill, Tempe is called in because inside the drum is crumbling asphalt and from the asphalt, seemingly reaching for rescue, is a human hand. This particular area of the landfill has been closed down since 2005 and the operators think the burial of the drum took place between the late nineties and 2002. Clearly, this is not one of the people who have recently been reported missing. The landfill backs on to the Charlotte Speedway and with 200,000 people converging on the area for the races, moving the drum becomes a priority before any one of the hundreds of media outlets on standby for the race learns of the discovery and rushes to report it if for no other reason than to alleviate the boredom until the NASCAR drivers claim their attention.

That, of course is too much to hope for. The next day, Wayne Gamble, a well known figure in the racing world, comes to see Brennan. His seventeen year-old sister disappeared without a trace twelve years ago. When Cindi Gamble and her boyfriend, Cale Lovette, were reported missing, the FBI had been briefly involved. Cale had belonged to the Patriot Posse, a right-wing extremist group. After a few weeks, the bureau had decided that Cale wasn’t important enough in the Posse to justify using FBI resources. Wayne wants to know if there is a possibility that the body in the drum is his sister. Cindi wanted nothing more than to be a NASCAR driver and she was earning a reputation has someone to watch in the future. She was participating in races sponsored by NASCAR and, as her brother points out, if NASCAR is your life, Charlotte is the place to be. Why would she willingly walk away from the racing life she loves? The police were convinced that Cindi and Cale had run away to get married so their interest in finding the teenagers was minimal. Wayne is the only one convinced that something terrible has happened to them. Brennan tells him that the body is not female so definitely not Cindi but she doesn’t forget the story.

Brennan finds herself working with Charlotte PD detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell, not someone she would seek out in a social situation. Slidell has been assigned the case and there is immediate tension. Cotton Galimore is chief of security for the Charlotte Speedway and he is a disgraced cop who was asked to resign for a few infractions, including drinking on the job. For a brief period, Slidell and Galimore has been partners. Galimore’s job is to keep everything about NASCAR and the upcoming race framed as a family-friendly event. That job becomes a bit more difficult when another man is reported missing. Ted Raines was from Atlanta and worked for the CDC. He was in Charlotte on business and had bought tickets for some of the races. If Raines is the body in the drum, found at the edge of the speedway, selling Race Week as a family occasion is going to require a lot more work.

Before Brennan has a chance to finish her work on the body in the drum, body, drum, and all paperwork disappear. The FBI has taken over jurisdiction and they are not going to explain the reasons.

FLASH AND BONES is quick, light reading. Reichs goes to great lengths to explain NASCAR, its history, and its impact on American cultural life but it reads less as informational than it does as filler. The people in Tempe’s personal life, her daughter, her sometimes boyfriend, Andrew Ryan, and her ex-husband have brief walk-ons but without their presence, the reader doesn’t find Tempe as interesting. There is some humor in Tempe interaction with her ex-husband’s very young, Southern belle fiancee but it isn’t nearly as good as the dialogue between Tempe and Ryan in the other books.

FLASH AND BONES is a good book to get from the library. It isn’t good enough to fit with the rest of the books in the series.(less)

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Sep 07, 2011 Colby rated it 3 of 5 stars

I waited a long time for this book to come out, bought it on my kindle the day it came out, and I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed. This definitely wasn't one her best, as I would put it down and didn't look at it for a whole weekend. I feel as though Reichs really didn't put her heart into this book. There was no Detective Ryan (again, 2nd book in a row, maybe 3rd), other than phone conversations. I get she's giving Tempe time in the South but, all the original books took place in Montreal....more

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Sep 01, 2011 Bryan Higgs rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, mystery-thriller

Well, whenever Kathy Reichs come up with another 'Bones' book, my wife and I grab it from the library (which means we have to wait our turn, because she's popular), and then read it very quickly.

