Rating: 
Summary: Not Cornwell, thank Heavens
Review: Comparing Kathy Reichs to Cornwell is like comparing real roses to plastic ones; it doesn't do Reichs any favors with those of us who find Cornwell's books tedious, cartoonish, and stupid. No question, Reichs is getting better. Complaints about "intricate plotting" hint at that. Here, she weaves together four disappearances that appear to be related, and an apparently unrelated murder, then resolves all the strands quickly with only one convenient accident. And the last four sentences of the book made me laugh out loud. Some fun.Reichs' forensics are rock solid and fascinating. More to the point, her characters are not cardboard grotesques, and her heroine's values extend beyond the brandname of her stemware. There is none of Cornwell's thinly veiled contempt for people who don't covet Jaguars. The appearance of Tempe Brennan in a Guatemalan village was a bit of a shock, but within a few pages, it makes sense and, for its humanizing and realistic focus on one person trying to make a difference in a real political tragedy, it is a major attraction of the book. Brennan isn't out to save the world from face-peeling supervillains; she's slogging in a septic tank to protect real people from real evil. Can't wait for more.
Rating: 
Summary: Not her best effort!
Review: Dr. Tempe Brennan helps identify remains of villagers in Guatemala that "have been disappeared" in the early 1980's. Friends of hers get shot on the very first pages and she is called to consult on the deaths of recently missing young women. The massacre and the deaths of the young woman seem to lead to a serial killer and even the Canadian ambassador to Gustemala seems to be involved. Brass first makes Tempe consult, then obstructs investigations (bodies get confiscated or are being cremated after a very short period of time). As usual forensics is gruesomely, nail-bitingly wrapped up but I couldn't have cared less about the lenghty explanations regarding the Guatemaltecan judiciary system. As Ryan put it: "Give me the five minutes version", which she unfortunately did not. Relations and connections between several people in this book seem a bit far-fetched to me, political enmeshment a tad too piled on for the sake of the story (okay, okay...one wouldn't have been possible without the other).The Guatemaltecan cop investigating the deaths of the young women happens to be a college buddy of Andrew Ryan, now isn't that a convenient thread to get Ryan involved in the story (apart from having amorous interests in him)? Naturally she encounters dangerous situations in this book, but I still wonder how that Diet Coke could have been tampered with (and while we are at it: where did she get Victoria's Secret lingerie from all of a sudden? Does she wear that when excavating victims of a massacre? Or does G-City happen to have a Victoria's Secret Store???). She even seems to keep her short temper under control, more or less. Why is that? Different climate? Due to being sick? Go ahead and read this book, if you have read the previous novels, but don't start with this book as the first one in the series, because you won't read the others then. I hope that Keithy Reichs brings back the real Dr. Temperance Brennan in her next book and that she won't digress into lengthy unnerving explanations on political systems again. This book is definitely not a competition for one of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta books by Patrcia Cornwell Daniels.
Rating:
Summary: grisly politics, fine forensic anthropology
Review: In her fifth outing, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who ordinarily divides her professional time between Montreal and North Carolina, is in Guatemala excavating a 1982 massacre site. As the book opens, two of her co-workers have been ambushed; one is dead, the other is in a coma. Authorities are calling it a robbery but Tempe knows their work is dangerous - many of those responsible for "disappeareds" are still in power. Then Tempe's work is interrupted by a request to recover a girl's decomposed body found in a seedy motel septic tank. Four teenage girls - one of them the Canadian ambassador's daughter - are missing and Detective Bartolomé Galiano fears a serial killer. The plot lines cross and re-cross. Tempe's new investigation is disrupted by a sinister official who confiscates the body. Parental secrets and the vagaries of teenage behavior complicate matters and the demands of the massacre site are heavy. Meanwhile Tempe's conflicted relationship with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan takes another hit from her growing attraction to Galiano. Intricate, finely detailed scenes of forensic examination (particularly the septic tank recovery and study of skeleton detail) fuel the story, counterbalancing Tempe's sometimes mystifying penchant for thin-skinned irritability. The plot is almost confusingly complex, but Reichs (herself a forensic anthropologist) wraps it up nicely leaving a little teaser for her next book.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: It probably would have been a good story had they picked someone better to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful, thrilling book!
