I do enjoy a good crime novel! Especially when they're free (thanks Goodreads!)I had never read anything by Kathy Reichs before, and I haven't ever really watched that show Bones before so I do think that parts of this book fell flat for me when maybe it might not have had I had a bit more background.
Bones Are Forever follows Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist working out of Montreal. The book opens with Temperance at a crime scene where the body of a baby has just been found under a bathroom sink. Not the most pleasant of subject matter, that's for sure. The book moves from Montreal, to Edmonton and on to Yellowknife which oddly enough gave the book an exotic feel. Odd because I am Canadian and have traveled through much of Canada. Anyway...
One of the things I enjoyed about this book was that it wasn't too out there. I have read a lot of crime novels that read like a really, really bad action movie. If a plot is SO ridiculous that even my twisted imagination can't find a way to make it work, you have problems (cough Jonathan Kellerman cough). While Bones Are Forever isn't as flashy as a lot of novels, it plans out the twists and turns fairly well. The ending didn't knock my socks off but I felt it was well developed and didn't leave any loose ends.
Unfortunately, I did feel that the relationships fell a little flat for me. I do think that there is a good reason for that as I have never read anything by this author before. I have missed out on character development and back stories that are obviously in her other books and would have added a lot of depth to this one. Nothing was missing so badly that I couldn't enjoy the story, I just didn't really feel much emotion between the characters. Even Temperance comes off a bit cold.
All in all I enjoyed Bones Are Forever. I would definitely pick up another novel by Kathy Reichs and I think if anyone is craving a solid crime novel, this book would be a great one to try. I enjoy strong female characters, I enjoy novels set in Canada and I enjoyed Temperance as a character even if I didn't LOVE her. She was interesting, likable and determined without being a huge pain in the ass.