We discovered Kathy Reichs when we took a vacation in Prince Edward Island, Canada. My wife usually grabs an audio book (or several) from the library so we can listen to it while we drive -- and PEI is something like 15 hours drive! That time, she borrowed "Deja Dead" (a terrible title, but a great book)...more Well, whenever Kathy Reichs come up with another 'Bones' book, my wife and I grab it from the library (which means we have to wait our turn, because she's popular), and then read it very quickly.

We discovered Kathy Reichs when we took a vacation in Prince Edward Island, Canada. My wife usually grabs an audio book (or several) from the library so we can listen to it while we drive -- and PEI is something like 15 hours drive! That time, she borrowed "Deja Dead" (a terrible title, but a great book), Reichs' first 'Bones' novel, and we loved it. It grabbed our attention, we listened to it all the way there, and there was still some amount of additional listening while we drove around PEI. That was amusing in a way because my wife doesn't like anything violent or ghoulish, but she does like Patricia Cornwell, and -- so it turned out -- Kathy Reichs, both of whom do examinations of dead bodies. I haven't figured that out yet...

I wish Kathy Reichs books had kept up the standard of her first (or first few) books, but unfortunately she has descended into too much of a formulaic approach for my taste. Oh, she's still entertaining, and the books do provide a variety of locations, contexts, boyfriends, villains, etc. Still that probably won't stop us from grabbing her latest as quickly as in the past.

Incidentally, if you've seen the 'Bones' series on TV, which ostensibly is about the same character (and Kathy Reichs is a co-producer), don't think for a moment that it's anything like the 'Bones' novels -- it's decidedly not! I find the TV series to be relatively asinine compared with the books. The main character in the TV series is characterized as lacking in social skills, to the point that she is probably autistic -- brilliant at what she does, because she's totally obsessive about it, but lacking 'normal' social interaction abilities. An interesting idea, perhaps, but one that is wasted in the series. The additional characters in the TV series seem to have inane conversations with each other -- not really grown-up interactions, if you see what I'm saying. The books are more intelligent, but still they are approaching a sameness. I hope Kathy Reichs figures out how to add more pizzazz and put back some life into the 'Bones' books. I have found the books that were based in Montreal were usually more interesting.(less)

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Sep 12, 2012 Marcia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: misc-fiction

When Kathy Reichs’ first book, “Deja Dead,” was released in 1998, I was really interested in forensics in general, and found forensic anthropology especially fascinating. It seemed quite remarkable that so much could be discovered by examining mere skeletal remains. When those remains are very old, or are only partial remains, it is even more remarkable to realize how much information can be gained by the close inspection of a trained eye. I really enjoyed the early books in this series, and tho...more When Kathy Reichs’ first book, “Deja Dead,” was released in 1998, I was really interested in forensics in general, and found forensic anthropology especially fascinating. It seemed quite remarkable that so much could be discovered by examining mere skeletal remains. When those remains are very old, or are only partial remains, it is even more remarkable to realize how much information can be gained by the close inspection of a trained eye. I really enjoyed the early books in this series, and thought the good doctor Temperance Brennan was a nicely developed character.

I have continued to read the series, pretty much in its entirety, over the years. I believe “Flash and Bones” is the 14th book. While I find the subject matter is still very interesting, the novels themselves have slowly begun to take on a sameness. It’s not that they are bad. It’s just that they no longer feel as fresh an exciting as they once did. I think Reichs has tried to fix this problem by shaking up Tempe’s love life here and there, but I frankly miss her interaction with Andrew Ryan, her main love interest over the course of the series. I’m not crazy about the way he’s been shoved to the side and new men have caught Tempe’s eye. But that’s just me, and I could have overlooked it if “Flash and Bones” had really grabbed me. It didn’t.

The story involves extremist bio-terrorism plotted by some North Carolina local yokels who are basically caricatured amalgams of every backwoods bigot you ever read about, and NASCAR. A LOT of NASCAR. If you are interested in that particular sub-culture, you would probably enjoy this book more than I did. It certainly had enough facts and figures about racing legends over the years to make dedicated fans happy. Personally, I would have preferred more emphasis on character development and plot lines. But again, that’s just just me.

