Burning Bones

Jenna Blake, assistant to a Somerset Medical Examiner, has just celebrated her nineteenth birthday, and getting over a recent break-up, while at the same time rekindling an old flame with a certain Somerset Police Officer. On top of all of that, she has a new mystery to solve. Innocent people are being set on fire everyday, yet there is no evidence of arson, and there are no witnesses who can say anything except "They just went up in flames." The only possible conclusion is spontaneous human combustion. But that is conclusion is quickly put out, when an unusual turn of events suddenly presents itself, along with an incredible explanation to the deaths of the innocents.I was hesitant in purchasing this book, as I was worried that Golden's usual sense of mystery and horror would not be present, since he was writing with a partner, Rick Hautala. Boy was I wrong. This book was just as good, if not better than the previous books in the BODY OF EVIDENCE series. Golden and Hautala's writing was immensely enjoyable alongside one another, and is a treat for all fans of either author. A must-have.Erika Sorocco

Three people are mysteriously burned to death, two of whom in front of a multitude of eyewitnesses. "How could something like this happen?" is the question on everyone's mind, especially when a member of the Somerset Police Department's own becomes the fourth victim of the flames. Could spontaneous human combustion, the ability of a person to burst into flames without reason, be the cause of these deaths? Or, could a man named Victor Frost have single-handedly murdered these individuals with the touch of a finger?I give this book five stars, because it was an excellent mystery that kept me in suspense. The cause of the murders (pyrokenesis) was fascinating, but even more remarkable was the insight of the main character, Jenna. The authors too, clearly demonstrated a keen knowledge of the events that occurred in the novel, making the plot realistic. I would recommend "Burning Bones" to anyone looking for a good mystery with a surprising twist.

Burning Bones was overall was suspenseful, and certainly not predictable. So far I have followed every book, and I do think this was one of the most trivial cases, but what puzzles me is that it is so far from human belief, where all the other books are more murder/ish cases- I'm not ruling out the whole idea, because I do believe anything is possible, but it seems unlikely in the series. But I suppose that's why they wrote it like this??? Overall, the book is great and almost makes me want to be an ME, or at least the assistant, and if like mysteries but not the same old monotonous mysteries, I recommend this book- or any other Body Of Evidence book!

Easily one of my all-time favorite Jenna Blake books, and I have read them all. Completely besides the fact that this is a Danny-heavy book and features plenty of scientific detail and even a little supernatural element (already guranteeing it a place on the top of the list) in this book we get to know the villain better than we ever have, because Gaines and Mariano, for a good part of the book, know who the killer is-they just can't PROVE it. The killer is a character you love to hate-he has an ability we've all daydreamed about at least once and his cocky, Spike-from-Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer demeanor makes him an almost likeable villain...or at least, we, too, want to be that clever and mocking. And of course, we all want to know...if you're NOT a Christopher Golden character, how DO you light someone on fire and not have anyone notice?

This is such a great book. And it had some very intense moments. You should have heard the conversation I had myself when Danny got. . .well. .um, if you've read the book you know. It went something like this: "No! You wouldn't kill off Danny would you Chris? It's bad enough what you did to Melody! But then again what do we REALLY know about this Rick Hautala fellow? Is he the type to want to add more sorrow and reality by killing Danny? You wouldn't let him do that would you?"What can I say, I'm a freak. But all in all this book was excellant. I thought it was kinda funny that Jenna never mentioned her dad. You'd think that she'd atleast think about him once. I think that this is the first book that hasn't had a scientific solution or explanation. But I guess it couldn't seeing how the condition dosen't have one. Well anyway I've rambled enough.