devylish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
catladyreba's review against another edition
3.0
With shades of the DaVinci Code, and a smattering of National Treasure, and oh yeah, biochemical weapons, this was a pretty fun read.
nutti72's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very indepth conspiracy thriller that was much deeper than the Da Vinci Code. Spanning several governments and the Vatican. Very well written and very indepth.
speesh's review against another edition
2.0
I'm struggling to see what the point of this one was. It didn't seem to be about anything much, though it desperately wanted to.
Sometimes it seemed to be wanting to be Dan Brown, sometimes a Robert Ludlum, sometimes Michael Connelly.
Sometimes it seemed like it might be going into interesting areas, then it didn't. But there was always a long way between any interesting revelations and when they came, they really weren't that interesting.
I think it was about some mad Italian mobster trying to get his hands on a map to the whereabouts of some Templar treasure under the streets of Naples. About the FBI or CIA or Some Other Agency, running an operation to stop him, some professor and The Vatican getting involved and an FBI sketch artist being mixed up in it all. I think. How all that lot was supposed to hang together, I'm not sure, because I'm not sure it did.
The lead character, given this is subtitled 'Sydney Fitzpatrick #2', wasn't up to it either. She was there, but not really developed very much and the main man who might be working for this that or the other Govt agency (I kind of lost count really) 'Griffin', was much more interesting. By comparison, that is.
Then the end, when it finally came, seemed to be a mixture of side-stepping because it knew it really wasn't worth the bother of going through the previous god-knows how many pages (I read it on my iPhone) and getting it over quickly because it wasn't worth…and the other.
It's competently enough written, but lacking excitement, enough tension and pay-off. More of something to measure a proper historical secrets chase novel by than a good one in itself.
Sometimes it seemed to be wanting to be Dan Brown, sometimes a Robert Ludlum, sometimes Michael Connelly.
Sometimes it seemed like it might be going into interesting areas, then it didn't. But there was always a long way between any interesting revelations and when they came, they really weren't that interesting.
I think it was about some mad Italian mobster trying to get his hands on a map to the whereabouts of some Templar treasure under the streets of Naples. About the FBI or CIA or Some Other Agency, running an operation to stop him, some professor and The Vatican getting involved and an FBI sketch artist being mixed up in it all. I think. How all that lot was supposed to hang together, I'm not sure, because I'm not sure it did.
The lead character, given this is subtitled 'Sydney Fitzpatrick #2', wasn't up to it either. She was there, but not really developed very much and the main man who might be working for this that or the other Govt agency (I kind of lost count really) 'Griffin', was much more interesting. By comparison, that is.
Then the end, when it finally came, seemed to be a mixture of side-stepping because it knew it really wasn't worth the bother of going through the previous god-knows how many pages (I read it on my iPhone) and getting it over quickly because it wasn't worth…and the other.
It's competently enough written, but lacking excitement, enough tension and pay-off. More of something to measure a proper historical secrets chase novel by than a good one in itself.
nnecatrix's review
4.0
Book #15 for 2011
I'm a sucker for secret societies and intellectual treasure hunts, so when I saw Robin Burcell had taken on the Knights Templar, I couldn't resist. Of course, it is impossible to discuss this book without comparing it to Dan Brown's works, Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and so on. In some ways, this book was far superior, especially to Dan Brown and National Treasure. The details are more realistic, and the characters for the most part behave about as intelligently as they are supposed to, unlike Brown's super-geniuses who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag.
While the plot and characters were smartly written, I did find a lot of the exposition a little tedious. I just have to remind myself that most Dan Brown fans who find their way to this novel will need the exposition and constant re-caps. And I do have to admit that even with the re-caps, the "three keys" concept remains a bit muddled for me. But that may be because the ending of the novel leaves quite a bit up in the air. It's frustrating, but I know how much Burcell loves a big story arc. So I just have to trust that she will continue this series and put some of my questions to rest in the next book.
I'm a sucker for secret societies and intellectual treasure hunts, so when I saw Robin Burcell had taken on the Knights Templar, I couldn't resist. Of course, it is impossible to discuss this book without comparing it to Dan Brown's works, Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and so on. In some ways, this book was far superior, especially to Dan Brown and National Treasure. The details are more realistic, and the characters for the most part behave about as intelligently as they are supposed to, unlike Brown's super-geniuses who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag.
While the plot and characters were smartly written, I did find a lot of the exposition a little tedious. I just have to remind myself that most Dan Brown fans who find their way to this novel will need the exposition and constant re-caps. And I do have to admit that even with the re-caps, the "three keys" concept remains a bit muddled for me. But that may be because the ending of the novel leaves quite a bit up in the air. It's frustrating, but I know how much Burcell loves a big story arc. So I just have to trust that she will continue this series and put some of my questions to rest in the next book.
xterminal's review
3.0
Robin Burcell, The Bone Chamber (Harper, 2010)
Fans of The Da Vinci Code will probably like this book. I don't mean that to be anywhere near the slight it sounds (while my Da Vinci Code review on Amazon sports three stars, I have revised it to half that in my notes); The Bone Chamber is a far more intelligent treading of that particular path, and a great deal better. Robin Burcell credits her audience with a great deal more brainpower than does Dan Brown, and that makes all the difference.
