Virals

Tory is 14-years old and lives with her father on a small island. She and her buddies, who also live on the island, manage to “kidnap” a puppy being used for an experiment. At the same time, they come across a decades-old murder-mystery that was never solved. Tory, being a smart, budding forensic anthropologist, feels she can solve this murder. But, she and her friends are getting weirdly sick, at the same time.

This was good. I liked it, and I love that they rescued that puppy! It is YA, so you get some of the adults-being-clueless and the kids-being-able-to-solve-the-crime going on, but it was still entertaining. This is the first book I've read by Reichs, and I am interested enough to read more. Virals is the first in a series (or show more trilogy, maybe?), and I will continue the series. I would also like to try her adult books, as well. show less

What was I thinking putting this book off?! It has been sitting on my shelf for years and I never got the nerve to pick it up. That was probably one of my biggest book related mistakes!

Kathy & Brendan Reichs have a real hit on their hand! I have been reading the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs for years and I always wanted to get into Virals. Silly me bought the book and admired it for years, until I finally managed to dust it off and pull it into my reading pile. THANK GOODNESS because this book is a real gem and I need to binge this series. It's just too freaking good to not read!

Now, before I get ahead of myself, readers must remember that this is a YA novel and not an "adult" novel like the Temperance Brennan series. There show more are fun story lines focusing around being a teenager, and people need to remember that this book was made for a younger audience. I love books like this, because I can get into the fun of a younger book. But, some readers won't be expecting a "YA" novel - you should be!

Off to the races!!!

Tory Brennan is our lead (a distant, grand-niece of Temperance, if I am remembering correctly) and she's just as smart as Tempe! She's also sassy, barrels of fun, and gets in probably too much trouble in this book. She's not a girly girl, she likes hanging with her guy friends and she likes being smart. Seriously, I relate way to much to this girl! Her gaggle of friends get into trouble on an island nearby, rescuing dogs, talking to monkeys and trying to solve murders. Typical teenage stuff, obviously.

I love that this group is smart and for the greater good. I also felt a twinge of "save the environment" themes going on. Mixing in all the fun and goofy scenarios the teens get into... I have to say I like this book. I also really love the terminology that's used in the book. It's not "dumb-ed" down and these kids know what they are talking about. Do they know too much? Maybe. Or they are just really smart kids.

What did I not like?
Mean girl subplots always annoy me because they are so common. I get this is a very typical trend, but I'd love it to see Tory have a girl friend who isn't a total snob. Shockingly, there are some not snobby girls out in the real world! But, there has to be drama in this book so I totally get it. I remember in high school there were snobby girls all over the place too.

I also think that the introduction of fantasy was great, but it needed a little... more. There are more books in this series, so I'm assuming that the fantasy side will be explored more there. At least, I hope so! The little bits of fantasy just wasn't enough for me! I want to know the ins and outs of it!

Overall, this book is lots of fun and super smart! I really enjoyed reading it and I couldn't put it down! Books like these are why I love reading - I can whisk myself away into another world and just enjoy myself.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves YA with a fantasy twist, loves the Temperance Brennan series but wants a bit more "fun", people who loved Bones (this SCREAMS the fun of Bones!) or if you just want a smart YA novel with fancy terminology (to teach yourself something new).

Five out of five stars! show less

Let me first say that I've yet to watch an episode of Bones, and haven't yet had the opportunity to read the Temperance Brennan series either! So when I found out that this book was based on that series I was a little worried. Would I be lost? Would there be allusions to things that I wouldn't understand? From the moment I opened the book these thoughts plagued me. I'm happy to announce that I shouldn't have worried one bit. Virals only pulls in a very small reference to Kathy Reich's other work, and is its own amazing story. It has an edgy science fiction feel to it, and I'll be honest when I say that it drew me in right away.

We meet Tory Brennan, Temperance's niece. Right away I fell in love with her personality. She's one of the show more boys! Not that living on an island gives her much of a choice, but Tory doesn't seem to mind one bit. It was refreshing to see a girl who could hold her own in a group of guys. The wit and sarcasm that effortlessly flew out of her mouth had me giggling, and I was intrigued by her love of science. Truthfully, I see a lot to love in Tory and I'm sure other readers will as well.

What I loved most about this story was the focus on the science fiction aspect versus the paranormal aspect. The story revolves around what the kids feel as they gain their abilities and how they learn to use them. At no point is there a reference to what they've become, in terms of supernatural beings. Again, I use the word refreshing. It was nice to read a book that references what the kids could actually do rather than heavily focusing on what they had become.

