BONES by Jan Burke

BONES by Jan Burke
Signet/New American Library - 2001
ISBN 0451202473 - Paperback
Suspense

Reviewed by Beverly J. Rowe, MyShelf.com
Buy a Copy

Reporter Irene Kelly has been writing about Julia Sayre's disappearance for four years. Julia's daughter Gillian had contacted Irene, and convinced her that her mother's disappearance was more that just a runaway.

Now, the most diabolical of death row's condemned killers is willing to lead a group to Julia Sayre's grave in a plea bargain agreement to reduce his sentence from execution to a life sentence. Irene is included in the group.

Nick Parrish had been thinking ahead when he buried one of his victims, and at the second gravesite, a terrible explosion kills everyone except Irene and a seriously injured forensic anthropologist, Ben Sheridan. Parrish, now armed, manages to escape. He has promised Irene the most exquisite torture and death of all...and he'll be back for her.

Don't start this book until you have time to finish it. It's a "can't put down" book, with gripping suspense. Some of the descriptions of the torture and the sight and smell of the cadavers were a bit more than I wanted to know about them...the gruesome details are all in there.

You'll love the great characters, including "Bingle" the German shepherd who is trained to search out cadavers. Irene's homicide detective husband, Frank Harriman is very supportive and likable, but not as fully developed and involved as I would like to see.

This story has a very different and satisfying ending. After reading this novel and the teaser at the end for her forthcoming book, I am certainly going to read Burke's other Irene Kelly yarns, "Flight," "Hocus" and "Liar."