Product Description

It's the second-to-last day of archaeological field school. Dr. Temperance Brennan's students are working on a site of prehistoric graves on Dewees, a barrier island north of Charleston, South Carolina, when a decomposing body is uncovered in a shallow grave off a lonely beach...The skeleton is articulated, the bone fresh and the vertebrae still connected by soft-tissue; the remains are encased in rotted fabric and topped by wisps of pale, blond hair - a recent burial, and a case Tempe must take. Dental remains and skeletal gender and race indicators suggest that the deceased is a middle-aged white male - but who was he? Why was he buried in a clandestine grave? And what does the unusual vertical hairline fracture of the sixth cervical vertebrae signify? While Tempe is trying to piece together the evidence, her personal life is thrown into turmoil. When a bullet - intended, perhaps, for her - puts Tempe's estranged husband Pete in hospital, her unexpectedly emotional response complicates her on-off relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan...But before long, another body is discovered - and Tempe finds herself drawn deeper into a shocking and chilling investigation, set to challenge her entire view of humanity. ..

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5046 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
It must be harder and harder for Kathy Reichs to keep each new novel as forceful and dramatic as the one before--not that delicate effects (which are not Reichs’ thing!) are particularly easy, but there is a danger in a certain fatigue setting in for the reader when an author puts them so comprehensively through the ringer with each novel as Reichs does. Break No Bones is proof positive that the author still knows how to cannily ring the changes on theme of her earlier work--this one is every bit as unsettling as Bare Bones or Grave Secrets, but the path Reichs takes to our pulse rate is somewhat different.

Dr Temperance Brennan is working with her students at an archaeological field school on an Island near Charleston , South Carolina. A decomposing corpse is discovered in a shallow grave, showing evidence (connected vertebra, etc.,) that the body has not been dead for long. While engaged in this mystery, Tempe’s own life encounters real havoc when a bullet, possibly meant for her, hospitalises her estranged husband Peter; and her new relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan is in trouble. But, as so often before, cracking a mystery may cost her her life.

All of this is handled with the assurance that we have come to expect from Reichs, but there are new things here: Reichs' sense of structure has always been strongly linear, but the extra looseness of the narrative pays dividends in disorienting the reader. Set pieces, too, are more integrated, though with all the usual capacity to raise hairs on the back of the neck. When so many authors are repeating themselves to ever-diminishing effect, it’s good to see Reichs is clearly not content to rest on her laurels.

--Barry Forshaw

From the Publisher
The latest gripping thriller from world-class forensic anthropologist, Kathy Reichs, bestselling author of Monday Mourning and Cross Bones

From the Inside Flap
It’s the second-to-last day of archaeological field school. Dr Temperance Brennan’s students are working on a site of prehistoric graves on Dewees, a barrier island north of Charleston, South Carolina, when a decomposing body is uncovered in a shallow grave off a lonely beach…

The skeleton is articulated, the bone fresh and the vertebrae still connected by soft-tissue; the remains are encased in rotted fabric and topped by wisps of pale, blond hair – a recent burial, and a case Tempe must take.

Dental remains and skeletal gender and race indicators suggest that the deceased is a middle-aged white male – but who was he? Why was he buried in a clandestine grave? And what does the unusual fracture of the sixth cervical vertebrae signify?

While Tempe is trying to piece together the evidence, her personal life is thrown into turmoil. When a bullet – intended, perhaps, for her – puts Tempe’s estranged husband Pete in hospital, her unexpectedly emotional response complicates her relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan…

But before long, another body is discovered – and Tempe finds herself drawn deeper into a shocking and chilling investigation, set to challenge her entire view of humanity…

Customer Reviews

Great story, but suffered some difficulty with the language
Once you get behind the strongly American version of English and the Reichs style of short-sentenced rhetoric, there is a good story lurking in this book.

Normally, I can understand those small differences between English English and American English, but there were just too many times, whilst reading this book, that I just had no idea what was meant!

The narrative is also littered with three-letter acronyms, some explained, some not; and unfamiliar words that don't appear in my version of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Eventually, I became lazy, giving up on trying to reference these words and approximating my understanding based on the context.

The story is based on the interesting similarities between the injuries sustained at the moments of death of a couple of corpses found in Southern California and is littered with descriptions of the incompetent and arrogant people that Dr Temperence Brennan encounters during her investigations.

I almost gave up half way through, but I am unable to leave anything in my life unfinished. I'm happy that I didn't submit to that temptation, as the ending makes it all worthwhile, and the language does mellow a little in the last few chapters.

I would have been happier if somebody had recommended that I await the English translation before embarking on this read, and that is exactly what I would recommend to any prospective British readers.

However, don't take my word for it. Walk into a bookshop, pick up a copy, open it anywhere and read two or three pages. If you can go with the language and style, buy it because you are sure to enjoy the story. Otherwise, replace it on the shelf in the hope that it will be re-published in your own native tongue someday soon.

Wonder what changed
I have loved every Kathy Reichs book that I have read. With this book it has taken me a lot lot longer than normal to read, Kathy seems to have slowed the pace in this book and hence the constant heart rate whilst reading has slowed (any Kathy fan will know what I mean) I have really struggled to stay with the plot and at times had to force myself to read on but I await the next thrilling book and hope for a little more pace in the next one.

A return to form for Reichs
I've read all of Kathy Reich's books, and was very disappointed by Cross Bones, Temperance Brennan's last outing. So I was thrilled to see that Break No Bones had really returned to the form which I have come to expect from Reichs. The story is well thought out and has some surprising elements by the end, the writing is slick, with snappy dialogue and Temperance Brennan's life has gotten no less complicated over the past year. Unfortunately for me, I've now read the book and will have to wait a year til the next one - I feel a revisit of the book shelf is in order!

The premise of this story is that Brennan unearths a body that shouldn't be there during an archaeology field school, tied in with this is the discovery of another body and the investigation of a Church-run free clinic by Brennan's estranged husband. Not only does Brennan have difficulties living in the same house with Pete (said estranged husband), but she also has to deal with her relationship with a jealous Mountie - your favourite and mine, Andrew Ryan. The only criticism I have of this novel is the ambiguity of the ending, there is no real closure with this book, but then I guess that's why I'm excited about the next one!