Sydney Fitzpatrick, whom most readers will probably have encountered before in The Face of a Killer (I didn't have the pleasure, but will be picking it up as soon as is feasible), is headed off for Thanksgiving with her family when she gets a visit from a government official named Griffin. Griffin asks her to recommend a good forensic anthropologist for a case he's working; Fitzpatrick recommends her friend Tasha, the best in the business. Griffin then attempts to rope Fitzpatrick in on the same case (Fitzpatrick is a forensic artist), but given that she's on the next plane to California, she declines. A quick dinner with Tasha doesn't sway her to the cause, and off she goes—but when the plane touches down in California, there's an official-looking chap putting her back on a plane to Washington DC. Guess who's waiting for her? Griffin swears she'll only be inconvenienced for one night, until the sketch of their murder victim is done, but things don't always go as planned, and Fitzpatrick is not the type of woman to just let something go once her teeth are sunk into it. Things get more personal when a friend of hers is killed in a hit-and-run accident that seems to be no accident at all; Fitzpatrick starts fearing for her life, and knows the best way to get herself safe again is to figure out who their murder victim is and why she was killed. All this over Griffin's protests, of course, but his partner and best friend Tex, a ladies' man, is all too willing to have Fitzpatrick along for the ride.
Once the mystery is afoot, you'll start seeing why I compare the book to Brown's mega-hit; there's a lot of traipsing around looking for clues in ancient places, but where Brown's level of complexity goes as far as finding revelations any half-blind six-year-old could uncover, Burcell has actually thought to couch her puzzles in much more intriguing (and out-of-the-way) locations. Solving a puzzle with Dan Brown is like going to a museum you've been to dozens of times before; solving one with Burcell is all about going on a trek to places you've never been, and to which the public has little, if any, access. You actually feel like you might be learning something, though the book does go through a “things blow up” phase towards the end. Forgivable, though, and relatively believable (think about Venice crumbling at the end of the recent Casino Royale remake). You'll wonder why you didn't see a lot of this coming, and Burcell has mastered that regrettable knack of series authors that involves tying many things up a bit too neatly while leaving a couple of strategic holes for later volumes. I do have to give her points for not taking the easy way out with the romantic-triangle subplot (and this may be the only time I will ever praise an author for deliberately curtailing such a thing, but it was the right decision). Ultimately it's empty calories, but you'll have good time with it. ** ½
Fans of The Da Vinci Code will probably like this book. I don't mean that to be anywhere near the slight it sounds (while my Da Vinci Code review on Amazon sports three stars, I have revised it to half that in my notes); The Bone Chamber is a far more intelligent treading of that particular path, and a great deal better. Robin Burcell credits her audience with a great deal more brainpower than does Dan Brown, and that makes all the difference.
Sydney Fitzpatrick, whom most readers will probably have encountered before in The Face of a Killer (I didn't have the pleasure, but will be picking it up as soon as is feasible), is headed off for Thanksgiving with her family when she gets a visit from a government official named Griffin. Griffin asks her to recommend a good forensic anthropologist for a case he's working; Fitzpatrick recommends her friend Tasha, the best in the business. Griffin then attempts to rope Fitzpatrick in on the same case (Fitzpatrick is a forensic artist), but given that she's on the next plane to California, she declines. A quick dinner with Tasha doesn't sway her to the cause, and off she goes—but when the plane touches down in California, there's an official-looking chap putting her back on a plane to Washington DC. Guess who's waiting for her? Griffin swears she'll only be inconvenienced for one night, until the sketch of their murder victim is done, but things don't always go as planned, and Fitzpatrick is not the type of woman to just let something go once her teeth are sunk into it. Things get more personal when a friend of hers is killed in a hit-and-run accident that seems to be no accident at all; Fitzpatrick starts fearing for her life, and knows the best way to get herself safe again is to figure out who their murder victim is and why she was killed. All this over Griffin's protests, of course, but his partner and best friend Tex, a ladies' man, is all too willing to have Fitzpatrick along for the ride.
Once the mystery is afoot, you'll start seeing why I compare the book to Brown's mega-hit; there's a lot of traipsing around looking for clues in ancient places, but where Brown's level of complexity goes as far as finding revelations any half-blind six-year-old could uncover, Burcell has actually thought to couch her puzzles in much more intriguing (and out-of-the-way) locations. Solving a puzzle with Dan Brown is like going to a museum you've been to dozens of times before; solving one with Burcell is all about going on a trek to places you've never been, and to which the public has little, if any, access. You actually feel like you might be learning something, though the book does go through a “things blow up” phase towards the end. Forgivable, though, and relatively believable (think about Venice crumbling at the end of the recent Casino Royale remake). You'll wonder why you didn't see a lot of this coming, and Burcell has mastered that regrettable knack of series authors that involves tying many things up a bit too neatly while leaving a couple of strategic holes for later volumes. I do have to give her points for not taking the easy way out with the romantic-triangle subplot (and this may be the only time I will ever praise an author for deliberately curtailing such a thing, but it was the right decision). Ultimately it's empty calories, but you'll have good time with it. ** ½
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