The Mystery Starts Here

I reserved Kathy Reichs latest novel, “Flash and Bone” at the library with some trepidation. Her last few books have not been up to par and she is obviously running out of plot ideas. I really disliked her last book, “Spider Bones” and vowed then never to read another Tempe Brennan book but I decided to try her one more time. Once again Tempe is working in Charlotte, South Carolina. I kind of miss the Montreal setting. That said I’ve got to tell you, this novel was worse than the last one!

For one thing, there is little forensic information in this book. When Reichs started the series, there was far too much forensic information. I remember skipping large sections of text because my eyes were glazing over – way too much detail. Over the course of the series, there has been less and less on bones and more on relationships. Ryan shows up in “Flash and Bone” briefly, and I’m glad. I’m sooooo tired of that relationship. Make up your minds, already! In this book, once again, Tempe finds a hottie and he’s attracted to her too. Come on…the woman has to be near 50 and is usually dirty and disheveled from grubbing in the dirt looking at body parts. How attractive can she be?

There are so many characters in the book that I never could keep them straight. And, two of the main characters were named Gamble and Galimore! Come on Kathy, that’s an amateur’s mistake. A lot of the dialogue is very unbelievable  and far too many of the characters talk in the same “voice” which just adds to the confusion.

What was the plot, you ask? Beats me. In the beginning a body is found stuffed in a barrel and covered with asphalt near the track during NASCAR race week. Besides all the NASCAR stuff, we have the FBI, CDC and I think the kitchen sink. Reichs does a lot of research for her books and unfortunately she puts ALL of it in the books! She actually had one of her characters say, and I paraphrase, “Most people don’t even know this but in…..!”  Basically Tempe is helping Skinny Slidell solve the mystery. Why? She is not a cop and has zero business running around questioning people! I was tempted several times to stop reading but I persisted. I finished and….I still am not sure what the book was about! It was confusing and boring and this time, I swear, I’ll never read another of Reichs’ books again. NEVER!

After a long layoff and months of struggling, Alice Humphries finally lands her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meat Packing District. According to Drew Campbell, the man who hires her, the gallery is the project of a wealthy, anonymous man who’s starting the project for his protégé/lover.

All of Alice’s friend think the opportunity is too good to be true, and in the back of her mind, Alice knows too knows something is off about the job. But she’s struggled for years to come out of the shadow of her famous director father, and she sees this as her chance to make good.

Everything is perfect until the morning Alice arrives at work to find the walls of the gallery stripped bare of everything but the dead body of Drew Campbell resting in a pool of blood in the middle of the floor. Suddenly Alice finds her dream job is gone, she’s the center of a police investigation and evidence is mounting against her.

This is an extremely interesting story that takes some time to unfold. There are several storylines that seem to have no connection but later begin to intersect. The characters are layered and it isn’t clear who can be trusted even to the end. Many are ethically challenged without any redeeming qualities but there are enough who are to keep you invested in the outcome. It’s a well-written story that kept my mind challenged throughout.

I admit I had a hard time getting into Long Gone because of the multiple story lines. I almost gave up put knew the disparate threads would come together eventually and they did. I was blow away at the intricate plotting and resolution. In my opinion, one of the treads was unnecessary and could easily have been dropped but it didn’t detract from the story.

Too many children of famous authors have been writing and getting their novels published – and most are not good. Fortunately Alafair Burke, daughter of writer James Lee Burke, can write and write well. I’ve read both her Ellie Hatcher and Samantha Kincaid series and enjoyed them both. That said I’m glad Ms. Burke has decided to break out with a standalone novel. Too many series become stale and repetitious after a few books. I look forward to reading her next book.