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In this thrilling novel set in two periods of San Francisco history, Cree Black confronts the mystery of one of the strangest victims of the Great Quake.Bert Marchetti, a friend and homicide inspector, asks Cree to help investigate a human skeleton recently unearthed in the foundation of an old San Francisco home, supposedly the bones of a victim of the 1906 earthquake. The bones have been sent to UC Berkeley for analysis, where their peculiar characteristics and anatomical deformities have show more intrigued the forensic anthropology team. They call the skeleton Wolfman. So who was the Wolfman? What caused the deformities, and how did he end up in that grand hilltop home?
Cree's historical research takes her back to the unholy glory days of the Barbary Coast, old San Francisco's infamous red-light district. As she assists at the forensics lab, she also begins to realize that Bert Marchetti's involvement with the case is more complex than he has let on. Her narrative is illuminated by entries from the 1889 diary of Lydia Schweitzer, a Victorian woman with her own secrets—and her own compelling interest in the person who would come to be known as the Wolfman.
A vivid and elegantly plotted thriller that reveals San Francisco's hidden face across two centuries, Bones of the Barbary Coast tells the story of two women determined to face human nature's darkest aspects with courage and compassion.
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Member Reviews
Interesting, though not as creepy as the two previous books. I had a lot less interest in Cree's story, and wanted more of the journal entries of Lydia, the 19th century mason's wife who had a secret she kept hidden from her husband. She was fascinating and intriguing and I looked forward to her chapters...
This is the third in the Cree Black series. The modern day discovery of the bones of a possible "wolf man" buried in the rubble of a historical house takes us on a historical trip to the hey-day of the San Francisco gold rush and criminal elements of the Barbary Coast. I am enjoying this series ... I love Cree and her attitude ... I enjoy the peripheral characters and I really enjoy the historical aspects woven into these stories. I read these slightly out of order and am now looking forward to starting the second in the series. I hope there is a fourth, but am thinking not.
Strange and weird and not particularly satisfying. Well-written, but just felt like it went nowhere satisfying.
This book was excellent. I enjoy the Cree Black series, and this was certainly more of the same, though I would have enjoyed slightly more development of the background of the historical mystery.
When a skeleton is unearthed in the foundation of a Victorian home, apparently the bones of a victim of the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco homicide detective Bert Marchetti enlists the aid of Cree Black to help investigate the body, which bears peculiar anatomical deformities, in a mystery that spans two periods of San Francisco history. Simultaneous.
een meeslepend boek, dat slingert tussen verleden en heden, het onderbewuste en de ratio.
Feb 9, 2008Dutch
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Author Information
13 Works 1,690 Members
Daniel Hecht spent 15 years as a classical guitarist and recording artist before turning his attention to writing fiction full-time. Realizing that he couldn't play the guitar anymore due to a medical condition with his hands, Hecht went back to school at the age of 38 and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in fiction. After he graduated, Hecht show more began working full-time as a college administrator and teaching part-time at a state college. During that time Hecht also began writing his first novel, Skull Session. Set in Westchester, New York, the book took Hecht three years to finish. Next, Hecht began looking for a literary agent. After months of searching and half-a-dozen rejection slips later, Hecht made contact with the Watkins Loomis Agency, who put his book up for auction to the major publishing houses in October of 1996. Viking Penguin was the highest bidder, and since then, Skull Session has been sold to publishers in 10 countries throughout the world. He is also known for the Cree Black series which contains City of Masks (2002), Land of Echoes (2004), and Bones of the Barbary Coast (2006). (Bowker Author Biography) Daniel Hecht spent twenty years as a guitarist, a musical career that included albums on Windham Hill Records, concerts at Carnegie Hall, & international performance tours. He received an MFA in writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he was awarded the prestigious Teaching/Writing Fellowship. He now writes from his home in Vermont. (Publisher Provided) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Bones of the Barbary Coast
- Original publication date
- 2006
- People/Characters*
- Cree Black
- Important places
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Important events
- San Francisco Earthquake and Fire (1906)
- First words
- The bones had been assembled in roughly their former working order, a symmetrical array of odd, ivory-brown shapes that took up virtually the whole length of an eight-foot stainless-steel table.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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Statistics
- Members
- 134
- Popularity
- 243,118
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.38)
- Languages
- Dutch, English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 3
