Bones by Jan Burke

Bones by Jan Burke

Features
e-book (Adobe Reader)

Amazon.com
Nobody writes better than Jan Burke about the real world of print journalism, and that aspect of her latest Irene Kelly mystery is as strong as ever. The tensions of being the wife of a cop and continuing to work as a crime reporter in the Southern California desert city of Las Piernas have increased with each big story Irene covers: it's almost as though her associates are waiting for her to make some mistake, to fumble a story. When an edgy, rebellious teenage girl asks her to look for her missing mother, Irene crosses the path of a very dangerous serial killer--Nicholas Parrish. He is one of those totally anonymous but enormously gifted and resourceful villains found only in fiction. Parrish kills women who happen to look like Irene (and his abusive mother), and attracts devoted disciples to his grisly cause. Because of Irene's involvement, several more lives are damaged or endangered, and the strain takes its toll on the reporter's mental stability.

Burke is such a fine, realistic writer that she can tread her way carefully across territory already well covered by Patricia Cornwell, Jeffery Deaver, Hardcover edition.



Reader Reviews
This isn't a novel, this is two books in one..., May 23, 2003 Reviewer: ghiddyz2 from akron, ohio Man, this book was great. The ending left everything nice and open and...well then the novel continued for 200 vastly more boring pages. It's like two novels in one, only the first novel is interesting (if disjointed) and the second one is just unbelievably boring. And as usual, the GRAVE DENOUCEMENT at the end that explains it all and shows who the TRUE EVIL of the book is does nothing but make the reader feel cheated - as in you wonder why you even bothered reading the first 180 pages of the novel. Good book up until halfway through, when the second plot kicks in and everything just falls apart. I'd say give it a read as Irene Kelly is pretty interesting. It's a shame the first half of the novel couldn't have been longer and better written (with more emphasis on the killer and his assistant) and the second half could have just been left on the cutting room floor. Eh. Mildly recommended. Just stop after about halfway through to save yourself the dissapointments coming up. And keep a notebook handy so you can keep the plethora of supporting characters straight - too many characters doing too many things weighed this book down heavily.