Virals - Kathy Reichs

Oh-my-God. This is a book you most certainly should not skip out on. Well, this might only be from my point of view, but if you are interested in forensics, a little mystery and a dash of humour, you might want to check this out.

Written by the author who inspired the hit TV series, BONES, in Virals, Kathy Reichs tells the story of young Victoria 'Tory' Brennan. After losing her mother to a drunken driver, Tory was sent to Morris Island where she learnt of the existence of her father, Christopher 'Kit' Howard, a research scientist/veterinarian at an institute on Loggerhead Island, LIRI (I can't for the life of me remember the full name).

Kit was unaware he had a daughter, though, so it was pretty much awkward for the both of them. Nonetheless, Tory settled down reasonably fast. Since then, she'd been attending the Bolton Preparatory Academy (a school for the rich and elite) and made a few other friends. There's Hiram 'Hi' Stolowitski, Shelton Devers and Ben Blue.

The thing is, though, Tory, Hi, Shelton and Ben aren't wealthy people from wealthy families. The only reason Bolton Prep accepted them is because at least ONE member in their respectful families has a job in LIRI. Therefore, the facility funds their studies in Bolton Prep. Quite unfortunately, since they're not rich by name, they get picked on by the people in school.

Technically, they're all they've got. Each other.

And so it is together that they get into trouble. It began with just curiosity. Tory, being naturally curious about everything, found rusted dog tags buried somewhere in Loggerhead Island and was determined to find out what was written on them. So, with her friends, Tory broken into an abandoned research facility in hopes of being able to use their gear to get rid of the rust and decipher the words.

However, after they managed to do just that, Ben hears something upstairs. Once again beaten by curiosity, Tory and her friends went to investigate.

They certainly did NOT expect to find what they found.

Things start to go haywire from there. They not only broke in to the facility that night, but they also broke something OUT. As if that's not bad enough, they run headfirst into more trouble: gunmen - after THEIR lives.

Did not help when they uncovered a dead girl's skeleton either.

Tory is certain everything is connected, but how? And is the Head of the facility in on the secret?

This is pretty much the gist of the story. It gets much more interesting after this, though. I personally think it's awesome. The book has a sequel, thank God for me. Haha. It's called Seizure (I know, right??) I'll be sure to review that once I'm done with it.

Virals is available in various bookstores such as Times, Borders, MPH and Popular. This 454-page paperback costs a whooping RM32.90 but I assure you, it's worth a read. Plus, if you're a member in any of those bookstores (like I am) then you'll get a discount :)

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