Cross Bones: A Novel

Written by Kathy Reichs

Narrated by Michele Pawk

As fresh and shocking as today’s headlines, a “chilling” (People) Temperance Brennan novel in which a harrowing excavation unearths a terrible tragedy never laid to rest—from New York Times bestselling author and world-class forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs.

They are “the disappeared,” twenty-three massacre victims buried in a well in the Guatemalan village of Chupan Ya two decades ago. Leading a team of experts on a meticulous, heartbreaking dig, Tempe Brennan pieces together the violence of the past. But a fresh wave of terror begins when the horrific sounds of a fatal attack on two colleagues come in on a blood-chilling satellite call. Teaming up with Special Crimes Investigator Bartolome Galiano and Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe quickly becomes enmeshed in the cases of four privileged young women who have vanished from Guatemala City—and finds herself caught in deadly territory where power, money, greed, and science converge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jun 28, 2005
• ISBN: 9780743551618

Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reichs’s first novel Déjà Dead, published in 1997, won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel and was an international bestseller. Fire and Bones is Reichs’s twenty-third novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Reichs was also a producer of Fox Television’s longest running scripted drama, Bones, which was based on her work and her novels. One of very few forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, Reichs divides her time between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. Visit her at KathyReichs.com or follow her on Twitter @KathyReichs, Instagram @KathyReichs, or Facebook @KathyReichsBooks. 

Reviews for Cross Bones

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is most certainly the weakest of Kathy Reichs' books I've read. I really didn't care for this one much. The plot revolves around an ancient Biblical mystery and was very reminiscent of The Da Vinci Code. The murder that takes place at the beginning of the book was almost an afterthought. The first 200 pages dwelt on Biblical history and the religious political intrigue of some ancient bones of which fanatical Christians, fanatical Jews or fanatical Muslims all had their own reasons to either hide or make known the truth. Around page 200, we were returned to the original murder and the case picked up and became more of what I expected from a Kathy Reichs book but I must say the forensic aspect was kept to a bare minimal. I usually enjoy the tense suspense of Temperance Brennan novels but this one was seriously lacking in that department.

[anniik_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mysteries are not my favorite genre by far, but I had been watching "Bones" on TV, and since I liked it so much I decided to give the series it was based on a shot. I thought I was grabbing the first one at the library, but apparently I grabbed the eighth one. Oops. Read it anyway.

First I must say that the TV show is very loosely based on the books. At least from what I've read. At least in this book. And I like the TV show much better. That said, as mysteries go, this one actually kept me more interested than many. And it was well written and easy to read. I might actually read another one. We'll see. All in all, a good read, for a mystery.

[randall6hansen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I mostly love the way Kathy Reichs writes -- because she always comes at it from a scientific background, though mixed with personality, drama, humor. This novel was a bit crazier than usual because it is not set in N.C. or Montreal (the two places where the main character does her work), but in Israel... and it makes the story a bit hard to follow at times. The books can also get a bit soapy with the main character's love life, but overall, an enjoyable (and always educational) read.

[amandanan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars. Reichs delves into the Holy Land, head first, with some pretty interesting facts, then builds a story around it. My first attempt at reading this was held up by all the facts and religious history. The second try only took me 2 days.

[tvnerd95 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not my favorite. I didn't find the supporting characters likeable and just couldn't get interested in the case.

[thebacklistbook · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was looking for more pages. I still don't know how Masada Max was. I might have to take my frustrations out by writing something about him.

I am always thrilled by Kathy Reichs work. I have been a fan since I discovered Bones was based on her books. her writing style is scientifically accurate and manages not to make me feel talked down to.

I really hope that some day the truth of Masada Max may be known. I also understand it if it never is. Some things are too sacred.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My first "Bones" book. While I liked Temperence and her tongue in cheek comments, I felt that the book dragged on too long.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this book, Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist in North Carolina and Quebec, is working at her job in Montreal. The badly decomposed body of an Orthodox Jewish man, Avram Ferris, was found in his warehouse near Mirabel airport. Dr. Brennan is called in on the autopsy because of her expertise with skeletal remains. After her contribution was made to the autopsy she encounters a man in the corridor who hands her a photograph and tells her the skeleton in the photograph is the reason Ferris was killed. Brennan's lover, cop Andrew Ryan, is investigating the murder so Tempe shares this information with him. She has enough archeological experience to recognize that the photograph shows a skeleton from Israel, probably from the time of Jesus Christ. A colleague of hers from North Carolina is on his way to a dig in Israel so he stops in Montreal to look at the picture. He gets very excited about it believing it to be from a cave at Masada, the site of a pitched battle between Jewish defenders and the Romans. He leaves for Israel promising to look for more information. Meanwhile Tempe orders carbon 14 dating and DNA testing. The results of the carbon 14 dating prove conclusively that the skeleton is from the first century. Meanwhile Ryan has determined that the man who gave Tempe the picture may be the murderer and he has fled to Israel. So, both Brennan and Ryan travel to Israel with Brennan carrying the skeleton to return it to its rightful home. Once there they engage in more investigation on the murder front and the archeological front. The twists and turns are reminiscent of the Da Vinci Code in that if the archeological information is corroborated it would turn modern Christianity on its head. I'm not a fan of DVC but I liked this book a lot. As usual with Reichs' books there is explanation of scientific processes like carbon 14 dating and mitochrodial DNA testing but even non-scientific nerds should enjoy it.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good mystery. It leaves a lot of big questions unanswered.

