mferrante83's review against another edition
3.0
This was an entertaining if superficial read. While the jacket name-checks the Davinci Code it falls a bit closer in tone to the Event Group novels than it does Dan Brown. Adventure/Thriller fans not as comfortable with the presence of the fantastical in their reading will likely balk. Open-minded readers who just want a fun romp should definitely give this a shot.
whaydengilbert's review against another edition
3.0
This is probably more of a 3.5.
I had a lot of fun with this pulpy conspiracy-brain thriller.
That blurb on the cover comparing this to X Files and National Treasure is pretty accurate. So basically like DaVinci Code with more Facebook sleuthing and giants.
I had a lot of fun with this pulpy conspiracy-brain thriller.
That blurb on the cover comparing this to X Files and National Treasure is pretty accurate. So basically like DaVinci Code with more Facebook sleuthing and giants.
kamreadsandrecs's review against another edition
Didn't click in the moment. Might get back to it some other time.
mkr_author's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, the book kept me intrigued until the end. I appreciate the amount of research that went into it, including actual quotes and Snopes articles mentioned.
Some parts were a bit confusing. I had to go back and reread a few times, only to realize that it wasn't that I had missed something, it just wasn't included. Or was worded oddly.
With how thorough each side was with tracking, there were a few parts that left me scratching my head.
Also want to add, the whole chase to find and kill the 6 finger man who may or may not have killed his father.. That had to of been a Princess Bride reference, but with how many times the main character kept saying it made that whole thing very hard to take seriously.
Some parts were a bit confusing. I had to go back and reread a few times, only to realize that it wasn't that I had missed something, it just wasn't included. Or was worded oddly.
With how thorough each side was with tracking, there were a few parts that left me scratching my head.
Also want to add, the whole chase to find and kill the 6 finger man who may or may not have killed his father.. That had to of been a Princess Bride reference, but with how many times the main character kept saying it made that whole thing very hard to take seriously.
chukg's review against another edition
3.0
Way too much like the Da Vinci code, but the writing isn't as good. Lots of info dumps about 'giants', some of them are 'real' and some are made up, and the characters are super cardboard for the most part. There were a few neat bits like some of the older couples, but I'm not going to hunt down any of the rest of this author's books.
markyon's review against another edition
3.0
I’ve mentioned before, more than once, how I like a story that mixes ancient history and folklore with its fiction. Bone Chase is one of those, written from an American perspective but on an epic global scale.
From the publisher: “When out-of-work math teacher Ethan McCloud is sent a mysterious box, he and his ex-girlfriend begin to unravel a mystery 10,000 years in the making--and he is the last hope to discovering the world's greatest conspiracy. Chased by both the Six-Fingered Man and the Council of David, Ethan must survive the chase--and find the truth.”
I wasn’t sure whether I’d like this one at first. True, it ticks a lot of boxes. Each chapter begins with a historical or religious reference that shows impeccable research – I wasn’t sure if they were real, but it seems like they actually are – relating to prophecies, politics and historical events.
Ochse (pronounced “Oaks”, I understand) skillfully manages to weave these into a best-seller plot in such a way that it (unlike many) sounds almost plausible. It certainly raises questions that every conspiracy theorist would love – for example, What if humans as a race were uplifted thousands of years ago by giant beings we would consider today as god-like? What if any mention of these giants were being subtly erased from history in order to maintain their anonymity? And in order to do this, what if there were secret societies, which have existed for hundreds of years, dedicated to removing any evidence of such beings, finding their remains from around the world and either hiding them or destroying them? What if all of this was connected to a secret group who covertly ran the world? And what if the return of these giants could signal the end of the world?
There are some pretty big ideas there, and Weston must be congratulated on the way that he has stitched these together, even if putting these plot revelations here in a manner as stark as this might make the book sound unrealistic. I’m not accepting that the idea is real, but I like the way that it has been used here. And whilst I must admit that some of the characterisation is straight off the blockbuster cookie template, the relentless pace keeps the momentum going without giving you time to think about things much. There’s enough background detail here to make it sound convincing, which the characters clearly pick up on. It’s part Indiana Jones, part X-Files, part James Bond wrapped up in Biblical conspiracy theory in a way that I think Dan Brown would be pleased with.
