Helpful Score: 4
LOVED this book! Was a nice breath of fresh air after some disappointing "thrillers". This had all the elements of mystery, suspense, thrills, whodunnit, tragedy, some romance (tho twisted at best). This one lost no momentum from the first page to the very last and definitely keeps you guessing. Just when you think you know who did it, think again. Was my first by this author but won't be the last!
Helpful Score: 2
Not as good as the author's Mallory series, but it had engaging characters and a good, intricate plot that kept me interested.
Helpful Score: 2
Carlo O'Connell has done it again. I read this book in one looong sitting, its just that good.
Helpful Score: 1
Absoloutely marvelous. As good as the Mallory series in setting a mood and twining around your heart. You really learn to care for these characters.
Helpful Score: 1
20 years after his younger brother went missing, Oren returns from the army to find his brother's bones have been turning up one by one on his father's front porch. Rather than notifying the officials, Oren's father has purchased a casket, placed it in his brother's room and has been placing the bone in the casket as they are returned one by one. Oren immediately notifies the sherrif and the case is reopened and it seems the entire cast of characters become suspect. The characters in the book are very interesting and the murder-love story held my interest well.
Non-series mystery/thriller by the author of the "Mallory" series. Oren Hobbs has come home after twenty years, the last several spent as an Army CID officer. The family housekeeper, Hannah Rice, has been writing and letting him know that his little brother Josh (who disappeared the summer Oren turned seventeen) has been coming homebone by bone. Someone is leaving pieces of what they presume is Joshs skeleton on his fathers front porch. And yet Judge Henry Hobbs (retired) hasnt seen fit to contact the local sheriffs office. Why not?
No one knows for sure what happened to Josha bright fifteen-year-old with a penchant for photography and for watching people. Oren suspects that a picture Josh took captured someone doing something they didnt want known and that he was killed because of it. But who? Everyone knows everyones secrets in small town Coventry, California. Dont they?
This story sucked me in right from the beginning, never revealing too much, just enough crumbs to keep you following the trailwhich was also littered with many red herrings, several of which I fell for along the way. You were never really allowed to get to know Oren too well eitherthe story didnt take place inside his head, really, so there were many questions I still had about him at the end of the book, even. The characters were all rather complexand yet you didnt ever really know them if that makes any sense.
But this is one of the few books Ive read recently where I can honestly say that character development didnt really matter too much. It was the story that was intriguing, and the entire package worked very well.
No one knows for sure what happened to Josha bright fifteen-year-old with a penchant for photography and for watching people. Oren suspects that a picture Josh took captured someone doing something they didnt want known and that he was killed because of it. But who? Everyone knows everyones secrets in small town Coventry, California. Dont they?
This story sucked me in right from the beginning, never revealing too much, just enough crumbs to keep you following the trailwhich was also littered with many red herrings, several of which I fell for along the way. You were never really allowed to get to know Oren too well eitherthe story didnt take place inside his head, really, so there were many questions I still had about him at the end of the book, even. The characters were all rather complexand yet you didnt ever really know them if that makes any sense.
But this is one of the few books Ive read recently where I can honestly say that character development didnt really matter too much. It was the story that was intriguing, and the entire package worked very well.
If you have not tried Carol O'Connell your missing out. I always like her Mallory series but she took on new characters for Bone by Bone and Judas Child-both of which are her best. I truly enjoyed this book. It had very interesting characters, great plot twists, and saddness about the murder of a young boy. I hope she keeps trying out these new characters!!
This book was an impulse buy at my local grocery store's bargain book clearance and I knew nothing of the author or the book. I found myself immediately drawn into the story of the search for the the killer of a teenage boy who had been murdered 20 years before. The book had many well written twists and turns as the boy's brother attempts to find the murderer's identity. Along the way, the secrets of many of the people of the small town in which the book is set come to light and just how interwoven all of their lives are becomes increasingly apparent. The best part for me was the fact that I didn't know or suspect until the killer's identity was revealed who it was-- everyone or no one could have been the guilty party, the book was that well constructed. I would definitely recommend this book to those who like a well written "whodunit".
I truly loved this book..........after the second try! The first try I thought it wasn't what I was in the mood to read, so I put in back on my bookshelves.
Wow! Surely glad I saved it.......it was awesome. So well written and more twists and turns than a country road in SW VA!
You have to read this one, Please!!!!
Wow! Surely glad I saved it.......it was awesome. So well written and more twists and turns than a country road in SW VA!
You have to read this one, Please!!!!
Intricately plotted twisty suspense novel about the search for the truth behind the 20-year-old disappearance of a teenage photographer.
Set in a small town on the remote coast of northern California, the story begins with the homecoming of Oren Hobbs, brother of the long-vanished Josh Hobbs. In a suitably creepy beginning, Josh Hobbs is finally coming home ... one bone at a time.
Oren's investigation digs deep into the psyche of a small town, where nearly everyone seems to be harboring a nasty little secret. O'Connell presents a huge menu of possible suspects, garnished with various motivations as appetizers. The truth, when it finally emerges, is both horrifying and banal, as evil so often is.
The romance sub-plot never really took off for me, but the rest of the book is a first-rate, compelling read.
Set in a small town on the remote coast of northern California, the story begins with the homecoming of Oren Hobbs, brother of the long-vanished Josh Hobbs. In a suitably creepy beginning, Josh Hobbs is finally coming home ... one bone at a time.
Oren's investigation digs deep into the psyche of a small town, where nearly everyone seems to be harboring a nasty little secret. O'Connell presents a huge menu of possible suspects, garnished with various motivations as appetizers. The truth, when it finally emerges, is both horrifying and banal, as evil so often is.
The romance sub-plot never really took off for me, but the rest of the book is a first-rate, compelling read.
Kept me guessing till the end revealled! Read it in one day - hard to put away, so I didn't.
I loved this book! Not your normal who-dun-it as there are several possibilities. While the ending is somewhat sad, there is a little bit of hope. I immediately searched and ordered another Carol O'Connell book, if that tells you anything. :-)