[bauernfeind · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another good read - pleasant not a strain to keep together and at the same time I like that particular time frame 1940/50s

[bookconcierge · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Audio book narrated by Michele Pawk
2.5***

Dr Tempe Brennan, forensic anthropologist, returns in her 8th outing. This time she stumbles upon a potentially explosive find with international implications when she’s called to consult on a putrefied corpse found in a warehouse closet. As she follows the many conflicting clues, she ultimately goes to Israel, where she travels with a bag of seemingly ancient bones, possibly stolen decades earlier from an archeological dig.

What I like about Brennan is that she is smart and feisty. What I like about Reichs’s mysteries is that she includes a fair amount of forensic detail based on her own work as a forensic anthropologist. What drives me crazy is that Tempe almost always winds up behaving in a borderline stupid / careless manner. This outing is no different. She runs into situations without being fully prepared (Who goes into a cave without a powerful flashlight with new batteries?), and without considering the potential consequences. (Would YOU enter a place that had obviously been ransacked … and in the dark, to boot?) While Brennan definitely seems to have every intention of getting herself out of the messes she gets herself into, Reichs also frequently happens to write in a convenient male to save her. Still, Reichs crafts a good story that is compelling, moves quickly, and holds my attention. And Pawk does a fine job narrating.

So why only 2.5 stars? This one seems to be blatantly riding the coattails of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code; it was published two years after Brown’s blockbuster. Without giving too much away, think of Mary Magdalene.

[olegalca · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love the entire Temperence Brennan series but this book was especially appealing because of the trip to Israel and the implications a bone-find might have on Christianity.

[amymyoung_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not her best work by far.

[sammii507 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mysteries are not my favorite genre by far, but I had been watching "Bones" on TV, and since I liked it so much I decided to give the series it was based on a shot. I thought I was grabbing the first one at the library, but apparently I grabbed the eighth one. Oops. Read it anyway.

First I must say that the TV show is very loosely based on the books. At least from what I've read. At least in this book. And I like the TV show much better. That said, as mysteries go, this one actually kept me more interested than many. And it was well written and easy to read. I might actually read another one. We'll see. All in all, a good read, for a mystery.

[askum_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I didn't like this book and found it hard to get into it, not to sure why because I have liked some of the other ones by Kathy Reichs.

[kaulsu · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

At a book swap, a friend thrust this book into my hands saying I would love it. Wrong. I like the _idea_ of the Temperance Brennan novels, but they never hold me. I always enjoy pieces of them, but the whole package is generally too tedious.This book deals with the --once again-- what if Jesus did not die on the cross? What if he had siblings? What if he had married?The one bright spot was a coherent discussion of mitochondrial DNA.

[ldvoorberg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this one, though sometimes the connections between the characters got lost on me (that's one problem with listening instead of reading, you can't go back over a section as easily). The questioning of Jesus' life and family also intrigued me only because of a course I took in the Spring where we discussed the Incarnation. From a faith perspective I couldn't accept it, but intellectually/academically it was provoking.

[bellamiaow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was really disappointed when I realized where the plot was going - Christ's bones? Come on, Reichs. But she did a very good job with the plot, giving the reader plenty of intrigue without ever getting into any mystical nonsense. I found the references to The Da Vinci Code highly amusing (there may have been some that I missed, but I haven't read the book, and I was only half-way paying attention when I saw the movie).

[clicksclan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Really couldn't remember much of this (except the bit with the jackal in the cave). Made me want to read it more. :)Suspect it was kind of playing off the success of The Da Vinci Code.Prefer reading about Tempe's criminal cases, rather than archaeological ones.Interesting to read how it came about and the degree of truth in it.A little confusing in places.

