Review: Forgotten Bones by Vivian Barz

Forgotten Bones

by Vivian Barz

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Pages: 298

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  An unlikely pair teams up to investigate a brutal murder in a haunting thriller that walks the line between reality and impossibility.

When small-town police officers discover the grave of a young boy, they’re quick to pin the crime on a convicted felon who lives nearby. But when it comes to murder, Officer Susan Marlan never trusts a simple explanation, so she’s just getting started.

Meanwhile, college professor Eric Evans hallucinates a young boy in overalls: a symptom of his schizophrenia—or so he thinks. But when more bodies turn up, Eric has more visions, and they mirror details of the murder case. As the investigation continues, the police stick with their original conclusion, but Susan’s instincts tell her something is off. The higher-ups keep stonewalling her, and the FBI’s closing in.

Desperate for answers, Susan goes rogue and turns to Eric for help. Together they take an unorthodox approach to the case as the evidence keeps getting stranger. With Eric’s hallucinations intensifying and the body count rising, can the pair separate truth from illusion long enough to catch a monster? 


Kritters Thoughts:  In a prologue with an interesting car accident that unearths a skeleton starting this book began in such a sweet spot, but with chapter and chapter and page by page this book didn't live up to the beginning and I was sad with my reaction by the end.

In a small town in California, two police officers are used to responding to the random small town things when the skeleton is unearthed and a recently released predator goes missing - SHIT hits the fan!  At the same time in walks a man who just moved to town and is seeing visions and decides to see if they are related to the drama in the small town.  

I loved the premise.  I loved the plot.  But I didn't love the execution.  I read a lot of mystery thrillers so I know I am extra at looking for clues, but I felt as though I figured out the ins and outs of this one way too early and that always disappoints me.  There were moments where I honestly got frustrated that things seemed way too obvious and knew that I couldn't recommend this one to my friends and family who adore this genre.  If you are a casual mystery thriller reader this one would be great for you.

The premise with a man who just moves to town and has a disorder that makes him unreliable added to the typical small town police officer book, but it didn't work as well as I wanted it to.  I was hoping that this would bring on some creep factor, but it just fell flat for me.  

I would read this author again, but would definitely have to really review the plot and premise to make sure that I would be into those things before diving in.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 43 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Little Bird Publicity.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.