Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs

Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs

2011, Scribner

Series: Book 14 of Temperance Brennan

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Rating

Synopsis: 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?

The Good: When you get into the double digits of books in a series, what is left to say? The same things I loved in the previous books, I loved here. Tempe continues to be amazing. The mystery was tightly constructed, kept me guessing and I found the resolution completely satisfying. The secondary characters continue to entertain me while keeping Tempe from getting too comfortable, especially Pete and Summer this time around.

The Bad: While I adore this series, I just could not care about the whole NASCAR Race Week angle. Which was a shame, because I tend to favor the Brennan books set in the US.