VIRALS

TITLE: VIRALS

AUTHOR: KATHY REICHS

Pages: 454

Date: 14/07/2011

Grade: 4.5

Details: Young Adult

             No. 1 Tory Brennan

Own

Tory Brennan is living on a secluded island off Charleston in South Carolina with her father, Kit. A father she didn’t know anything about until her mother died 6 months previously. She has also only recently discovered that she’s related to Temperance Brennan, the famous forensic anthropologist, something she delights in and is very proud of.

When she and her three friends break into a laboratory to clean some dog-tags they’ve found they stumble upon a puppy that obviously is being experimented upon. Enraged the four teenagers rescue the puppy and set out to nurse it back to good health. Little do they know that the little dog will change their lives for ever.

And being infected with an unknown virus that changes their DNA is not the only problem they’re facing. They also need to solve a murder and try not to get themselves killed in the process. However, staying alive is not easy when you don’t know who you’re up against and how you’re body is going to react to stress.

I’m a big fan of Reichs’ Temperance Brennan stories and started this book with mixed feelings. On the one hand I was delighted to be able to try something completely new by this author, on the other hand I was scared that I would be disappointed. I shouldn’t have worried.

Although this book is obviously written for a younger audience then the Temperance mysteries, the story is equally well written. There is the same balance between science and action that I enjoy so much Reichs’ books and she has again created characters that are interesting and life-like.

It seems that I now have two series by this author that I have to keep an eye out for.