Type of bind: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 333
Printing Date: 2000-07
Publishing house: Scribner
Release Date: July 25, 2000
Sale Popularity Level: 318075
Studio: Scribner
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
'Fans of TV's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation should be in heaven' (People) stepping into the world of forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan, star of Kathy Reichs' electrifyingly authentic bestsellers.
When innocent blood is spilled, she deciphers the shattering truth it holds.
Nine-year-old Emily Anne Toussaint is fatally shot on a Montreal street. A North Carolina teenager disappears from her home, and parts of her skeleton are found hundreds of miles away. The shocking deaths propel Tempe Brennan from north to south, and deep into a shattering investigation inside the bizarre culture of outlaw motorcycle gangs -- where one misstep could bring disaster for herself or someone she loves.
Amazon.com Review:
Temperance Brennan is a forensic anthropologist with one of the longest commutes in fiction--from North Carolina to Montreal. She works in both places, and in this third outing (after Déjà Dead and Death du Jour) she manages to make a riveting (if a bit too coincidental) connection between a skull in Montreal and the partial skeleton of a teenager--dead since 1984--in North Carolina. Linking them is a 9-year-old girl shot on a Montreal street, the victim of a war among members of an outlaw motorcycle gang in eastern Canada. Another piece of the puzzle is provided by Tempe's visiting nephew, who is fascinated by the biker culture and is drawn into the mystery Tempe's trying to solve:
'Know anything about Slick?' asked Kit.
'He doesn't look like the pick of the litter.'
'Yeah, even from that motley litter.' He flipped the picture. 'Heck, this guy croaked when I was 3 years old.'
There were two more photos of Slick's funeral, both taken from a distance, one at the cemetery, the other on the church steps. Many of the mourners wore caps riding their eyebrows, and bandannas stretched to cover their mouths.
'The one you've got must be from a private collection.' I handed Kit the other pictures. 'I think these two are police surveillance photos. Seems the bereaved weren't anxious to show their faces.'
The science is as accurate as the author can make it. Kathy Reichs's own background--as forensic anthropologist for the chief medical officer of North Carolina and director of forensic anthropology for the province of Quebec--ensures verisimilitude of place and procedure and creates a believable milieu. Fans of Patricia Cornwall will enjoy this solidly written suspense thriller, while those of a less scientific bent, who don't mind a somewhat lagging pace, will skip the details and concentrate on Reichs's fluid writing. All readers will enjoy the way Tempe puts the pieces of the puzzle, as well as the bodies, together. --Jane Adams
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Rated by buyers 
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Loved this book. I am trying to read all of Kathy Reichs books. Each book gets better than the one before.
Rated by buyers 
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Maybe the thing I liked best about this book was the way, Temperance Brennan, the lead character, discovers that she may have been wrong about the way she was judging people and was able to admit it. Especially Quickwater and Claudel. The bulk of the story took place in Quebec so some of the French names were kind of annoying while I was trying to read. Why can't they have names like Buck or Hank? Also La Rue de whatever. What's wrong with a name like Maple Street? Anyway, there is a lot going on in this novel and at times I was confused by all the characters and how they were involved with each other. By the end, I guess I had it pretty well sorted out, but this is one book that I wish I had started taking notes about who the characters were as they appeared. This is the second novel by Kathy Reichs that I have completed, and again I'm saying that this one earned 4 stars. Very enjoyable with very believable characters. The plot with Kit and the Crease was kind of a stretch and the whole final resolution was also a bit hard to conceive, but Reichs does bring it all together and manages to tie up the loose ends. Well, most of them. The convenience of Andrew Ryan bothered me as he just happened to be in the right place at the right time twice, but hey, it's fiction not reality. Then there was the scene in the biker bar. For a heroine as smart as Temperance Brennan, that was one brain fade moment when she decided to go there. Cool scene though. The bottom line is that this is an enjoyable book with a good plot and one that will not disapoint the reader looking for a nice mystery/thriller.
Rated by buyers -
After reading seven Kathy Reichs' books in quick succession, I guess it was inevitable that I would find one not quite as good as the others. The problem with Deadly Decisions, the third Temperance Brennan mystery, is that it is just too formulaic.
Deadly Decisions opens in Montreal where a war is raging between outlawed motorcycle gangs. The bad part is that not only gang members are being murdered, but innocent victims are being caught in the crosshairs as well. Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist, vows to do what she can to bring the guilty to justice. But as always, it's at great personal risk to herself.
The problem with this book is that it's almost identical to Reichs' number two book, Death Du Jour. Instead of cults, Reichs deals with motorcycle gangs. Instead of her sister becoming a victim, this time it's her nephew, Kit. And there still is the unrealistic tie between crimes in Montreal and South Carolina. The one change is that there is an alarming subplot involving Brennan's growing love interest, Andrew Ryan.
However, Reichs is still a decent writer and there's much in Deadly Decisions to like. Although Brennan is a fictional character, when she speaks, you know that you're listening to Reichs. Both started in the archeology side of anthropology before switching to forensics. According to Brennan, the biker cases "had an urgency that ancient deaths did not. I could give a name to the nameless. I could provide a family with closure. I could contribute to law enforcement's efforts to reduce the slaughter on America's streets, and to identify and prosecute perpetrators. I'd shifted my professional focus...and never looked back." This is vintage Reichs.
After reading all that Reichs has written, I'm looking forward to Bones to Ashes, being released August 28th. I've already pre-ordered my copy from Amazon.
Rated by buyers 
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Because I've never read any of the other books in this series, I was often asea. There is so much continuity with other story lines that I doubt the author even recognizes anymore. She made an endeavor at pulling in some of the older storylines in, but it wasn't enough, because most of the characters are missing pieces that must have been defined elsewhere. Most of the low rating here is because I simply couldn't follow much of the back story. It made me lose interest.
The lead character is a smart chick - crossing jordan + 15 years or so, if you know what I mean. She gets walked all over by her loser nephew whom I wished to kick in the teeth several times. She also doesn't know how to deal with men - she lets herself feel intimidated by them all the time, which I found frustrating.
The story is not extremely strong, though the forensic science in the background is ok. For the most part, I believe this book can be skipped by those who are not fans of the series.
(*)>
Rated by buyers -
I have read several of Kathy Reichs Temperance Brennan books but Deadly Decisions, although certainly readable, may be the last. On the one hand, I admire anyone capable of writing a novel, no easy matter. But your characters and the situations in which they find themselves must be credible if a reader's attention, or at least mine, is to be held. As a 60 year old woman who works out regularly, rides, runs AND rides a motorcycle, albeit a small one, I greatly like the idea of a not young female protagonist who is active, enterprising and brave. But come on. Tempe's acts of heroism - and stupidity - like going alone into a bikers' bar to look for her nephew, and ignoring common sense and the orders of her police colleagues to rush under fire to save the same, stupid nephew, are just not convincing. And while it was clear from the start, at least to me, that Ryan's arrest on charges of drug trafficking were devised to allow him to go undercover, how likely is it that he mysteriously turns up twice (and then disappears again)to save her and the nephew's lives. Come on Kathy. Pay more attention, please.
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