At the start of the book, readers learn that fourteen-year-old Tory Brennan, the protagonist of Reichs's first teen book, has recently moved to live with her father upon the death of her mother. In a typical teen-directed storyline, the father and daughter don't know how to communicate, since Kit first learned he was, indeed, a father only upon the death of Tory's mother--the girl he had sex with during a summer camp in high school. Add an exotic location--an island off the South Carolina Coast, inhabited only by the families of scientists doing research in the even more isolated island further out to sea-- to the disconnected parent mix, and Reich has the perfect premise for Tory and three male friends (also children of workers on the island) to form a close bond in a short time. Their common isolation and high intelligence allow them to cross social boundaries that would usually keep them apart, thus allowing for their diverse interests and knowledge (lock picking, real estate databases, bones, computers, primate behavior...) to be drawn on when things get tense.
And things do get tense, as this is a murder mystery involving monkeys, wolfdogs, prep school snobs, and a 30+ year-old kidnapping. I don't think it's giving away too much of the plot to reveal that the four teens end up catching a designer virus, created in secret by the head of the island laboratory, since the book's title steers you that way. To find out how the virus affects the quartet, you'll have to tune in yourself, however. I'm guessing that readers will have the opportunity to see these Virals develop further as well, for the conclusion leaves things wide open for a sequel, one in which I wouldn't be surprised to see the appearance of iconic "Aunt Tempe"--Tory's recently discovered great-aunt on her father's side.
Overall I'd say that this is a pretty good first effort at a teen book. Reichs tells a pretty good story, and she manages to get some good science education in in the process. While she seems a bit off in language and the like at times, it's easy to overlook these adult lapses because she's chosen exceptionally intelligent teens to tell the story. I'm guessing that I'll enjoy her style more in the adult forensics series, which I will be adding to my Kindle for my trip later this month, but I liked this well enough that I'll keep my eyes out for the sequel as well.
I'm glad you enjoyed this intro, Sue. I, too, found the read fun if a bit stiff in places. Her adult-lit series is more facile, but Virals isn't bad as her freshperson foray. I'm sure we'll buy the next in the series, and I'll be happy to pass it along, too.
ReplyDelete