Saturday, January 8, 2011

Virals by Kathy Reichs YP FIC REICHS

Tory Brennan, niece of famed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones TV series and novels), has just moved to a nearly uninhabited island to live with her father that she just found out existed. She passes her days exploring the islands wildlife with her newfound friends, fellow “sci-philes” that share her love of mystery and discovery. When they find and explore an abandoned lab they rescue a lab animal with a virus that has never been seen before. Soon the virus passes to the group altering their DNA and unlocking heightened senses and abilities that appear when they are in danger. And they certainly are in danger, because the first thing their senses lead them into is a mystery of murder and scientific corruption. They’ll need all their scientific know how and their new powers to crack the case and survive to tell about it.

This is a fast paced forensic science/mystery/paranormal adventure! And I never thought I’d see those genres get mixed together, but surprisingly they work well. Basically it is like Bones or CSI meets Maximum Ride. It can be a little weird to go from hard science to science fiction, but the powers are cool and once the plot gets really moving the action is so much fun most readers will enjoy the ride. The characters aren’t that original or deep, but no worse than the forensic science and sci-fi adventure books that Virals takes its inspirations from. Basically, the book is fun and there isn’t anything else exactly like it out there. Fans of Patterson’s Maximum Ride series should especially enjoy this one, and I think Virals could be an even better series in time.

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