Field of Bones

I have loved this series since the very first book, Desert Heat, and I'm thrilled to say that this is vintage Jance. The plot, the pacing, the setting, the characters, the suspense, the humor... they all combine for a marvelous piece of storytelling that I could not read fast enough.

If you want authentic southeastern Arizona, you need to read this series. Jance grew up in Bisbee, which is where the books are set. Yes, there is a Copper Queen Community Hospital. Yes, there is a Double Adobe Road and a Skeleton Canyon. Yes, the county is bigger than some states, and the landscape and weather are often lyrically described.

But with any long-running series, the characters are the backbone. If they don't work, the books don't work. I have show more seen Joanna Brady grow from a widow to whom the sympathy vote gave the sheriff's office to someone dedicated to being the best law enforcement officer she can be. I've seen her go to school, make mistakes, and keep on learning. I've seen her as a mother, as a wife, and as a grieving child. And she's done it all with one of the best casts of characters backing her up.

In Field of Bones, we have multiple points of view telling us the story: Joanna Brady; Acting Sheriff Tom Hadlock; a young abducted girl, Latisha Marcum; serial killer James Ardmore; and brand-new deputy Garth Raymond. (More of Garth, please!) Even the characters whose heads we don't get into are special: journalist Marliss Shackleford is still a thorn in Joanna's side, and the human buzzsaw known as Jane Carver made me laugh (and want to stay away from her bad side). Each voice rings true, and each voice ratchets up the tension.

Field of Bones shows us Sheriff Joanna Brady as the consummate professional who never forgets her people. She also shows us the importance of having contacts throughout all branches of law enforcement. (Sometimes it really is about "who you know.") But most of all, the author herself shows us how to tell a story that can make readers laugh, cry, and want to pull the covers over their heads. And here I am... waiting for the next book in the series. I will never get enough of Joanna Brady. show less

Chief Deputy Tom Hadlock is covering while Sheriff Joanna Brady is on maternity leave. When a teenage would-be poacher discovers a skull in a deserted area, he leads the police to where he found it and where they discover several corpses including one that has obviously been dumped very recently.. As the evidence mounts that there is a particularly brutal serial killer in their midst, Tom knows he needs Joanna’s help if they are to solve the case quickly. And ithey need to solve it as fast as possible because it looks like the killer is kidnapping women, brutalizing them over long periods of time before killing them and it is very likely that he is holding other victims. If he learns that his dump fields have been discovered, he may show more kill them and disappear.

Field of Bones is the 18th installment in the Joanna Brady series by author J. A. Jance and it is still going strong.This is a fast-paced compelling read with plenty of twists and turns, well-plotted, and with interesting characters. The story is told in the third person and alternates between Joanna’s story and that of Latisha Marcum, one of the women being held by the killer and a very sympathetic character, with the occasional switch to the killer himself. Like other books in the series, it is nigh unputdownable so I would advise any potential readers to choose your reading time judiciously to avoid any loss of sleep.

Thanks to Edelweiss+ and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less

The plan had been to win the election and then start maternity leave about three weeks later as Butch would be back from his short but intense book tour then. That had been the plan for Sheriff Joanna Brady. But, whether it happened due to the stress of election night, the campaign, recent events, or a million other things, Eleanor Sage decided to arrive much earlier. In fact, she decided to make her appearance early on election night before all the votes were tallied. Winning the election was grand and all that, but having a healthy baby was far more important.

At nearly the same time and unknown to all, a young teenager and his friends recently found a human skull. One that is later found by the teen’s mother, June Carver, when she show more was cleaning out her son’s closet so that it could be painted. With Sheriff Brady out on her maternity leave, June Carver and her son, Jack Carver, come in to see Acting Sheriff Tom Haddock about the skull. There is no doubt that the skull is human and it appears to one and all that a bullet was fired through it at some point. That is not all Jack Carver and his friends saw in the desert out in the San Bernardino Valley.

It is a very good thing the killer did not see them.

One thing leads to another, and soon a multi-jurisdictional investigation is underway with Sheriff Brady supervising and Acting Sheriff Tom Haddock supervising folks out in the field and doing the legwork. They are on the hunt for a serial killer and it is all hands on deck at home and as much help as they can round up from others. They are chasing a serial killer who just might have some victims still alive if they can find him and them. Time is against law enforcement as once the media knows and the small town grapevine gets going, not to mention social media, it will be all over for those they hope to save.