Being of the blockbuster-adventure type story, there are obvious sacrifices the author has to make in order to maintain the pace. There are elements of the personalities I liked, but if I had stopped to think about it the idea of a gun-toting ex-Maths teacher stretches the credulity a little. It also doesn’t help that there’s a few too many conveniences along the way for the sake of plot, an unrealistic premise of a love interest who is a 28-year-old virgin*, and far too many characters who handily do nice things at the drop of a hat, but it is written is such a way that I was happy to forgive such matters. I was surprised to blow through this in a couple of days.
Summing up then, Bone Chase is a great adventure yarn, set within an intriguing premise and set at a rapid pace that is very entertaining. Whilst you pretty much know what you’re going to get here, Weston doesn’t disappoint.
*Yes, I know these things happen and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But considering the character’s backstory, I wasn’t convinced.
From the publisher: “When out-of-work math teacher Ethan McCloud is sent a mysterious box, he and his ex-girlfriend begin to unravel a mystery 10,000 years in the making--and he is the last hope to discovering the world's greatest conspiracy. Chased by both the Six-Fingered Man and the Council of David, Ethan must survive the chase--and find the truth.”
I wasn’t sure whether I’d like this one at first. True, it ticks a lot of boxes. Each chapter begins with a historical or religious reference that shows impeccable research – I wasn’t sure if they were real, but it seems like they actually are – relating to prophecies, politics and historical events.
Ochse (pronounced “Oaks”, I understand) skillfully manages to weave these into a best-seller plot in such a way that it (unlike many) sounds almost plausible. It certainly raises questions that every conspiracy theorist would love – for example, What if humans as a race were uplifted thousands of years ago by giant beings we would consider today as god-like? What if any mention of these giants were being subtly erased from history in order to maintain their anonymity? And in order to do this, what if there were secret societies, which have existed for hundreds of years, dedicated to removing any evidence of such beings, finding their remains from around the world and either hiding them or destroying them? What if all of this was connected to a secret group who covertly ran the world? And what if the return of these giants could signal the end of the world?
There are some pretty big ideas there, and Weston must be congratulated on the way that he has stitched these together, even if putting these plot revelations here in a manner as stark as this might make the book sound unrealistic. I’m not accepting that the idea is real, but I like the way that it has been used here. And whilst I must admit that some of the characterisation is straight off the blockbuster cookie template, the relentless pace keeps the momentum going without giving you time to think about things much. There’s enough background detail here to make it sound convincing, which the characters clearly pick up on. It’s part Indiana Jones, part X-Files, part James Bond wrapped up in Biblical conspiracy theory in a way that I think Dan Brown would be pleased with.
Being of the blockbuster-adventure type story, there are obvious sacrifices the author has to make in order to maintain the pace. There are elements of the personalities I liked, but if I had stopped to think about it the idea of a gun-toting ex-Maths teacher stretches the credulity a little. It also doesn’t help that there’s a few too many conveniences along the way for the sake of plot, an unrealistic premise of a love interest who is a 28-year-old virgin*, and far too many characters who handily do nice things at the drop of a hat, but it is written is such a way that I was happy to forgive such matters. I was surprised to blow through this in a couple of days.
Summing up then, Bone Chase is a great adventure yarn, set within an intriguing premise and set at a rapid pace that is very entertaining. Whilst you pretty much know what you’re going to get here, Weston doesn’t disappoint.
*Yes, I know these things happen and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But considering the character’s backstory, I wasn’t convinced.
shmadsie's review against another edition
1.0
full disclosure: i received an arc through a goodreads giveaway.
this wasn't exactly godawful but it was beyond poorly executed. the idea had promise and not an ounce of follow-through. the writing was haphazard and shallow, the characters two-dimensional (every. single. one of them. usually there's one or two characters i gravitate towards but there was no meat on literally any of them), and the bone chase a mess of the absolute least interesting parts sloshed together in a watery stew. also this is the second book in a row by a middle-aged white guy that just needed me to know that the love interest was a virgin. (what the fuck is that fantasy..... i guess i didn't realize that was still a thing in the year 20fucking20.) loved it ending on gender stereotypes too (the woman in the kitchen, the man out hunter-gathering), that was just the icing on the cake.
just.... how do you make a book about GIANTS so gd boring???
