Two Nights by Kathy Reichs

It doesn’t matter how experienced, famous or acclaimed an author is, it is always difficult to change genres or start a new series. Not difficult in a writing sense, but rather living up to the expectations of their readers or fans.

When you have a long running successful series, that’s without counting the legions of fans who watch the tv show based on the Temperance Brennan character, readers are eager to see or read about their favourite character on a regular basis. They are perhaps a little less eager to embrace an entirely new venture or main character.

I really enjoyed this new venture and can’t wait to read more about Sunday and Gus.

Kudos to Reichs for creating a main character with an airport carousel full of baggage. Sunday isn’t your standard candy floss and fluffy unicorn type of character. She has a past full of abuse, aggression and manipulation. On top of that she is a veteran suffering from PTSD.

Her whole life revolves around safety measures and paranoia. She is abrupt, short-tempered and doesn’t give two hoots about being politically correct or adhering to any kind of rules.

When she is hired by a grande dame of society she cares less about the money and more about the young girl in the midst of a dangerous group. This is actually where the story gets an added twist. The reader gets short glimpses of a young girl being held captive and abused. It is fair to say that everything is not exactly as it seems.

Two Nights, nice play on the names by the way, is an invigorating new series with a bolshy leading lady. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Sunday or her elusive brother. It has plenty of potential and it deals with some hard-hitting issues. I think Reichs should take a few more walks on the wild side and spread her literary tentacles into a few other ventures.

Buy Two Nights at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

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Read The Swamp Bones, Bones Never Lie,  Bones in her Pocket or Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs.

Read Exposure, Swipe or Code by Kathy and Brendan Reichs.

The Bone Collection by Kathy Reichs

One of things I enjoy most about stories written by Reichs is the way she combines fiction with fact. I feel as if I always come away knowing just a little bit more, especially with the short stories. Reichs often uses the shorter format to highlight, educate and inform her readers.

The Bone Collection is, as the title implies, a collection of four short stories. It includes Bones in her Pocket (15.5), The Swamp Bones (16.5), Bones on Ice (17.5) and First Bones (0.5). The numbers represent the reading order in the Temperance Brennan series.

I had read all but First Bones before, however I read the stories again, because they are always fascinating.

First Bones is actually a prequel to the very first Brennan story. It explains how she discovers her true calling and real passion. Crime calls her name softly and entices her towards the all consuming darkness of mysteries and murder.

Bones in her Pocket brings mystery to what should be a simple identification. Why are the remains of a young woman found with the skeletal remains of a small animal. This amateur killer has made the kind of mistakes an experienced killer wouldn’t have made.

The Swamp Bones is an excellent example of how Reichs incorporates important environmental issues into her stories, both short and full-length ones. Burmese Pythons play a pivotal part in this novella.

Bones on Ice is about the body of a young woman who died during a climb up Mount Everest. Reichs discovers that all is not what it seems with this case. She also gives readers an insight into just how dangerous the climb is and how many people have died during said climb. Their bodies lie unclaimed as a testament to how lethal Mount Everest can be.

Not everyone can turn a novella into a tiny novel or give readers the feeling that they have just read the equivalent of one on a smaller scale. It is something Reichs does very well.

Buy The Bone Collection at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Read The Swamp Bones, Bones Never Lie,  Bones in her Pocket or Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs.

Read Exposure, Swipe or Code by Kathy and Brendan Reichs.

Read Two Nights by Kathy Reichs.

Swamp Bones by Kathy Reichs

Swamp Bones is a straight to digital Temperance Brennan short story by Kathy Reichs.

The occasional interim novellas are a great way to whet the appetite for the release of future novels. In that respect the Brennan books by Kathy Reichs are no exception.

Swamp Bones is a quick delectable morsel of the crime series. For a novella length story it manages to pack quite a punch and a lot of interesting facts at the same time.

For instance the plague of Burmese pythons in Florida. The Burmese python has adapted to its new habitat and is thriving. It is responsible for the declining numbers of native mammals in the Everglades. They are an endangered species in their natural habitat, because of the decline in their numbers due to poaching.

Of course that makes the large number of them in the Everglades even more ironic. They have to be culled to keep the number local species in Florida from becoming extinct, and yet it is illegal to capture or kill them to use their skins.

People really should think twice about buying exotic pets, which  then outgrow the owners capabilities and houses, really quickly. They in turn think letting those pets free in the wild, and I say wild with the complete irony it deserves, is doing the animals a favour.

The crime is discovered by accident by Tempe Brennan, just a right person at the right moment in time kind of thing. Human bones where there aren’t supposed to be any at all. Not much, just a smidgen of bone and Tempe is wading through swamps to find the rest that should be attached to the smidgen. You sort of need a least a bit of a body to be able to find a cause of death.

It is an invigorating and witty read. Just enough to keep a reader going till the release of the next full length novel.

Buy Swamp Bones at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

At the end of this book readers get  a chance to read the first few chapters of the upcoming new Kathy Reichs novel Bones Never Lie.

Read The Bone Collection,  Bones Never Lie,  Bones in her Pocket or Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs.

Read Exposure, Swipe or Code by Kathy and Brendan Reichs.

Read Two Nights by Kathy Reichs.