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Bones

Bones

List Price: $7.50
Your Price: $6.75
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's Good, Make No Bones About It
Review: Irene Kelly, newspaper reporter, is invited on a search for the mountain grave of a woman killed by convicted sadist Nick Parrish. Surprising and unexpected events leads Kelly down a road of psychological torment and self doubt. She experiences survivor guilt and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress as she attempts to heal herself and avoid being found by Parrish and victimized in a more brutal and tortuous way. The story actually had two seperate climaxes both of which were realistic. There was enough well-modulated suspense to move the story at a brisk pace. The ending was a surprise but at the same time believable. The value of reading the book reviews of editors and the readers' comments at the Amazon website has once again been fruitful. Having seen titles by Jan Burke but never having read one of her books I decided to after seeing all the 5's put up by the readers. I can now add my 5 to the rest. In fact, this story was good enough to pique my interest and persuades me to read another Irene Kelly Mystery.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Edgar Winner
Review: I read and enjoyed two earlier works of Jan Burke, "Goodnight, Irene" and "Hocus." When I found Ms. Burke had captured the Edgar Best Novel Award, I was pleased for her and looking forward to reading the book.

The plotting is excellent, and the book gets off to a brisk start. She quickly and efficiently introduces her characters making them stick in our minds. There is a shattering incident in the first third of the book that for most authors would be the grand finale. My first thought was how was she going to top this? Unfortunately, she doesn't. The rest of the book is professionally done. The denouement is Hollywood-Special-Effects worthy, but we are not jarred as we were before. The tension level climaxed before the book was half over.

Irene is a likable, if jittery, protagonist, but she doesn't seem to be the same independent lady she was in "Goodnight, Irene" a few books ago. The strain of multiple homicides has almost done her in. While this is a likely scenario for a typical human being, we expect constant pluck from our serial heroines. She cries and trembles constantly. She has flashbacks that are harrowing, and some of this gets in the way of the story. I had sympathy for these normal, if repetitious, emotions. However, she rambles on about her "guilt" (for what, I could never figure out.) Also there is always a crowd around to "protect" her, therefore, every scene had to account for five or six people which made for confusing reading.

Nicholas Parrish, the mad serial killer, was an extremely campy over-the- top character who seemed left over from some old horror movie. Maybe we have had enough of "serial killers" for awhile. It could be we are jaded and unable to work ourselves up to a good scare.

I'll look forward to meeting Irene Kelly again-after she has fully recuperated.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful serial killer novel!
Review: This was the first book I have read by Jan Burke and I was very impressed! The first couple of hundred pages are fabulous and have many good twists and turns. The last couple of hundred pages are similar to other mystery/thrillers and are a very servicable conclusion to the story. Nick Parrish is a great killer and Burke does a great job at making him very scary. I really couldn't put this book down and read it in a couple of days. I am really looking forward to reading more of the Irene Kelly novels and seeing what else Jan Burke has in store.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Bones is Very suspenseful !
Review: I really enjoyed this Irene Kelly mystery. It is the first one I have read, but I intend to read some of the others. The plot is fast paced and has lots of twists and turns along the way. I had a very hard time putting this book down. Irene is a likeable and human heroine. Jan Burke is definately top notch in the thriller suspense category! I only have one complaint about the book. There were a lot of "word" mistakes. There were missing words, double words, and extra words in sentences. I found this to be distracting as I read. I think this could be remedied by a good proof-reader. Had this problem not been apparent throughout the book, I would have rated it with five stars.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Strong, well-plotted, with some surprising twists
Review: In this novel, intrepid reporter Irene Kelly is off on a camping trip into the mountains to dig up a body with a band of cops, forensic anthropologists, and an engaging cadaver-sniffing dog. Oh, and an evil captured serial killer, who has organized the excursion by promising to show where he put the body. Then they will all go back down the mountain and the killer will go off to prison; such is the plan, but it's possible there might be a glitch along the way.

Burke has come a long way from the first books in the Irene Kelly series. And so has Irene, for that matter. Kelly is becoming a much deeper and more intelligent heroine. She doesn't walk into stupid traps like she used to; her thought processes are better, and she does more deduction now. I enjoy picking holes in plots and finding fault, but I really don't have much to complain about here. This book has a lot of good action and suspense, the puzzles are not easy [I picked up the same clue Irene did, but that's because I'm good ;-) ], and Kelly seems to have more of a real conscious life now, rather than just a generator of metaphors and wisecracks.

