Short & Sweet Review: Swamp Bones by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title:Swamp Bones

Author:Kathy Reichs

Series:Temperance Brennan, #16.5

Narrator:Katherine Borowitz

Published:August 2014, Penguin Random House Audio

Length:2 hours 54 minutes

Source:Library

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan returns in a chilling original short story from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs. In the prequel to Reichs’s upcoming thriller Bones Never Lie, Tempe takes a much-needed vacation—but murder follows wherever she goes.

Although a trip to Florida is supposed to be about rest and relaxation,
there’s no such thing as a day off for Dr. Temperance Brennan. She has
come to visit her friend, a dedicated ornithologist who’s researching
the threat that intrusive Burmese pythons pose to indigenous bird
species in the Everglades. While sorting through the stomach of an
eighteen-foot specimen, they make a disturbing discovery: bones that are
unmistakably human. And when Tempe spots the telltale signs of murder
by a very different kind of predator, she’s drawn into a case with its
roots in the darkest depths of the swamp.

***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:Again, as I‘ve often stated, I really do love this series…I absolutely love Tempe Brennan. She’s a force to be reckoned with to say the least and I love that when she’s on a case, she is like a dog with a bone – she will do whatever it takes to get that case solved, oftentimes putting herself in danger without thinking through the consequences. I also love that in every book I find I learn tidbits of information – whether it’s forensics-related or just general knowledge, but somehow tied to the case Tempe happens to be working on. In this book, we learn about the Everglades and pythons – remind me never to go poking around there!

This book takes place over the course of a few days and Tempe thought she was going on vacation to visit a friend. She ends up doing a non-human autopsy – never heard of that one, and it takes off from there! It’s a pretty quick moving, fast-paced story and filled with Tempe’s quick wit that we’ve all come to love.

This short story actually is a prequel to the next book, Bones Never Lie. While I’ve actually already read it, it’s been a while, so I think I am going to re-listen to it, and the two that come after (see list below), just so that I have the stories, and the character developement straight in my mind. I’m big on character development in series – to me, that’s the whole reason why you read series in order. This way, I am completely ready for the new book when it comes out, whenever that might be!

Audio thoughts:So this is the book where the narrator changes…I think from this point forward, Katherine Borowitz continues on with the narration. Oh well! Nothing against Katherine, as she does a good job with the narration, but I had gotten used to the previous narrator, Linda Emond doing all the voices, and like most people, I’m not big on change. But moving on…I thought Katherine did good with the voices – she brings her own perspective to the series and I‘m sure I will grow to enjoy it just the same.