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Written In Bone (2007)

Written in Bone (2007)

Book Info

Author
Series
Rating
4.09 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
0593055241 (ISBN13: 9780593055243)
Language
English
Publisher
bantam press

About book Written In Bone (2007)

Having a forensic anthropologist as the main character in a whodunnit is great because it allows the author to give us the gory detail of the victim. Here David Hunter arrived at the scene to find a body that appears to have spontaneously combust, with no damage to the building and only a hand and a pair of feet remaining intact. There is a problem with having a forensic anthropologist as the main character though in that he is not a detective and so Beckett has to work out a way to make him take the detective role. Here it is done by setting it on a remote Scottish island and due to a storm the main police team can't get there. The setting is the best bit of this book- it is much more than a plot device, it provides the fantastic sinister atmosphere. I loved the first three quarters of this book as the tension kept building and more bodies kept appearing, gradually getting more emotional as we knew the characters better but the final revelations about who was behind it all let me down. It wasn't that they were obvious but they felt a bit cliche and when you finally get the full explanation for all the murders it seems so ridiculously unlikely. I know it is fiction but when your main character is all about the science then it feels like the events should at least seem possible. Whilst I'm on the main character I must point out how boring he is. Apart from the forensic anthropology stuff he really is not an interesting man. Beckett proves in the supporting cast that he can do interesting characters yet his main one is very dull. The forensic anthropology was barely needed in this book and therefore it probably would have worked better with a different character altogether. For me this was a decent murder mystery but apart from the detailed gory images it gives quite a forgettable one.

After enjoying the hell out of "The Chemistry of Death" I was very eager to start reading the second book about Dr Hunter. And... oh boy. I don't really know where to begin.The book starts interestingly enough: gruesome murder, interesting location, good ol' Dr Hunter... But then it takes over a hundred pages until something, ANYTHING happens. Some of the characters in the book were so cartoonish I was afraid I might injure my eyes with all the eyerolling. Here's your token single mother with a dark past, there's your incompetent and drunken police officer who is completely oblivious to the most obvious facts, there's your spunky young journalist who "just wants to get to the bottom of things". The only reason we know that the retired detective Brody is "meticulous", is because we are told so about ten times, without actually ever really witnessing it through his actions. Dr Hunter is equally infuriating with his sixth sense telling him multiple times "something doesn't quite add up" but we never really get to find out why until it's too late. Come on, Mr. Beckett, let your readers join in on the fun, let them think a little! And then the plot... oh the plot. Formulaic (albeit entertaining) at first, but then within 50 pages it's plot twist after plot twist after plot twist to the point where it was giving me a major headache. What's even worse, by the time I got to the end of the book I realised I don't even care anymore what happens to Dr. Hunter or, for that matter, who the killer is.I gave the book 3 stars because it's still a kind of entertaining read. The reason I'm so harsh is because my expectations were high after Beckett's first David Hunter book. Sadly, "Written in Bone" wasn't half as entertaining as I wanted it to be.

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Der Oskar für die grauslichsten Einstiege in Kriminalromane geht an.... Simon Becket!! Jedes mal auf Seite 1 beginnts mich zu schütteln in Chemie des Todes (Band 1) ging es um Larven und ihre Arbeit an einem toten Körper und in "Kalte Asche" um die Wirkung von Feuer auf Körper. Sehr sachlich - deshalb aber nicht minder grausam sondern eher mit verstärktem Ekelfaktor wird dem Leser extrem detailgetreu vermittelt, was passiert, wenn der Körper wie eine Kerze verbrennt. Ein mittlerweile bewährtes Konzept, mit dem der Autor dem Leser das Gruseln lehrt. Auch beim Szenario verlässt sich Beckett auf von ihm eingeführte Methoden: Eine verschworene Dorfgemeinschaft diesmal auch noch auf einer abgeschiedenen Insel, die durch ein Unwetter vom Rest der Welt isoliert ist. Der Plot hat ebenfalls Ähnlichkeiten mit dem ersten Band: Die Fährten sind vielfach ausgelegt und mehrmals dreht sich die Handlung in eine völlig andere Richtung. Auch diesmal war ich irgendwie auf der richtigen Spur tippte jedoch trotzdem ein bisschen falsch - aber so wie es letztendlich ausging, hätte ich es nie erwartet. Den Stern Abzug gibts für den Handlungsverlauf, der eben zu viele Parallelen mit Chemie des Todes aufweist und für den Cliffhänger am Ende. Ich hasse sowas! Alles im allem hat mir aber Kalte Asche um einen Hauch bessser gefallen. Fazit: Sprachlich ausgezeichnet, spannend, aber in der Handlung könnte sich der Autor mal völlig neue Konstellationen ausdenken.
—Alexandra

OK, so I said I was hoping that this series would get better? Well it did! I really enjoyed this one... it was fast paced, interesting characters (even the grumpy Policeman had his moments) and the plot was intriguing. The pictures that conjured up in your mind as reading the description of the initial crime scene were so easy as Beckett has a great way with his words to put those images in your head. Again, the twists and turns in who was the murderer had me guessing, double guessing then having no idea. The clues were there, but only put them together as the truth was finally revealed. The setting of this novel, an island which after being hit by a storm is totally cut off with communications to the mainland, makes the story even more chilling. Would actually love to see "Written In Bone" go onto the big screen, reckon it would make a great thriller. Can't wait to start the 3rd David Hunter to see what's happening next.
—Deb Bodinnar

"There aren't always answers to everything, no matter how hard we look. Sometimes you have to learn to just let things go."I can't even, my bits are scattered. This book was mindblowing. A lot of people didn't like it, and I have to say the beginning is kinda boring, but the end was amazing."Written in Bone" starts 18 months after the events of "The Chemistry of Death". David Hunter is in a remoted island, helping the police investigate the death of a person whose body was burned, but its feet and a hand. What appears to be an accidental death, soon turns into a murder investigation. To make matters worse, a storm hits the island, leaving its population with no communication.This book took me a while to finish. While a lot of people found "The Chemistry of Death" to be amazing, and this book OK, it was the other way around. Took me a little while to get into it, but I was glad I kept going.David was amazing, as usual. He's sharp, willing to help, an amazing character. But the poor guy always finds himself in the middle of crazy crap. There are so many developments throughout this book.The killer: say whaaaaaaaat? (view spoiler)[Grace.. really? Didn't see that one coming? And poor Michael, honestly. Their relationship was so fucked up. (hide spoiler)]
—Iris

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