I am glad that I was not the only one that found the book confusing. I found the relationship between the identities of the bodies to be forced and unbelievable. I am also tired that her relationship with Ryan is never resolved but just keeps spinning around from novel to novel. Tempe's daughter's relationship with Coop is never properly explained, we don't find out what he left her and we don't know what he was really doing on all those trips oversees. Is this a foreshadowing for her next novel??

Yeah, I really think this novel fails on all counts. And that takes a lot for me to admit because once a series gets it's hooks into me, I am *very* loyal.

Reichs published another novel almost immediately following this one that supposedly centered on just Tempe's daughter. It is classified as 'young adult' fiction. Since I don't even like the character of the daughter, I am in no hurry to read this but maybe it does tie up some of the loose ends you mentioned.

I found this book predictable. I knew the answer well before the middle of the book. I didn't find it confusing at all. At least this one was better than 206 Bones.

Have to agree, this wasn't one of her better efforts and the car chase scene was most definitely forced.

Mallyns wrote: "I found this book predictable. I knew the answer well before the middle of the book. I didn't find it confusing at all. At least this one was better than 206 Bones."

I guess because all I care about anymore is seeing Tempe and Ryan get together for good, I liked '206 Bones.' I really dug that final rescue scene. "Hang on, buttercup..."

FYI - the novel that Richard refers to is not about Tempes daughter but her niece, the child of her sister, I think. Reichs co-wrote this with her son and his more youthful perspective has freshened up her writing, in my humble opinion. Although aimed at young adults, the prose still has enough maturity to appeal to adults

Since I accidentally stumbled upon "Death du Jour" (series #2) two months back, I have been trying to catch up. Have not read #1, but have finished #3 through #12 in order.

At one point I feared what a lot of reviewers said, that Kathy Reichs seemed to be determined to write Ryan out of the story (I admit sometimes I was too restless to proceed and couldn't continue WITHOUT checking some reviews)--but one thing became clear after all these books. The fact that Ryan has been the only guy that Brennan is seriously attracted to; the fact that they work in a way perfectly together in solving and fighting crimes; the fact that Ryan has saved Brennan in many occasions...

I think it is somehow a good strategy to create some distance between them once in a while; if they remain a couple all the time, the luster goes away, like what happened with Kay Scarpetta and Benton Wesley in Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series.

I keep telling myself, as long as Kathy Reichs doesn't kill Ryan (oh please don't) or transfer him somewhere far away from Montreal, the Brennan/Ryan tie will always be there. Then i am grateful.

That said, each time that tie got (temporarily) severed, I like many others became really upset. Hope that some day when the series finally ends (if it ever does), Brennan and Ryan will have their happy ever after.

Agree 100% about Kay and Benton; they may be the most boring literary couple I've ever encountered.

I also agree that good writers can maintain a couple's attraction to each other and an interesting chemistry over a long period of time like, say, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone and Cheney Phillips or John Sandford's Kidd and LuEllen.

But my complaint with Brennan and Ryan's long term relationship is how Reichs "resets" everything at the start of every book. Nothing that ever happens means anything after that book is over. Her characters never grow or change and it all remains so stagnant for so long that eventually, the entire fictional world and everyone in it feels shallow and meaningless. Just like a bad TV show where none of the characters' actions ever have any consequences...

Too bad Kay Scarpetta and Benton Wesley started out as such a hot couple! But i am still following Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series (i think my very recent book is "The Scarpetta Factor")... When Patricia Cornwell first killed Benton Wesley, it was so painful...what i didn't realize is it is even more painful now!

My other "small" complaint is that Kathy Reichs is trying very hard to establish that Ryan is an excellent detective, but since Brennan is the main character, she gets to take all the detecting credits. She is always the one that connects the dots! Always! What does that make Ryan (and all the other detectives)? i mean, who cares about the other detectives, but i think Kathy Reichs needs to let Ryan shine (other than saving Brennan's heiny all the time).

i kind of agree with you on the "resetting" part, but it happened only in the books after Ryan's reconnection with Lily's mother, which is officially the first break-up between Brennan and Ryan. We all know that the climax took place in #6 (Bare Bones, the one with the poachers), and then in #7 (Monday Mourning) Kathy Reichs managed to add some tension by adding a "prom queen" Lily to the picture. The relationship improved between Brennan and Ryan after that, just like a honeymoon phase--but in #8 (the one they went to Israel together) and #9 (the one where there was organ-stealing) it turned a bit dull. Don't get me wrong, i LOVE Brennan and Ryan together--as a matter of fact, they are the reason i will follow the Brennan series to the end.

By the way, i also began reading Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles series. The development between Maura Isles and Father Brophy is worth reading!

This is a great discussion but I should warn about SPOILERS in my comments here.

