Rating: 
Summary: A tedious, rambling and unfocused novel.
Review: "Bare Bones" is the new novel by Kathy Reichs and it is number six in the Temperance Brennan series. Dr. Tempe Brennan is a forensic anthropologist and part-time sleuth whose knowledge of human and animal remains helps her solve difficult cases. This time around, Tempe becomes embroiled in a complicated investigation that includes a possible infanticide, illegal trafficking in endangered species and drug running. As a sidebar, Tempe's romance with Andrew Ryan, the hunky Canadian detective whom she has coveted in the past, is finally heating up. Tempe is as nervous as a schoolgirl about the future of this relationship. On every level, "Bare Bones" is unsuccessful. The cast of characters is lengthy and confusing, and the plot meanders along pointlessly throughout much of the book. It took perseverance for me to wade through this tedious novel, and by the time I got to the end, I was well beyond caring who did what to whom. To make matters worse, Reichs's dialogue is too often preachy or cutesy. She also has an unfortunate habit of overusing italics and exclamation points to indicate that Tempe is stressed out or in danger. I recommend that you skip "Bare Bones," since it is far less entertaining than the previous five novels in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Obnoxious Tempe
Review: Although I have enjoyed the plots and the science in Ms. Reich's storys, I find Temperance Brennan to be a very unpleasant character. She is rude, impatient,condescending and demanding. She is also a terrible mother, giving her daughter scraps of her time after she has done what she wants to do in terms of her career and her romances. I find myself wondering if Ms Reichs has modeled her character after herself. In her ego inflated world the main character can be as obnoxious as she wants to be, yet she is still highly respected by her colleagues and sought after by a very eligibly man who apparently could have any woman he wants. I don't see this as being likely in real life.
Please Ms. Reichs make Tempe more likeable, give her some manners and some patience and understanding with her fellow man. After all she is supposed to be so compassionate and caring about those who have died, how about a little of that compassion for the living.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting story, annoying writing
Review: An interesting story with an environmental message (didn't want to give too much away). BUT ...
The writing was really annoying.
Too many paragraphs.
You know, that trick of putting almost every sentence in a new paragraph.
Every sentence.
To give it the illusion of movement, dynamism, action.
Or just make your books seem bigger.
Either of which are annoying possibilities.
Roger Zelazny, now he could pull it off.
He was a master.
But in this book, it's just horribly annoying.
Too bad.
Because, as I said, there's some interesting subject matter.
If one too many lucky coincidences.
Anyway.
Just glad I finished it, done with that cheap writing style.
Rating: 
Summary: poignant , intense..........revealing
Review: Bare Bones is an eerie tale. Tempe Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who is frequently called upon to help piece the clues of a crime together. She is summoned this time when a plane crash produces odd remains. As the evidence is gathered and several events seem tied together, Tempe receives threats on her life and that is when she knows that something mysterious has yet to be revealed. Kathy Reichs tells a story that is both poignant and intense, revealing facts that lead to a strange "black market" that is rarely discussed.
Rating:
Summary: Bring Back the Old Temperance!