The mystery deepens as the story progresses, and I was impressed with the layers of intrigue that this book puts forward. It might seem odd to say so, but to me this is what I like to call a "smart" book. It's a story that doesn't assume that young people don't have prior knowledge. This is a book for all those nerdy girls/women out there (like me) who love to feel like a book is challenging us instead of talking down to us.

Virals is definitely the start of something great! I cannot wait to see what happens next, and this book has prompted me to find more of Kathy Reich's work to read. Amazing. Plain and simple. show less

What was I thinking putting this book off?! It has been sitting on my shelf for years and I never got the nerve to pick it up. That was probably one of my biggest book related mistakes!

Kathy & Brendan Reichs have a real hit on their hand! I have been reading the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs for years and I always wanted to get into Virals. Silly me bought the book and admired it for years, until I finally managed to dust it off and pull it into my reading pile. THANK GOODNESS because this book is a real gem and I need to binge this series. It's just too freaking good to not read!

Now, before I get ahead of myself, readers must remember that this is a YA novel and not an "adult" novel like the Temperance Brennan series. There show more are fun story lines focusing around being a teenager, and people need to remember that this book was made for a younger audience. I love books like this, because I can get into the fun of a younger book. But, some readers won't be expecting a "YA" novel - you should be!

Off to the races!!!

Tory Brennan is our lead (a distant, grand-niece of Temperance, if I am remembering correctly) and she's just as smart as Tempe! She's also sassy, barrels of fun, and gets in probably too much trouble in this book. She's not a girly girl, she likes hanging with her guy friends and she likes being smart. Seriously, I relate way to much to this girl! Her gaggle of friends get into trouble on an island nearby, rescuing dogs, talking to monkeys and trying to solve murders. Typical teenage stuff, obviously.

I love that this group is smart and for the greater good. I also felt a twinge of "save the environment" themes going on. Mixing in all the fun and goofy scenarios the teens get into... I have to say I like this book. I also really love the terminology that's used in the book. It's not "dumb-ed" down and these kids know what they are talking about. Do they know too much? Maybe. Or they are just really smart kids.

What did I not like?
Mean girl subplots always annoy me because they are so common. I get this is a very typical trend, but I'd love it to see Tory have a girl friend who isn't a total snob. Shockingly, there are some not snobby girls out in the real world! But, there has to be drama in this book so I totally get it. I remember in high school there were snobby girls all over the place too.

I also think that the introduction of fantasy was great, but it needed a little... more. There are more books in this series, so I'm assuming that the fantasy side will be explored more there. At least, I hope so! The little bits of fantasy just wasn't enough for me! I want to know the ins and outs of it!

Overall, this book is lots of fun and super smart! I really enjoyed reading it and I couldn't put it down! Books like these are why I love reading - I can whisk myself away into another world and just enjoy myself.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves YA with a fantasy twist, loves the Temperance Brennan series but wants a bit more "fun", people who loved Bones (this SCREAMS the fun of Bones!) or if you just want a smart YA novel with fancy terminology (to teach yourself something new).

Five out of five stars! show less

I've never read Kathy Reichs before, but I was intrigued by the premise of this new series for young adults. It is about four science-geek teenagers living on Morris Island, a tiny community in the middle of nowhere. Their parents work for the local university's research institute on nearby Loggerhead Island. The teens are brilliantly drawn characters - funny science buff Hiram, mousy Shelton, tall, dark and silent Ben, and the lone girl, Tory Brennan. The solid relationships and playful humour between these four is a joy to read, and provides a firm base for the rest of the story.

As you would expect from Kathy Reichs, forensics are at the forefront of the plot (Reichs readers will recognise Tory's surname - forensic anthropologist show more Temperance Brennan is her aunt). When the teens find an old military dog tag in the woods on Loggerhead Island, their curiosity is piqued and they are determined to return it to its rightful owner. When they break into the Institute to use the scientific equipment to clean the tag, they also end up rescuing a wolfdog puppy from an illegal experimental lab (as you do), and in doing so contract a new strain of parvovirus that wires canine DNA into their own. Before they know it, they are having to learn about their new capabilities, find out who's behind the illegal experiment, work out the connection between the dog tag and a long-cold missing person case, AND evade the dangerous armed men now hot on their heels.