Because I have read the whole Scarpetta series, I have so many opinions on the subject but for now, I'll just say that I think Cornwell is a masterful talent and that she's created some of the most realistic three-dimensional characters I've ever encountered. I love her and except for "Port Mortuary" being kind of a misfire, I think her last five-ish books are among her best and are really getting the series back on track. Besides "Scarpetta Factor," "Scarpetta" and "Red Mist" were also very good.

I really respect your knowledge of the Bones books. I read all of those a while ago and by now, my memory is very hazy about what happened when. I do remember that my faves were:

1) When they thought they may have discovered Jesus' bones.
2) When Tempe was searching for her long disappeared childhood girlfriend.
3) And I liked the one where Tempe was buried alive and the whole story is told mostly in flashback. I think that was "206 Bones" and I really liked the ending of that but this is a good example of my problem with the Reich Reset. Ryan saves her ("Hold on, Buttercup."), the book ends with them holding hands in the hospital and then in the next book, it's like nothing happened.

I love those two together as much as you but I feel like at this point, it's all just a tease.

I have Gerritsen's "Girl Missing" here but never read it. Is that part of the Rizzoli and Isles series?

Ha, thanks for the reminder, i definitely will read Scarpetta #18 (Port Mortuary) and #19 (Red Mist), maybe after i finish the rest of the Brennan series. i really miss the heart-thumping suspense in the first few Scarpetta series, especially when Patricia Cornwell described in detail the crime scenes and the serial killings. Not that i enjoyed the gory much; it's just excellent suspense! i had to leave the lights on before i went to bed, and even when i did, i still had trouble falling asleep!

i agree with you that Patricia Cornwell's characters are realistic, but i also feel that Benton Wesley is now becoming sort of annoying (!)...is there any "new" chemistry between Scarpetta and Wesley in "Port Mortuary" and "Red Mist"? Okay, don't answer that question...

Other than that, i also had a similar question about Wesley--he used to be one of the best profilers at FBI, but each time he did the profiling, it was always sexually-motivated, while in the central park jogger case it was not (or was it?). Didn't that make Wesley incompetent?

i just thought perhaps Patricia Cornwell could let Wesley share some of the insights/credits with Scarpetta, and i feel the same way about Brennan and Ryan. Well, maybe not entirely the same, because Wesley never got to save Scarpetta until "The Scarpetta Factor" (by shooting the killer with a rifle gun?), but Ryan came to Brennan's rescue a million times. (Besides, Ryan has been so nice and patient with Brennan!)

i read the Bones series from #2 through #12 during the past few weeks, and i made mental notes for myself where the Tempe/Ryan relationship climbs and falls (how sick was that!). i guess it's because i did that in such a short time, i had the impression that Kathy Reichs did the one-and-off thing intentionally, not to kill the relationship but to keep it from dying. By the way, why was Charlie the lawyer referred to as the "new love interest"? Brennan didn't seem to be attracted to him at all.

Thanks for mentioning the "Hold on, Buttercup" line and the hand-holding scene at the hospital (yes that was "206 Bones," the one i just finished)--which must have given many of us high hopes! Of course this has happened several times in the past, but don't you feel that after several hits of this, those of us who root for Brennan/Ryan get rewarded...which is what i am counting on with the new release. In "206 Bones" Ryan managed to sneak "You know I'm yours if you want me" into a casual conversation with Brennan, but she brushed it off right away. It makes some sense to me that Brennan was once bitten twice shy, but c'mon, Ryan was the one whose heart got broken when Brennan appeared to be devastated at the fact that her ex-husband got shot. You broke his heart first! (i digress) Hey...a crazy thought, how about letting Ryan gets a few bullets? It's been a while since that happened!

A side note...it's interesting that, in the last few books, Brennan does not think about Ryan as much when she works in the south (where she's got other things to tend to), but she has a tendency to do so when she is back in Montreal.

i just looked it up, "Girl Missing" seems to be a stand-alone book. i still have a lot to catch up in terms of the Rizzoli/Isles series, but it appears that the Isles/Father Brophy sub-plot begins in "The Sinner" (and continues in "Body Double," "Vanish," "The Mephisto Club," these i have finished). i am looking forward to reading the next few books:
http://www.goodreads.com/series/41620...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It's so nice to be able to talk about what we read!

I'll write again soon but regarding Cornwell's early books, I just want to say one thing: the French Werewolf was awesome.

And LOL at you charting the rise and fall of Tempe and Ryan; did you use Power Point for that:)

Haha, i charted the rise and fall in my mental Excel spreadsheet, and drew it out on paper!

i am half-way through "Spider Bones" (the one in Hawaii), and am liking it so far...

It may be a little while before I can get to them but I got a whole bunch of Rizzoli/Isles books for the Kindle.

Also got Maddow's "Drift."

Talk soon:)