Deadly Decisions

Features

• Cover Type: Mass Market Paperback with 368 pages
• Published by: Pocket Star June 26, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0671028367
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0671028367
• Book Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 6.4 ounces

Product Review
Temperance Brennan is a forensic anthropologist with one of the longest commutes in fiction--from North Carolina to Montreal. She works in both places, and in this third outing (after Déjà Dead and Death du Jour) she manages to make a riveting (if a bit too coincidental) connection between a skull in Montreal and the partial skeleton of a teenager--dead since 1984--in North Carolina. Linking them is a 9-year-old girl shot on a Montreal street, the victim of a war among members of an outlaw motorcycle gang in eastern Canada. Another piece of the puzzle is provided by Tempe's visiting nephew, who is fascinated by the biker culture and is drawn into the mystery Tempe's trying to solve:

"Know anything about Slick?" asked Kit.

"He doesn't look like the pick of the litter."

"Yeah, even from that motley litter." He flipped the picture. "Heck, this guy croaked when I was 3 years old."

There were two more photographs of Slick's funeral, both taken from a distance, one at the cemetery, the other on the church steps. Many of the mourners wore caps riding their eyebrows, and bandannas stretched to cover their mouths.

"The one you've got must be from a private collection." I handed Kit the other pictures. "I think these two are police surveillance photos. Seems the bereaved weren't anxious to show their faces."

The science is as accurate as the author can make it. Kathy Reichs's own background--as forensic anthropologist for the chief medical officer of North Carolina and director of forensic anthropology for the province of Quebec--ensures verisimilitude of place and procedure and creates a believable milieu. Fans of Patricia Cornwall will enjoy this solidly written suspense thriller, while those of a less scientific bent, who don't mind a somewhat lagging pace, will skip the details and concentrate on Reichs's fluid writing. All readers will enjoy the way Tempe puts the pieces of the puzzle, as well as the bodies, together. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Critics (and publicists) often compare Reichs to Patricia Cornwell, as both are women who write bestselling thrillers featuring a female forensic expert. There's a significant difference between them, though. Reichs brings to her grisly novels a scientific detail and authenticity that Cornwell rarely matchesAa virtue arising from Reich's background as a top forensic anthropologist for the governments of North Carolina and Quebec, a background mirrored by that of her heroine, Tempe Brennan. But CornwellAa journalist before she turned novelistAis a more accomplished writer than Reichs, and her more fluid prose and plotting support a heroine who exudes a vitality that Brennan doesn't. Reichs's strengths and weaknesses are apparent in this third novel (after Death du Jour) featuring narrator Brennan, which finds the crime fighter tangling with outlaw motorcycle gangs in Montreal. The novel opens as Brennan, "sorting badly mangled tissue" in an autopsy room, is interrupted by the arrival of another body: that of a girl, nine, caught by a bullet that one gang, the Heathens, had intended for a rival Viper. The mangled tissue belongs to two Heathens who'd been en route to bomb the Vipers' headquarters: war is raging among bikers in Montreal, and Brennan is soon caught in the battles, not least because her visiting nephew, Kit, is enamored with bikersAincluding some involved in the war. The narrative carries Brennan to assorted bikers' hangouts, and to much forensic digging, all of which Reichs handles with an admirable intensity and veracity. Still, the novel has a stiff, storyboarded feel, with a subplot involving Brennan's cop loverAhas he turned gang member?Aparticularly intrusive. The pacing is lopsided, laborious in front and action-stuffed at the back, and the narrative spreads its message about the malfeasance of outlaw bikers with a heavy hand. Overall, the novel works, but the gears show one time too many. Agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh at the Writer's Shop. Major ad/promo; 6-city author tour. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
When I read both of Kathy Reichs earlier Tempe Brennan stories I enjoyed them very much. However, something in the cover blurb for "Deadly Decision" put me off though, and I postponed buying it. A rash of negative reviews on Amazon reinforced this, and I only decided to read this book at last because the next in the series, "Fatal Voyage," is now out and I wanted to catch up. While "Deadly Decisions" isn't Reich's best, it is still a well told story. This is the inevitable plight of good writers that reviewers often over-react when their quality dips. I've done this myself. The book turns on Tempe Brennan's reactions to the accidental killing of a 9 year old girl during a motorcycle gang killing. She feels so strongly that she volunteers to be the Forensic Lab's liaison with the police team working on motorcycle gang crime, called Carcajou. As a forensic anthropologist she is asked to help with the discovery of an old gang slaying site and in doing so also turns up the skull and crossbones of another young girl. These remains lead her to gang activities back in North Carolina. Tempe is drawn into a complex, deadly game with high powered, deadly opponents. Tempe is devastated when her lover, Detective Andrew Ryan, is arrested for complicity in the drug deals and illicit trade of the gangs. Another blow comes when her nephew Kit is also drawn into the gang lifestyle by a newscaster, Lyle Crease, who is also extremely interested in Tempe's laboratory findings. There is yet another gang-style killing which arouses the anthropologist's suspicions that all is not well. Now Tempe finds herself in conflict on all sides, with gang members, Kit, and even other members of Operation Carcajou. She finds herself in danger as well, as the action mounts towards a graveside confrontation of awesome dimensions. I found Reichs' writing up to her usual standard; terse, yet full of the details that make the forensic genre one of the most fascinating of the police procedurals. There is also a wealth of information on the operation of motorcycle gangs in Canada and the United States. Characterization is good as well. Reichs takes the time to breathe life into characters that many other writers would leave two dimensional. It is this and the fine details that make Kathy Reichs a successful writer. I do have some reservations, though. As other reviewers have pointed out Reichs has settled into a formula of part Montreal, part North Carolina with a dash of family involvement. This is the third such story. While it is not blatant, it becomes noticeable if her novels are read rapidly, one right after another. Another thing that irritated me a bit was Tempe's knack for doing stupid things under pressure. This makes her look weak at critical moments, and introduces plot elements that are not really necessary. Yet, even with these flaws, this is a good, eminently readable novel. One that turned out much better than I had been led to expect. Comment | | (Report this)