It's not as complicated as it sounds, honest. It's certainly a complex and involved novel, as you would expect from a mistress of crime thriller writing, but as all the threads come together everything makes perfect sense... Reichs kept me guessing to the last - though I had a few suspicions, of course - and I was thoroughly absorbed in the teenagers' search for the truth even as they struggled with their new wolfy traits. The sharpness and humour of the dialogue and Tory's narrative voice kept everything grounded, but there were still some genuinely shocking moments too. An intelligent and gripping start to the series - I'm reading the second novel, Seizure, right now and it's looking to be just as good, if not better! show less

First Line: A gunshot is the loudest sound in the universe.

Tory Brennan is the niece of forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit television series). She's an admitted technology addict and "sci-phile" who loves the excavation tools and other technical gifts her aunt gives her. She and her friends live on a remote island off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, and hang out in an old Civil War bunker.

Tory is fond of a small pack of wolf dogs who roam a nearby island, and when she discovers that one of the pups has been caught and is being used for medical testing, she and her friends rescue the canine, not knowing that it carries a contagious new strain of parvovirus. At roughly the same time on the show more same island, Tory finds a dog tag that sparks her curiosity. As she tries to find out more about the person who wore the tag, she and her friends unearth a skeleton. Things-- and their health-- begin to get seriously weird.

Reichs had me feeling as though I'd crash-landed in a bunch of teenagers that I'd have a blast with-- basically because I'm interested in the same things and had the same "fun" with the popular kids in my own high school. The chapters are short, move quickly, and pack a punch. Even though I'd deduced the identity of one of the villains, I didn't care, because the mystery involving the dog tag and skeleton held my interest so tightly. (The setting was superb as well.)

With Tory and her friends learning how to deal with the aftereffects of this strain of parvovirus, I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series. show less

Refreshingly nerdy. This is The Big Bang Theory crossed with Bones (TV series based on Reich’s books). Nerdilicious.

Reichs does not talk down to her audience. This book is all about science and technology and the era of the digital age. The author is a real-life respected scientist so happily, for once, I can say that the science is real and the leaps made into the unknown/paranormal seem plausible. This is authentic science fiction. Take that, I Am Number Four!

Although slow to start, 14-year-old Tory’s alpha personality is established straight away. She’s a mature girl who knows what she wants. Reich’s writing style was punchy, concise and intriguing. Yes, the beginning was heavy with description which is par for the course show more when it comes to world-building but once that was out of the way it was action, action, action.

Although I predicted small parts of the story, there were still red herrings which diverted me. Often in YA the obvious is the answer and I’m pleased Reich’s didn’t go that route. Not everyone and everything is what they seem. Real mystery.

The main characters are intelligent sponges, soaking up information wherever they find it. Knowledge is valued and utilised at every opportunity, and I appreciated every bit of it. Tory, into natural and biological science; Shelton, the geeky-looking mechanic and general gadget master; Ben, the athletic strong silent type; and Hiram (or Hi), the overweight guy with a penchant for sarcasm and probably the weakest, physically and mentally – are all valued members of a tight knit team. They are real friends who do not judge each other over every little thing: they listen, contribute and help each other whenever they can. Despite being forged by necessity living on a tiny island together and forced to go to school with rich kids, they have strong and lasting bonds, not superficial alliances in the petty games of teenage wars.

I enjoyed the contrasting elements of rich vs poor, brains vs popularity, adults vs teens, and the demonstration of those who cling on to their social group at the exclusion and ridicule of others are ignorant and small-minded. And that some things are more important than money and social class, like say, morals and ethics.

Perhaps I have an exceptionally dirty mind, something I have been accused of once or twice, or maybe the author has a sense of humour but names like Cummings Point and Hyman's Seafood had me in fits of laughter.

Also, the number of crimes committed in the book is ludicrous. These teens are criminal geniuses when it comes to B&E and theft. Luckily they’re on the side of good. If evil, they’d be unstoppable. At times, I did find their simplicity and ease with which they committed their criminal acts a little unbelievable but I shrugged and moved on.

I am curious by a few things. What’s behind the animosity between Ben and Jason? Will they become rivals for Tory’s attention/affection? Oh yes, I forgot: there is little romance here, perhaps a crush or two but nothing more. In YA these days, this is rare but very welcome when the plot isn’t contingent upon it.

There is a self-contained story, no cliffhangers, and a reminder that not all teens are vapid, immature airheads who can’t survive without conforming, not to mention needing an I-can’t-live-without-you romantic love interest hanging in the balance. Some can be witty with talent and a bright future. People I’d like to know.

This is not perfect. It was slow to start, I’m not strongly attached to the characters and the story does feel a little far-fetched at times but I was entertained and impressed by the science and the forthright nature of Tory and her merry men.

Virals engages the brain. It is nerd candy. And I need more. show less