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Deadly Decisions

Deadly Decisions

List Price: $25.00
Your Price: $16.50
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 .. 9 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Enjoyable read but too many motor clubs
Review: Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan gets involved in the killings that occur when rivalling motor gangs start killing each other's members in Montreal in order to get hold of the profitable drug trade in the city. She uses all her forensic skills to determine who the victims are and who killed them. Meanwhile her 19 year old nephew Kit is staying at her place and his obsession with Harley Davidsons gets him in contact with some of the most dangerous figures of the gangs.

The descriptions of the forensic work are revealing and realistic, which is no wonder when one considers that Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist herself. However, the descriptions of all the rivalling motorclubs and their connections are tedious and every now and then I lost track who was a member of which motor club and which motor club had a feud with which other motor club.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: My First Reich
Review: I picked this up on the cheap and am I glad! I love Reich's writing style - so much more mature than the other writers' "female " characters. Tempe Brennan did miss a bunch of really obvious clues, but I love the writing. She wasn't a weakling woman character. Very enjoyable! I went out and bought two more Reichs novels.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: TOO MANY COINCIDENCES
Review: This third entry in the Temperance Brennan series is oddly the weakest. Too much is put into the different biker gangs; it's hard to keep up with who's who...and then all their "spinoffs" and "underlings" only complicates it more.
Again, it's hard to swallow the coincidence that people in Charlotte, North Carolina often end up in Montreal!! I know it's done to keep Brennan active in both areas, but it's getting harder and harder to swallow how these things happen.
And once again, another family member--this time, her nephew, Kit---gets caught up in the ensuing melee.
In reading other reviews, I tend to agree with some of the points they made, including Tempe's inability to see that Jocelyn Dion is more than just a temp; why does she go into the biker bar alone, knowing what she's going to find; and of course, with Andrew Ryan's bizarre appearance, we find out or assume that he's undercover; where did THAT come from? Also, Isabella her friend, is merely a copy of Tempe's sister, Harry, both flighty and rather eccentric characters.
At least, her cat's back and survived the last book.
Don't get me wrong, though; Reichs is a good writer, and despite the flaws in this book, it remains a good, if somewhat, predictable read. The forensic knowledge is fascinating, although I agree the blood spatter explanation was overwrought. And how about giving us some respite on the continuing feud of Claudel and Tempe? Obviously, they are going to be at disagreement, but does it have to be so nasty all the time?
In spite of this, folks
STILL RECOMMEND.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Boring Decision
Review: Kathy Reichs's first two books were fast paced, interesting (if somewhat formulaic) additions to the mystery genre. "Deadly Decisions," on the other hand, really puts the pulp (i.e. mush) in "pulp fiction." It's a badly written, dull, all-over-the-place mess. The dialogue is laughable, particularly that of the main character's nephew. Perhaps I just don't find bikers interesting. Or perhaps Reichs simply isn't a good enough writer to make them so. In any event, I wouldn't bother.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I Love Kathy Reichs
Review: Read all of Kathy Reichs' books! "Deadly Decisions" is another exciting book from Ms. Reichs. What makes her writing more interesting is Ms. Reichs is a real life forensic anthropologist (hope I spelled it correctly); I wonder if her stores are based on real cases.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Too much research, too little novel
Review: Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan is back on the third book of Kathy Reich's series. She is working with the Canadian police in a task force identifying motorcycle members bodies involved in a big gang war in Quebec. During the course of her work, she recovers the bodies of two bikers who have been missing for over ten years. While digging them up she discover the leg bones and skull of an unidentified young girl. The only clue Tempe has is an implant found in the girl's skull.

Once the girl's identity has been established Tempe discovers that the girl's other bones were found in South Carolina. How did a missing girl from South Carolina wind up in Quebec? Where was she killed? Tempe will learn the truth in the death of this girl and learn about a moment of hubris by the main bad guy in this book. Naturally, this book would not be anything if Dr. Brennan's life was not threatened. You can be sure it does.

It is clear that the author spent a lot of time and research in writing this book. There is more information on blood spatter techniques, motorcycles, and biker gang hierarchy to intimidate the amateur. She uses a lot of her forensic anthropology expertise with her alter ego, Dr. Brennan. There are several cases that the doctor works on that come together in a moment of serendipity. It is too much to let the reader rely on coincidence and leaps of logic in order to enjoy Ms. Reichs's novels.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Make a decision to read this book
Review: Kathy Reichs just keeps getting better. With each book, Reichs finds her rhythm quicker and more smoothly than the last. Her characters become more believable and readable. The situations her characters find themselves in, at times require a suspension of disbelief, but don't let that keep you from this book.

