Saturday, March 12, 2011

Virals by Mathy Reichs


Reichs, Kathy Virals, 454 p. Razor Bill (Penguin), 2010.  $18.  Language: PG-13 (55 swears, 0 “F”).  

Tory Brennan, 14, is by no means happy when her mother dies and she is shipped off to live on a remote island with the marine biologist dad she never even knew existed.  The locals – also kids of science types and all boys – are more than happy to welcome her and each in their own way is a geeky-science type.  Tory and the boys manage to get into trouble when they break into a lab to decipher the info on an old dog tag Tory finds – and then they discover a missing wolf dog pup being held captive in a secret lab.  An cold case murder becomes hot and someone is more than happy to silence Tory and the boys forever in order to keep their own secrets hidden.  But something has happened to the group and they are becoming more than they used to be.  

I think this book would have been absolutely great without the sci-fi twist, but the twist is really fantastic, too.  Those who are only familiar with the Bones TV show may be a bit confused, but they certainly won’t care about the differences in the geneology between the books and the show.  Reichs has put together something really exciting – and may open up space for more sci-fi books on the shelves.  

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher

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