Title: Flash & Bones
Author: Kathy Reichs
Series: Temperance Brennan, #14
Narrator: Linda Emond
Published: August 2011, Simon & Schuster Audio
Length: 8 hours 33 minutes
Source: Library
Just as 200,000 fans
are pouring into town for Race Week, a body is found in a barrel of
asphalt next to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The next day, a NASCAR
crew member comes to Temperance Brennan’s office at the Mecklenburg
County Medical Examiner to share a devastating story. Twelve years
earlier, Wayne Gamble’s sister, Cindi, then a high school senior and
aspiring racer, disappeared along with her boyfriend, Cale Lovette.
Lovette kept company with a group of right-wing extremists known as the
Patriot Posse. Could the body be Cindi’s? Or Cale’s?At the time
of their disappearance, the FBI joined the investigation, only to
terminate it weeks later. Was there a cover-up? As Tempe juggles
multiple theories, the discovery of a strange, deadly substance in the
barrel alongside the body throws everything into question. Then an
employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention goes missing
during Race Week. Tempe can’t overlook the coincidence. Was this man
using his lab chemicals for murder? Or is the explanation even more
sinister? What other secrets lurk behind the festive veneer of Race
Week?A turbocharged story of secrets and murder unfolds in this,
the fourteenth thrilling novel in Reichs’s “cleverly plotted and
expertly maintained series” (“The New York Times Book Review”). With the
smash hit “Bones “about to enter its seventh season and in full
syndication–and her most recent novel, “Spider Bones, “an instant “New
York Times “bestseller–Kathy Reichs is at the top of her game.
***Short & Sweet Reviews are short, quick reviews. These will mainly be used for series books where I have already done full reviews on some of the earlier books or for books that I feel will suffice with a quick review. These will not be used for review requests or blog tours.
My thoughts: Being a Nascar fan, I really enjoyed this installment!!! I loved all the references to racing and the bits of history that Kathy Reichs included about the history of how racing came to be. For instance, she mentioned that 40% of Nascar fans are female, and I’m proud to say, I’m definitely part of this statistic! Of course, having Tempe based in Charlotte, N.C., it was only a matter of time that a storyline involved Nascar, and I thought it was a great case.
I also loved that Slidell was back…oh how I just love him!!! He’s so quirky and it’s always fun hearing about his interactions with Tempe. He hasn’t been around in a while and I do hope this isn’t the last of him!
Then there’s Summer, Tempe’s ex-husband, Pete’s new wife-to-be. What a trip she is! I love that Summer has found an ally in Tempe much to Tempe’s dismay, so much that she goes as far as asking Tempe to help her get Pete to see reason with the wedding plans…these scenes were so comical!!!
This has definitely been one of my favorite installments in the series but only because I am a Nascar fan. I could definitely see where if you don’t like Nascar, this one might not be up your alley.
Audio thoughts: I’ve been lucky to have found a set of audios that Linda Emond has narrated. It’s so strange that there are different versions with different narrators. But anyway – I am really enjoying listening to the same narrator narrate this series, especially as I catch up on this series.
My only complaint remains the same with this production – the tracks are really long so it’s hard to go back or switch from one place to another in the middle of a track – like move from car to house. I guess that’s the drawback when using CD’s as opposed to using audible or another program on my phone. Oh well, I manage, but I do prefer when the tracks are shorter, because there are times when I do want to re-listen to something, just because I’ve gotten distracted or I want to rehear something and with the longer tracks, I tend not to.
Books in this series:
- Deja Dead 14. Flash & Bones
- Death du Jour 15. Bones are Forever
- Deadly Decisions 15.5 Bones in Her Pocket
- Fatal Voyage 16. Bones of the Lost
- Grave Secrets 17. Bones Never Lie
- Bare Bones 17.5 Bones on Ice
- Monday Mourning 18. Speaking in Bones
- Cross Bones
- Break No Bones
- Bones to Ashes
- Devil Bones
- 206 Bones
- Spider Bones
