Fabulous Reads: No thrill in Temperance Brennan novel
I HAVE to be brutally honest. For the 21st installment of the Temperance Brennan series, this book was surprisingly bad.
For those who have never come across this series, Brennan, or Tempe, as she is affectionately known, is a forensic anthropologist who assists investigations where the remains are severely decomposed or degraded.
Following a slow crime season during the winter months in North Carolina, Tempe's life unravels into chaos after a mysterious package containing a human eyeball is delivered to her door. When the bodies start piling up, and the case becomes personal, Tempe notices a pattern in the murders – they all resemble old cases she's worked on.
Someone seems to be targeting her, and then her daughter, who has just returned from the war in Afghanistan with PTSD, goes MIA.
This is where the book takes a turn for me. Tempe is supposed to be smart, but from the very first chapter, makes reckless and questionable decisions – including running into dangerous situations without backup and not reporting her daughter as missing.
What's more, she was also slow to follow the evidence. Even when it was glaringly obvious.
Because the story felt contrived and unbelievable, it took away the shine of Tempe's snarky and sassy character, as well as the blunt yet endearing squabbles between her and detective Erskine 'Skinny' Slidell (who is retired but assisting with the odd cold case).
I also did not enjoy the writing style. It was primarily dialogue-driven and felt choppy and difficult to follow at times. The author also presented the evidence – the murders and how they were similar to the old cases – several times.
Let's not even mention the amount of unnecessary information…
The identity of the suspect became clear early on, and yet, their motive could have been stronger and better developed.
I am sorry to say, if you are a Temperance Brennan fan, I would highly advise you to skip this edition. Mariclair Smit – 2/5 stars
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
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