[hobreads · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Could stand to be about 100 pages shorter. Competent writing, richly described locales, but just felt like it was padded for space. Eventually I gave up on it more than 5/6ths through. Back to Lee Child and Tess Gerritsen instead.

[jlouise77_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I didnt like this book. I like the story, but I found it incredibly difficult to understand. It was overly technical and really jumped around. Turns out that the "mystery" is never solved, which I do not like in an ending. You read the whole book wanting to know what exactly everything meant and there was no resolution other than the whodunit. It also had a weird jokey tone to the book, which I found to be weird and out of place. Also, there was one major "coincedence" in the book that I just couldnt buy into. I thought the IDEA behind the book was interesting, but didnt like the way it was implemented.

[jeanned_14 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Juvenile diaglog, flat characterization, and poor plotting sum up this murder mystery. The book follows forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan and her ever-so-dreamy romantic and professional partner from Montreal to Israel. They are on the hunt for both a murder suspect and the identity of a set of 1st-century skeletal remains discovered at Masada. In this latter mystery, Reichs rather unsuccessfully explores the clash between religious foundations and scientific discovery. It's been years since I read an installment of the Temperance Brennan novels, and perhaps I've become spoiled by my enjoyment of the the TV series Bones. I rate this book at 3 out of 10 stars.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is not the kind of book I usually read, but my Mom gave it to me. I haven't read any other of this series.I thought it was a good story and found the concept of finding Jesus's bones intriguing. However, the plot was rather complicated at times. And, as with most detective novels, I found the dialogue a bit superficial. So, interesting enough to finish, but I won't be actively seeking more of the series.

[voracious_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tempe and Ryan find themselves working together again while in the course of investigating an alleged suicide. The are lead to a 2,000 year skeleton, which others have believed were the bones of Jesus. Tempe & Ryan fly to Isreal to investigate leads and end up in the middle of a case involving unknown enemies of various conservative religious sects and political agencies. I thought this was not one of Kathy Reichs' best Tempe novels because the story was too conplex, there were too many players and enemies with foreign names, and it tended to drone on through long passages of hypothesizing. However, the chemistry and wit between Tempe and Ryan was fun and faster than I remembered from previous novels. The concept of the possibility of uncovering the bones of Jesus was also an interesting twist for this series.

[seldombites · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book had an OK storyline, but I found the writing style annoying. I was also unhappy with the ending, which was wrapped up too quickly for my taste. It felt to me as though the author just got sick of writing and decided to finish the book, so she had the main character explain how it all worked out. An OK read but not a masterpiece.

[heidijane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book starts off in Canada, but takes forensic anthropologust Tempe Brennan on a whirwind tour through the Holy Land in the search of the truth about an unnamed skeleton...Normally, I tend to avoid books that are compared with other favourite authors or books, particularly ones that say "better than so-and-so". Mainly, because I am cynical of hype and suspect I will be disappointed. Also because I'm probably quite contrary and don't like being told what I "should" like.So I have managed to get through life thus far without touching Kathy Reichs, mainly due to the comparisons with Patricia Cornwell, whose early books I absolutely adored but whose later ones left me somewhat cold. However, I decided that this was my chance and that the time had come to venture into Kathy Reichs' world, and wow! What a great ride it was! OK, OK, the plot may end up being a little far-fetched, but it certainly swept me along quite merrily with it and has encouraged me to seek out some more of her books for the future.

[phyllis2779 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting book. Mystery was good but the surrounding stroy and material was excellent. Fascinating information about early Israel, early Christianity, etc. Lead character is very intriguing. Not at all like the Bones on TV. Older, less conflicted, not as cool, a mother and ex-wife. I will read other books in this series as opportunities present.

[alera_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kathy Reich's novels never fail to make me either learn or want to learn something. And I think, out of all the 'crime-solving' genre novels there are, it is why they continue to be some of my favorites. Cross Bones is no exception. Plunged into the middle east on with a 'Davinci Code' like mystery, instead of dwelling there, the current crimes are solved and the past is left to interpretation. In a day and age thirsting for knowledge, I appreciate that even in fictional form all answers aren't always given. I firmly believe there are some things that it might simply be better not to know, no matter how much you want to.

[riverwillow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read some mixed reviews of this book, but I have to say that I rather enjoyed it, but I can see why some found it hard going. The conspiracy theory at the heart of the novel is complex, based in truth so very interesting and once you get a handle on the different ancient skeletons and where they were discovered works very well.

[whimsicalkitten · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I love this tv series but have disliked any of Kathy Reich's books that I've picked up.