It's a good read. If I decline to say it's a great book, it's partly because it's a little bit too formulaic, and it's an implausible formula. It's the omniscient serial killer again, very much like the omniscient serial killer in "Dear Irene", only more evil (but better crafted, I'll grant). How many omniscient serial killers would you expect to find around Las Piernas, California? The Amazon review says that Burke is realistically describing a reporter's life, which is a hoot and a half - how many print reporters have body parts left on their property about once a year? How many are repeatedly hunted by omniscient serial killers? It's particularly rough for Irene since the action in this novel apparently takes place only a couple years after her debut, so really the whole series has hit her much faster than it has hit us... You may think I'm being picky here, because hey, she's a reporter, there has to be an adventure, serial killers are exciting, so lighten up! But that's the difference between a good book and a great one: a great one solves the problems that are hard to solve. And they often put in something extra about life, more than you get here. If you compare this with Laurie King's "A Grave Talent", also about a serial killer vs. female heroine in California, you can maybe see what I mean. Hey, four stars from me is nothing to sneeze at.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect, If you Like This Kind of Book
Review: I have read the whole series and watched Ms. Burke's writing become stronger and more enticing. This one was almost a bit too much for me. People have said cruel things such as the only interesting character is a dog, too many characters, killer not developed, etc. I can't agree with any of that. This book is superb. Complex, compassionate, interesting, surprising, capitivating. I wanted to put it down because it was making me scared. This killer became too real and she went too far into his personality for my comfort, but the book was so good I couldn't stop. Yes, something startling happens in the beginning of the book, and I wonder what would happen next because there was so much book left. Burke gives us our money's worth to the VERY END, and it's a long book. My only complaint, is that she brought me a little too close to the motivations and pleasures of the killer for my comfort. Where did she learn to do that? Too much information for my enjoyment, but it's a talent I have to admire. I fear now she won't be able to go back. All of the books will be this scary. Yes, it did seem odd that Jan Burke would create such a perfect killer and then work the night shift in a dark, deserted building, but her Irene Kelly is an independent cuss. She deserves a break of good luck in the next book. My favorite one of the series was HOCUS. Burke matured from the earlier books, developed her characters, and her story line, and didn't scare the BEJESUS out of the reader the way she did with BONES. I hope she'll go back to the intelligent book that's not so scary. This killer really gets it though. Perfect punishment. Perfect book. Too perfect. :) I'm still scared.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT!!!
Review: This has been the best book in thriller/mystery that I have read. (and I read plenty...) I know many readers say they couldnt put the book down but, but its soo true, this book was amazing, it will keep you wondering about it, during and after you read it! I assure you that if you like mystery and thrillers, this will keep you at the edge of my seat the whole time!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bones by Jan Burke
Review: As a first-time reader of Jan Burke, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I got was an incredibly suspenseful story that was incredibly well-written.

Irene Kelly, a newspaper reporter, has been following the story of a missing woman, Julia Sayre, for four years. Julia's daughter repeatedly checks in with Irene to see if she's come up with any information on her mother's whereabouts. Then, Nick Parrish is caught after killing another woman. Parrish had been a neighbor at the time Julia Sayre went missing. He agrees to reveal the body's whereabouts if he is spared the death penalty, but not all is what it seems.

The book takes several twists and turns, never letting up on the suspense. Anyone that likes a suspenseful story won't be able to put this book down. The action never stops. This book is a great book to read if you're looking for an exciting read with lots of twists and turns. I'd highly recommend it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This isn't a novel, this is two books in one...
Review: Man, this book was great. The ending left everything nice and open and...well then the novel continued for 200 vastly more boring pages. It's like two novels in one, only the first novel is interesting (if disjointed) and the second one is just unbelievably boring. And as usual, the GRAVE DENOUCEMENT at the end that explains it all and shows who the TRUE EVIL of the book is does nothing but make the reader feel cheated - as in you wonder why you even bothered reading the first 180 pages of the novel.

Good book up until halfway through, when the second plot kicks in and everything just falls apart. I'd say give it a read as Irene Kelly is pretty interesting. It's a shame the first half of the novel couldn't have been longer and better written (with more emphasis on the killer and his assistant) and the second half could have just been left on the cutting room floor.

Eh. Mildly recommended. Just stop after about halfway through to save yourself the dissapointments coming up. And keep a notebook handy so you can keep the plethora of supporting characters straight - too many characters doing too many things weighed this book down heavily.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A creepy good story with lots of twists and characters.
Review: Being a fan of Jeffery Deaver and Patricia Cornwell, this book was recommended to me by a fellow reader. I had read Burke's "Flight" last year and quite enjoyed it, but found "Bones" a very different kind of story. "Flight" was more of a human interest story with a mystery thrown in, whereas "Bones" definitely enters Deaver "grisly and creepy serial killer book" territory.

Burke's ongoing character Irene Kelly, a feisty journalist, is part of a team of mostly cops and forensic specialists going on a mountain trek with a serial killer to find the body of a victim he says he buried there. Thus begins a harrowing, tragic and creepy cat-and-mouse game that will keep you reading (and maybe even keep you awake) until the end.

I guess my only criticism would be that the book is packed with such an enormous cast of characters that it is sometimes difficult to keep them straight (this is more in the first half, though). Fortunately, the later part of the story focuses most of its attention on 4 or 5 of them so it's easier to follow.

The book's villain is not one you're likely to forget soon!


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