I would really hate to see this fairly predictable but mostly enjoyable series turn into the same lackluster caliber of entertainment as the television show, “Bones,” which is very loosely based on it. But I’m afraid it might be too late to stop a slow slide in that direction. Surprise me, Kathy Reichs. Make me eat my words by writing your next book with enough substance and excitement to keep me up all night reading it! You’ve done it before. You can do it again!

In the meantime, for those who love a whodunit, even if it’s fairly obvious who DID dunit, and who would enjoy a story set in the world of NASCAR, give it a try. And let me know how you like it.

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Sep 03, 2011 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: forensic-sciences

This may be the first time I've given fewer than five stars to a Kathy Reichs novel. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed in this one.

Tempe is called out to the Charlotte Motorway because a body, encased in asphalt, is found there. The body turns out to be contaminated by ricin -- which adds an additional twist the the plot. So far, so good. However, a great deal of the book seems to focus on NASCAR and its history. I get that it's important to Charlotte, but I was far more interested in t...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Kelli rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

Audiobook version narrated by Linda Emond

Book: B
Narration: B+

In a series that remains surprisingly fresh in its 14th outing, forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan is back in North Carolina and investigating the remains of a body discovered in a landfill near the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The discovery of the remains, found packed in asphalt in a metal drum, restarts a long-dead investigation into the disappearance thirteen years earlier of a twenty-four year-old man and nineteen year-ol...more Audiobook version narrated by Linda Emond

Book: B
Narration: B+

In a series that remains surprisingly fresh in its 14th outing, forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan is back in North Carolina and investigating the remains of a body discovered in a landfill near the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The discovery of the remains, found packed in asphalt in a metal drum, restarts a long-dead investigation into the disappearance thirteen years earlier of a twenty-four year-old man and nineteen year-old woman who were last seen at the speedway. A plea from the missing girl’s brother and the confiscation of evidence by the FBI induces Dr. Brennan to initiate her own investigation in cooperation with Detective Slidell of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD. The two cross paths with Cotton Galimore, the former lead detective on the initial investigation and now head of security for the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the investigation begins tracking a winding course through the world of NASCAR racing, bio-terrorism, extremist militia groups, and prejudice.

This book delivered what I have come to expect from this series: not in the “been-there-done-that” sense but in terms of a good story with a complex and involved mystery that requires careful listening. The characters - well-developed, often familiar, and certainly intriguing – weren’t what drove the story for me. The central force that carries the reader forward is the mystery and I enjoy being able to rely on Ms. Reichs to consistently deliver a new and utterly engrossing puzzle within the expected mystery conventions of death, investigation, and the unmasking of a killer. Yes, there were some problematic parts of the story for me. I asked myself at least once what a forensic anthropologist was doing becoming so involved in the police investigation portion of a murder. There were a few points in the book where I raised an eyebrow at the level of coincidence in how various characters had ties to each other in both the past and present. Tempe’s repeated internal commentary on how the parts of a case remained just shy of cohesion in her brain until her big “ah ha!” moment is an overly familiar device from previous books. After drifting through my mind, though, those niggling complaints disappeared and I was pulled under by the narrative.

I found the pacing to be ideal, the scene descriptions gave me a strong sense of place that helped build my mental story board, and while I am not going to pretend that reading this series qualifies me as a forensic anthropologist, I’m quite certain I could play one on TV after absorbing the detailed forensic descriptions that pepper this series. They are very well done; clear and neither too abstruse nor too simplified. I always come away from a book in this series feeling a little smarter and vastly entertained.