Review: Bring Back the Old Temperance! The sixth in Dr. Kathy Reichs' wonderful Temperance Brennan series is a good story, but like "Grave Secrets," Reichs has found a new tone, and it's driving me crazy. The mystery is still engaging, even though, in this outing, it's a bit confusing as there are many evil perps. But Temperance is still herself, a brilliant forensic anthropologist (like Dr. Reichs herself). And her love interest, whose romantic fate in Temperance's life was left very much up in the air in the last book, is satisfyingly back in her life (I won't say who so as not to spoil the surprise for readers). BUT...the aforementioned new tone, about which I complained in the last book, is now in hyperdrive. It consists of a fast-paced series of pulp fiction groaners that had me, by the middle of the book, ready to throw it into a wall. Examples: "I felt trapped, stuck in town like a moth on a pest strip." "Nice, eh? Kinda Green Acres Gone Trailer Park." Or...when referring to a man he cannot find, a cop associate of Temperance says, "I'm thinking about setting up a séance with his dead granny." Or..."To say she looked tense would be like saying Enron's accountants did some rounding up." And my favorite (NOT)..."I sat motionless, like a hunting trophy that's been stuffed and mounted." Dr. Brennan: stop! Yes, you were sometimes boring with your chapter-long lectures on the anthropology of bones. Yes, Temperance was sometimes too serious. But this is just awful, and not worthy of your very brilliant self. It got so I was tensely waiting for the next groaner (no more than a page away, usually) and forgetting the plot. Still, I liked the book and recommend it, although not with my usual enthusiasm for Reichs' work. I look forward to a slightly more temperate Temperance in the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Finally! Tempe gets some lovin'
Review: But I want more! I have read almost all the Tempe Brennan novels now, and kept reading them to see if she would hook up with a hunk of burnin' love. Well now she has (& I won't say who), but I want more than a piddly paragraph or two. Then again , Kathy probably has enough to do with her real life not to have to worry about the main character's love life.
Rating:
Summary: A Bit Boring
Review: Forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan investigates when a newborn's bones are found in a woodstove, there's a Cessna crash, and bones are found in a remote area. I was a bit bored with this one, but it was interesting to learn about Klinefelter's Syndrome. (B)
Rating:
Summary: One of her best!
Review: I love Tempe Brennan and the fact that she's never in just one place, that she has complex relationships both with her family, friends and at work. Unlike Kay Scarpetta, Tempe seems more reachable; you know more about her. She's not a super woman, she just a really smart person doing her job and living her life as we all do (although we certainly don't all have the same career!) And that knowledge expands and goes in different directions with each book. And now she's got a man in her life, and you see and feel the emotions as they work a case, and as she takes greater risks. Nifty book, great to curl around on a snowy winter eve! Can't wait to read her next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating Suspenseful Mystery
Review: In her sixth Temperance Brennan novel, art once again imitates life as Kathy Reichs writes about forensic anthropologist Brennan, who, like Reichs, is employed in North Carolina and Quebec. When Tempe goes to a picnic near Charlotte, North Carolina with her college-aged daughter Katy, Boyd, Tempe's estranged husband's dog, digs up skeletal remains. With the discovery of human bones amidst bear remains, Tempe's anticipated vacation with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, comes to a sudden halt. With the beach trip on the back burner, Ryan joins Tempe, as she investigates the burned remains of the baby belonging to a drug dealer's girlfriend, a fiery plane crash, and more bear and human remains in a latrine pit near Boyd's initial skeletal discovery. While the various investigative sites seem unrelated, Tempe's intuition tells her that they are all somehow connected, as she comes across a complex weave of drug trafficking and illegal exporting of animal parts. Ms. Reichs' technical knowledge of forensic anthropology adds fascinating information to this novel chock full of murder, mystery, and a dash of romance. With so many twist and turns and death threats against Tempe, this novel is a sure winner with fans who want a no-holds barred suspenseful mystery.
Rating:
Summary: A gritty, gruesome read; but worth the grit.
Review: Long a Kathy Reichs fan, I found that Bare Bones delivers what her faithful readers expect.....lots of gruesome details, well developed characters, and a story line that keeps the reader's interest without insulting our intelligence. In a time of authors that don't know how to edit down their works, Kathy Reichs is a refreshing change. She puts in front of the reader only facts that are relevant to the story....that add to the story. In Bare Bones we find Temperance Brennan working hard to identify the remains of an incinerated infant. Before she can leave for her vacation she is called in to assist in the investigation of a plane crash near Charlotte. Never faced with a boring or mundane existence, Tempe manages to answer all the questions and tie up all the loose ends. What a breathtaking read. If you want a book to keep you interested on these hot summer days and you have a cool place to camp while you're reading, then Bare Bones is a book you won't want to miss.
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