Virals by Kathy Reichs

Published: September 2010

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 448

Copy Obtained by: Library

Summary:  Goodreads

Summary:

Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever.


As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent.

Fortunately, they are now more than friends they're a pack. They are Virals.

Review:
Tory Brennan is the niece of Temperance Brennan, star of Kathy Reich's Bones series, also now a television series.  I have never watched Bones although I have always heard great things about it.  (Curlypow is a fan and would be happy to convert me I'm sure!)  To me, David Boreanez is and will always be Angel.  I'm not just not sure if I can see him as any other character.  Mind you, I was OK with Richard Dean Anderson shedding his MacGyver role (and his mullet) to do Stargate SG1 so maybe I am more open-minded than I think. 

So to be honest, I was a Kathy Reichs virgin when I first started reading.  The truth is, I really enjoyed this one.  It was clean and had a good pace.  I couldn't compare Tory to her aunt Temperance (not having read the adult series) but she is quite the smartypants for her age.  She was much more mature than I imagined and had these great leadership qualities.  Her best line was "Bring it on".  I was imagining the scene in my head and it was so triumphant...  the perfect kids vs adults clip.  Speaking of which, I would recommend this book to anyone who is in their pre-teens (both guys and gals) and up.  Virals was enjoyable and kept me interested so I wil probably continue reading the series.  I may even give the Bones series a try...once I catch up on my TBR pile (uh, when I'm 83).

I suggested a question recently on Crazy For Books Friday Blog Hop...What do you think about authors who normally write adult titles, now getting into the YA genre?  Personally, I am enjoying it.  They bring experience and diversity to the mix, plus, if you enjoy the writing style, you can always branch out and seek their other series while waiting for the next YA read.  Recently I have read quite a few of these authors - Kathy Reichs, Sherrilyn Kenyon, James Patterson, Sophie Jordan...do you have any others you'd recommend or like to add to the list?