The Bone Hacker

I'm rather new to the Tempe Brennan series and have only read the first and the twenty-first books - Deja Dead and Cold, Cold Bones. Yeah, I skipped a whole lot but thankfully this is a series you can jump in and out of. 

What I love about this series: Tempe as the smart and sassy main character, the humour that is woven into the dialogue, the beautiful Montreal setting and the secondary cast. There's a change in venue this time as our favourite forensic anthropologist finds herself in the Turks and Caicos Islands at the request of local law enforcement who need her help to solve a few suspicious deaths. 

As usual, I enjoyed learning about the science behind investigations, but in this book, Tempe is on her own and I've determined that Tempe is a more interesting protagonist when she has her secondary characters (boyfriend Ryan, daughter Katy, and American Detective Skinny Slidell) around her. But Reichs maintains good tension with awesome mini plot twists at the end of chapters and I always love seeing (even just for a bit in this book) bits of Quebecois culture and locations in Montreal (one of my favourite cities). But after twenty-one books, I appreciate that Reichs was trying to shake things up with a new tropical locale.

This was a good addition to the series, but it wasn't my favourite book. The story soon became overly complicated and convoluted as more and more victims and minor plots were added. There's just too much going on and not enough of what I've come to love about the series - the secondary characters. That said, I look forward to reading more books - new and backlist - of this series and may eventually watch the popular TV show (Bones) that was based off this series.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for the advanced copy of this book which was given in exchange for my honest review. 

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Kathy Reichs

Genre: Suspense

Series: #22 in the Tempe Brennan series

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

First Published: August 1, 2023

Book Description from GoodReads: #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her twenty-second high-stakes thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who, following a series of bizarre disappearances on the islands of Turks and Caicos, enters a sinister labyrinth in which a new technology may wreak worldwide havoc.

Called in to examine what is left of a person thought to have been struck by lightning, Tempe traces an unusual tattoo to its source and is soon embroiled in a much larger case. Young men—tourists—have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos. Seven years earlier, the first victim was found in a strange location with his left hand hacked off; subsequently, two other visitors vanished without a trace. But, recently, tantalizing leads have emerged and only Tempe can unravel them.

Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common—other than the odd places where their bodies turn up, and the fact that none seems likely to have been involved in criminal activity. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands’ seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn’t so sure. Disturbingly, she discovers evidence that what’s at stake may actually have global significance.

It isn’t long before the sound of a ticking clock grows menacingly loud. Then Tempe herself becomes a target.