this wasn't exactly godawful but it was beyond poorly executed. the idea had promise and not an ounce of follow-through. the writing was haphazard and shallow, the characters two-dimensional (every. single. one of them. usually there's one or two characters i gravitate towards but there was no meat on literally any of them), and the bone chase a mess of the absolute least interesting parts sloshed together in a watery stew. also this is the second book in a row by a middle-aged white guy that just needed me to know that the love interest was a virgin. (what the fuck is that fantasy..... i guess i didn't realize that was still a thing in the year 20fucking20.) loved it ending on gender stereotypes too (the woman in the kitchen, the man out hunter-gathering), that was just the icing on the cake.
just.... how do you make a book about GIANTS so gd boring???
letmeinthelibrary's review against another edition
2.0
This is full of conspiracy theories so if you can suspend your disbelief and don't care about science or facts then maybe it's fun? But also the way Ethan ends up in like 6 different ppl's clutches is just ridiculous and this story's flow is all over the place.
It feels like Ochse was trying to achieve the kind of thrillery, mind-blowing fun Dan Brown gives you in Da Vinci Code. The difference is that Robert Langdon puzzles out conspiracies surrounding stories about Mary Magdalene in the Bible and Ethan WhateverHisNameIs just says "bone chase" a lot and is supposed to be figuring out if giants exist and there's a huuuuuge coverup by (all?) religion for giants........ because giants would rule the world if ppl knew about them. What's exciting about Da Vinci Code is that while the story may be fictional, all the things being referenced and the locations of clues are all REAL! In Bone Chase, everything reads like a wacky forum post from people who religiously watch the fake alien documentaries on the History channel. I've yet to comb through all of the references in this book to supposed fact, but in terms of believability, this book doesn't cut it, and therefore loses a lot of the excitement for readers.
There are also a lot of ridiculous things in this book like a woman pulling a machine gun out of a baby carriage to shoot at the protagonists and laying a dead ally on a bed in a crappy motel so "at least he'll get a proper burial this way." Not to mention to incredibly badass but still a virgin Shanny--Ethan's ex girlfriend-- who does all of the hands-on adventuring for Ethan so she has to die/be kidnapped for half the story so Ethan can finally get some agency. Shanny was better than I expected from this sort of story, but I rolled my eyes hard at the obligatory "hero has sex with the damsel" scene. It's just so unnecessary.
I also don't necessarily need virtue signaling in my characters, but some of these people were just written as weirdly racist??? The priest who is very young and Asian says "is it my age or my Asian?" which isn't even a joke worth typing in your first draft, and a guy who eventually pulls over to help says he almost kept driving because he thought they were Mexican.
It feels like Ochse was trying to achieve the kind of thrillery, mind-blowing fun Dan Brown gives you in Da Vinci Code. The difference is that Robert Langdon puzzles out conspiracies surrounding stories about Mary Magdalene in the Bible and Ethan WhateverHisNameIs just says "bone chase" a lot and is supposed to be figuring out if giants exist and there's a huuuuuge coverup by (all?) religion for giants........ because giants would rule the world if ppl knew about them. What's exciting about Da Vinci Code is that while the story may be fictional, all the things being referenced and the locations of clues are all REAL! In Bone Chase, everything reads like a wacky forum post from people who religiously watch the fake alien documentaries on the History channel. I've yet to comb through all of the references in this book to supposed fact, but in terms of believability, this book doesn't cut it, and therefore loses a lot of the excitement for readers.
There are also a lot of ridiculous things in this book like a woman pulling a machine gun out of a baby carriage to shoot at the protagonists and laying a dead ally on a bed in a crappy motel so "at least he'll get a proper burial this way." Not to mention to incredibly badass but still a virgin Shanny--Ethan's ex girlfriend-- who does all of the hands-on adventuring for Ethan so she has to die/be kidnapped for half the story so Ethan can finally get some agency. Shanny was better than I expected from this sort of story, but I rolled my eyes hard at the obligatory "hero has sex with the damsel" scene. It's just so unnecessary.
I also don't necessarily need virtue signaling in my characters, but some of these people were just written as weirdly racist??? The priest who is very young and Asian says "is it my age or my Asian?" which isn't even a joke worth typing in your first draft, and a guy who eventually pulls over to help says he almost kept driving because he thought they were Mexican.
garrik's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Such a thrill ride, hard to put down.