In Reichs' third book in the Tempe Brennen series, our heroine has to find her way through a quagmire of bikers and body parts, and across borders to solve the case. She'll go from rural North Carolina to the hectic streets of Montreal and from bones to blood spatter before she figures out if a link exists between a murdered 9 year-old from Quebec and a slain North Carolina teen.

While comparisons to Cornwell's Scarpetta are certainly bound to come up, Reichs writes differently than Cornwell. Her detail is greater, her science can be more intricate, and her prose richer than that of Cornwell. If you like Cornwell's often fast paced style, you may find Reichs' tendency to drag out the scene unnecessary and tedious. However, if you enjoy the nitty gritty of medical information (sometimes not for the fainter of heart), Reichs can, and does, deliver a good quality read.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Worth pursuing
Review: I've just discovered Reichs, and have read the first three novels, of which Deadly Decisions is the third. Contrary to some other reviewers, I enjoy the forensic and scientific detail. After all, that what Reichs has to offer that is special, if not unique (given how Cornwell has staked out this area for years). However, Reichs seems to be developing a couple of habits which are getting old fast. One of them is that Tempe Brennan has a hysterical fit, in which she's really obnoxious, toward the end of each novel so far, where she does some really stupid things and endangers herself and often others. And even more annoying, in all three someone very close to her winds up in mortal danger. Please. There has to be some other kind of dramatic ending other than Will her daughter, sister, best friend, nephew die?

Reich's writing is improving and I am hoping that the stories will strengthen as well, so I plan to keep reading them, at least for a while. If you enjoy a fast-paced crime novel, the Tempe Brennan series is worth following.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Attack of the (Scarpetta) Clones
Review: Here's a fun informative, and highly entertaining addition to the Tempe Brennan series. Unlike its immediate predecessor, Deadly Decisions delivers a comprehensible (although intricate) plot involving biker wars and body parts.

...grim, determined female medical examiners (with alcohol problems and promiscious, unreliable sisters); gruff, unsympathetic detective side-kicks; traitorous lovers; family members and/or close friends as victims...the list goes on and on. That said, I genuinely enjoy ... Reichs, because [her] formulas work and [her] books deliver. I read them not for the writing ..., nor for the characters. The plots and forensic information do it for me.

In sum, this is the best addition yet to the Brennan series, and I look forward to more exhilirating entries from Kathy Reichs.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, but too complicated
Review: THis, actually, is an incredibly good book, with an excellent plot and some really great characters.

However, it is spoilt by the fact that you need to read it about three times before youa actually get your head around all the things which have happened, who did what, when, why, etc etc. Its just so complicated and complex.

Her insights into forensic detail are, as always, excellent and interesting, adding authenticity to the book.

Tempe is a very likeable, less driven and a bit more human than Scarpetta, possibly (i am a devoted Cornwell fan, by the way. She's my favourite author.) Her relationship with Ryan stalls somewhat in this book, (for reasons which are obvious once you read it) and that really is all it feels like. a staller. just something to draw the development of their relationship out so she can make it go on for a bit more books. In essence, this is actually a very good idea. There are many authors who write books with series cahracters, but they develop their characters well in the first couple of books, but leave nothing to work with in later novels, so the characters turn into stagnant card-board cut-outs, with no interest or anything new to add to them (James Patterson, i am talking to YOU!) Develop your characters too much too early on, it becomes a major problem later. (Jeffery Deaver is another excellent author who seems to have realised this problem, and is therefore developing his characters relationships very slowly) these devices can be frustrating for readers who want relationships to develop quickly, but i assure you, they are better in the long run.

Anyway, ive gone off point.

Reich's writing is sharp and interesting, her plotting is also good, but has a tendency to be too complex. (Death du Jour suffered from it too, but i got through that one much more easily.) Her characters are great, her settings also.

She packs real emotion into her books. Real feeling, Real compassion, and at times they can incredibly sad. (I am thinking now of the young girl slain by biker in this very book, the plane crash in Fatal Voyage, and the genocides in the forthcoming Grave Secrets.)

Basically, she is definitely worth a read, but this book is quite complicated, and you do have to concentrate incredibly hard to understand all the whys and wherefores of the plot. (Have no fear, though, Fatal Voyage, her next book, is completely free of this problem.)


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