Book 27: Virals

Title and Author: Virals, by Kathy and Brendon Reichs

Illustrator: Maps designed by Ray Parish
Publisher: Puffin Books, part of the Penguin Group
Published: 2010
Genre: Fantasy mystery
Target Audience/Age Group: Ages 10 and up.
Part of a Series? Yes
Will the Reviewer Keep It In His/Her Library? No
First line: A gunshot is the loudest shot in the universe.

At first glance this book appears to be an effort to capitalize on the success of the Temperence Brennan's books by Kathy Reichs since her name is printed in big letters and her son's in much smaller size. The son was the one signing books at Comic-Con and he was very personable when we got his autograph in our copy. We bet he really wrote them, but it took his mother's name to get them published. That's sad.

At second glance we were reminded of the very popular Animorphs books. Children devoured them, and we support anything that gets kids reading.

At third glance we realized the virus on the cover formed the shape of a wolf. Pretty clever design.

This book deserves praise because it has maps. We love maps.

Temperence Brennan is the main character's grandmother's sister. We didn't realize Bones is that old! That said, we don't like Tory much and actually find her tedious. The story didn't grab us either because all the characters seemed so contrived, so we just skimmed it. There are too many other books waiting for us.