My listening tastes, in terms of a narrator’s delivery, tend more toward the subtle than the dramatic so for the most part Linda Emond’s narration worked very well for me. I found Ms. Emonds’s voice to be quite pleasing and the various character voices easy to track. I expect that listeners who prefer a more robust performance might have some complaints since even I didn’t feel the level of urgency the plot suggested during the climactic scene. I haven’t experienced Linda Emond’s narration outside of this series and I’ll be interested to seek out some of her other work. She has created a unique “voice” for Temperance Brennan not just in tone but in what I hear as a specific speech pattern. That distinct cadence (which, if I was transcribing from the audio would cause me to add half-again as many commas as the text indicates) and the inflections perfectly convey Brennan’s droll one-liners and has come to be the voice of this character in my head, evicting the voice of my internal reader. It does, though, bleed over into the other character voices which in most audiobooks tends to diminish the level of character differentiation but worked for me in this first-person narrative that is sprinkled with mild Southern drawls.

A complex and engrossing mystery with narration that pulled me in - I would recommended this one for most listeners but only after sampling the narration.
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Jul 04, 2012 Jennifer Hooker rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, thriller

SPOILERS AHEAD:

Normally I like the Tempe Brennan books but it was either my lack of interest in NASCAR or my lack of surprise at the plot twist but I'm growing tired of Reichs' Bones series. After about the first five I could tell the general formula of the story and it became less and less exciting each time. Person A is murdered and Tempe either is called in on the case or stumbles upon it. She investigates Persons B-E and the especially mysterious but seemingly unrelated Person F. She catches...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: great-mysteries, hard-to-put-down-suspense

I love Kathy Reich's books. I really do not know why, but they just grab me. No wanting to offend or cause other Christian's a stumbling blog I have never put any on here. I have been back and forth what to do because I love the plots and as I said they grab me. I love Temp's. spunkiness and all the scenario's-but I do not like the bad language.( and it is minor)I do not like the "free sex" thinking and her twists of some things that spurn my values, but at the same time, I can hardly put her st...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Nadine Larter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Meh. Dunno what else to say. I still reckon GR needs to allow for half ratings because I would have given this one a 2.5 rather than a 3 but it wasn't written badly and I did manage to get to the end so a 2 is too extreme. I'm not sure why I didn't like this one. Maybe I just don't dig sports so the NASCAR backdrop was a bit blegh...except it wasn't. No. That wasn't it. There was a weird staccato style to the writing in this book which almost came across as a little mocking...almost like "Dude,...more

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May 16, 2013 Chuck rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dr. Temperance Brennan is at it again with her examination of bones and solving of crimes. This one takes place in Charlotte, NC at the time of the Coca Cola 600 NASCAR race. A body in a 35 gallon drum of asphalt is found in a land fill adjacent to the Charlotte Motor Speedway and it's game on. We are introduced to a cast of thousands as she and authorities wend their way through a maze of smoke and mirrors to an unpredictable solution.

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Jan 16, 2012 Kris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: from-the-library, read-the-50-states

Great book. I loved how it took place in one location rather than going between Canada and the US. That was a nice change. I enjoyed the NASCAR backdrop. Not just any NASCAR, but the Cola-Cola 600. While not a NASCAR junkie, I do live in South Carolina, so I know some things about it. It was nice that the Hall of Fame was discussed, as well as some other women drivers (not just Danica Patrick).

The book moved quickly, and with lots of turns and twists. I love that even the forensic, sciencey stuf...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have to mark these down...lol... I picked up some new words and phrases I'd like to use:
Pete asked Tempe to become friends with his fiancee, Summer so that she could talk to her about the wedding preparations that she was driving him mad about. Of course, Summer totally misinterprets Tempe when she said that Pete wasn't big on ceremonies, she goes back to Pete and:

p66: "I said, 'Petey, if this snideybutt attitude continues, I don't think things will work out between us.' " lol - snideybutt, my...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Virginia Travis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery-thriller, read-2011

After reading three lovely works of literature I was more than ready to dive into the latest Temperance Brennan mystery. I really do enjoy this series and have since reading the first book in 1998. I find Kathy Reichs' "bare bones" descriptions of things to suit me well. Flash and Bones was a very quick (a few hours) read, and, as usual, reaching her suspenseful chapter endings sent me directly to the next. Unlike the Temperance Brennan in the television series, the older Tempe in the books is n...more

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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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Flash and Bones (Temperance Brennan #14)

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