Shifting in point of view between the captives, the captor, and the numerous investigators, the book rolls along at a steady pace. A significant portion of Field Of Bones: A Brady Novel of Suspense is in the point of view of the main victim who learns what has been going on to others for months. How she copes with the trauma of her imprisonment and degradation is a major part of the read. As a result, some of those sections are not easy reading as they are a bit graphic at times. As those sections are in essence nothing more than the classic naked woman chained in the basement with nothing to eat but dog food kibble as she is repeatedly raped over the course of weeks, one could easily skip those sections and lose nothing at all in reading the tale.

Overall, despite the usual --drop into the mind of the nutjob as he is a smart crazy dude at it quite a while—sections that all such books seem to have these days, the overall read is an average one. The book flows fairly well and numerous secondary characters long known to readers are again given attention in this read. Much is at work here in a personal as well as professional way for Sheriff Joanna Brady and that results in a ton of backstory in many different ways. Despite being billed as a novel of suspense, there really is not much suspenseful about the book at all.

Field Of Bones: A Brady Novel of Suspense plows along and gets the job done. It certainly is not J. A Jance at her best, nor is it her at her worst. Instead, this is an average read that occasionally scores political points that will no doubt offend some readers who will swear to never read another book by her ever again while also managing to do the classic smug nutjob serial killer shtick. Yes, it gets complicated in a paint by numbers sort of way. Despite its noted flaws, Field Of Bones: A Brady Novel of Suspense holds reader interest and continues the saga of Sheriff Joanna Brady.

Field Of Bones: A Brady Novel of Suspense
J. A. Jance
http://www.jajance.com
Harper Luxe (imprint of Harper Collins Publishers)
http://www.hc.com
September 2018
ISBN# 978-0-06-285949-5
LARGE PRINT (also available in hardback, audio, and digital formats)
496 Pages
$27.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019
https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/ show less

Cochise County sheriff Joanna Brady is on maternity leave, caring for newborn Sage while Butch sets out on an already-arranged book tour. Her friends know her well: they’ve made bets on just how long Joanna will actually stay on maternity leave before showing up in the office.

Joanna is determined to stay home with baby Sage, but the discovery of a serial killer’s dumping ground puts everyone in the department on high alert and piles up overtime hours. The deputies, of course, keep Joanna informed and she manages a couple of behind-the-scenes assists without interrupting her maternity leave. But how long will she be able to remain on the sidelines? And how many victims will the killer’s depraved actions claim?

This, the eighteenth show more outing for Sheriff Brady and company, contains sufficient backstory to work well as a stand-alone for readers new to the series. The narrative includes the expected well-developed characters; the description of the Arizona desert setting provides readers with a strong sense of place. The suspense builds from the outset and several plot twists create a palpable tension; the strong sense of trepidation woven throughout the narrative keeps the pages turning.
Although well-written, the narrative, filled with particularly gritty events, may be too graphic for some readers.

Recommended. show less

A serial killer has set up shop in Sheriff Joanna Brady’s territory. She first becomes aware of this when a teenager turns in a skull he had found. Investigating the site turns up more bones and victims. Meanwhile, four girls are chained to walls in a basement in a secluded location, held captive by an evil man they are forced to call “the boss.” Joanna will have to cut short her maternity leave and work this case, one that will need all the help she can muster. This mystery is gripping from the very beginning and will leave readers wondering about the evils that man can devise.

I always enjoy J.A Jance’s books. They are sort of like adult Nancy Drew mysteries, lots of blood and creepy stuff but you know everything will be okay in the end. It also gave me a perspective into the border immigration issue and how it impacts states facing the crisis.

Sheriff Brady is running to be reelection as sheriff, and her baby is on its way when a mom and her son show up with a skull in a bowling bag. More bones are discovered and we are now looking for a serial killer. She finds that her maternity duties really complicate her official duties. Butch being on a book tour does not help. Lots of good police work and surreptitious help from key contacts in other agencies enable this investigation to move rapidly to a successful and appropriate conclusion. A very good entry in this interesting series.