Review: Kathy Reichs is fast becoming one of my very favorite authors and this book is no exception. Usually her main character, Tempe Brennan, a forensic anthropologist, stays in the USA or in Canada within each book, but this time she is in Guatemala in a village called Chupan Ya, where a terrible incident happened in 1982. Soldiers invaded the village, raping the women, then killing them and the children there. Although this was a well-known incident, no records were kept and Tempe joins up with the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation to uncover the graves and recover the bones of the dead. Things get off to a bang when the team is packing up for the day and get a satellite phone call from two of their colleagues, who are driving towards the city. While talking, Tempe hears other voices, screams, shots, then nothing. The man is dead, but the woman is rushed to the hospital and goes into a coma. Dealing with this is bad enough, then Tempe is asked by the Guatemalan police to help with a case they've been working on - four well-to-do young women have mysteriously vanished from Guatemala City in recent months and none of their bodies have been found, nor have any of them turned up alive. One of the woman is the daughter of the Canadian ambassador, which is why Tempe thinks she's been asked to help. But it's the discovery of a body in a septic tank that is the real reason - Tempe had worked on a case before involving a body found in a septic tank. She reluctantly agrees to assist and finds some cat hairs and fetal bones in the tank among a young woman's remains. For whatever reason, she tucks some of the cat hair and fetal bones in her pocket and it's a good thing she did, because the remains are suddenly whisked away from further investigation Frustrated, but not about to give up, Tempe sends the hair off to a colleague who knows cat hairs, asks questions of the families of the missing young women and begins to realize there just might be a connection to the Chupan Ya massacre and these current disappearances. Plus, the ambush of her colleagues in the car may not have been meant for them, but for her instead. There are plenty of twists and turns in this book, and Katherine Borowitz, who has read almost all of Kathy Reich's other books, does an outstanding job of putting you right in the middle of this must-read (or must-hear) thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Another Winner
Review: Kathy Reichs' Dr. Temperance Brennan (Tempe) is one of the more complicated main mystery characters being written today. She is a combination of strength (in this book she must spend a day digging around in a septic tank) and emotional caring that makes for an interesting person that is not cookie-cutter like so many of today's 'sleuths.' The mystery begins with Tempe working in a remote Guatemalan village uncovering long buried victims of a junta's attack. She is then dragged, somewhat unwillingly, into investigating the disappearance of four young women in Guatemala City, leading to complications in which the government is involved. The action moves from Guatemala to Canada and back again. There is romance involved, as well, as she begins to be attracted to the Guatemalan detective with whom she is working (he is also an old friend of Tempe's sometime boyfriend Andrew Ryan which provides further drama). I enjoyed this book as I have all of Reichs mysteries. One thing did stick out in my mind though as I was reading: several times Tempe is complaining (which she has toned down since her first book appearance) about being constantly surronded by death. I could not help but think, "Well, that is your chosen profession. Sure it must be disheartening at times but if it is creating that much travail, change jobs." I guess my feeling was a throwback to that first book in which Tempe came across as somewhat whiny. That aside, I will definitely be reading the next books in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Kathy will have you Gagging for More
Review: Tempe is in Guatemala to help identify some of the bodies of the disappeared, a result of the civil war. The bodies were found in a mass grave. On the way to the site two other forensic scientists are attacked and one dies. Is Tempe on the list? Not long after her arrival the local police seek her help in the disappearance of four girls, one the daughter of the Canadian Ambassador. Ah, the Canadian connection, a vehicle to get old flame, Montreal cop Ryan into the story, only it doesn't seem contrived, it works actually. And as always, Reichs is in top form description wise, she does a scene about a body in a septic tank that'll have you running for the receptacle of your own septic tank. As usual her descriptions in this five star thriller are right on. She takes you right out of your life and firmly places you in Guatemala. Scary the way she does that. She's good. Reviewed by Vesta Irene
Rating:
Summary: Guaranteed to Give you Nightmares
Review: Tempe is in Guatemala, helping to unearth the bodies of 28 villagers disappeared (killed by the govt.) during the civil war there. Two of her colleagues are attacked, one dies. Tempe has to be careful, as there could still be people in the government that were involved in the massacre. Then she gets involved with the disappearance of four girls, one of them the daughter of the Canadian ambassador and all of a sudden the authorities that were so eager for her help with the decomposing bodies of the villagers want her out of Dodge. To add to the plot there is a Latin love interest who just happened to go to school with old flame Ryan who comes to Guatemala because one of the four missing girls is the daughter of the Canadian Ambassador. This book seemed somehow different than Reichs' previous four. That's not bad, an author should change and grow. Tempe seems to have a little more punch. Also this book starts off on a dark note that lasts throughout, but with Reich's detailed description of the death pit, how could it not be dark. A word of caution, don't read this five star thriller before dinner, especially the secptic tank part, because it'll definitely throw you off your feed. Don't read it before bed either, because if you do, nightmares are guaranteed. Read it on a rainy day, then watch an episode of the Honeymooners to get it out of your system. Review submitted by Katie Osborne
Rating:
Summary: Why The Coincidences
Review: This is the fifth in the series, and the coincidences are too much! Really! This plot is great, the change of locale is intriguing. But she runs into a guatemalan raised in Canada (?) was is an old friend of her old flame (?). Ms. Reichs must move in a very small circle of friends. She is having a hard time imagining other characters for her stories. The forensic writing is great, as usual. The action is fierce. Please stop the coincidences!! A great read, otherwise!
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying dialogue
Review: This is the first and only book of this author/series I have read and this is what I like about the book: -The locations, moving from Guatemala to Montreal is very interesting.
-The character of Tempe Brennan is not the typical self obsessed character Ihave found in Patricia Cornwell novels. Things I don't like about it:
-The descriptions of forensic work seem more like a study guide. It is as if the author is out to prove she knows her business. The knowledge is impressive but it would be better if it were written more as a part of the story rather than a sudden departure into a textbook.
-The story tends to lose focus and several of the characters and diversions are a bit pointless. Overall, it was a decent story but not very engaging.
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