Kathy Reichs to be Featured Speaker at ThrillerFest 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
For the writing professional or the thiller enthusiast, ThrillerFest 2008 promises to be an event unlike any in the world. On July 10-12 in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, NY, USA, presentations and interviews will expose the full spectrum of the thriller genre.
ThrillerFest 2008 promises to be better than ever with a star-studded cast: ThrillerMaster Sandra Brown and Spotlight Authors Eric Van Lustbader, Dr. Kathy Reichs, and Brad Thor. Fans can mix and mingle with their favorite authors, learn what makes them tick, the secrets of their craft, and what inspires them to write what they do. Attendees are invited to a fabulous night on Saturday, July 12, for the party of the year, the International Thriller Writers Banquet featuring the ThrillerMaster Sandra Brown.
Dr. Kathy Reichs will begin the activities with a 9:00 AM interview on July 11.
Join the real experts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) for fascinating presentations of the latest technology. Terrorism, weapons, bombs and intelligence are great fodder for thrillers today. Several special agents will demonstrate the weapons and tools the ATF uses in day-to-day operations. You can see and handle weapons used by law enforcement plus confiscated street guns and trafficking handguns, learn about explosives and more! Get answers straight from the real experts.
You are invitied to register for ThrillerFest 2008 as soon as as possible at the International Thriller Writers website. We look forward to seeing you there!
KathyReichs.com
Bones to Ashes in Paperback Available June 24
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The thriller Bones to Ashes by NY Times best selling author Kathy Reichs will be released in paperback on June 24, 2008. The series features Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist thrust into the dangerous business of solving some of most hideous crimes documented by police.A video detailing the basis for this new thriller is available on KathyReichs.com. The blog comments on BookVideos.tv are also interesting and entertaining.
The literary world has received Bones to Ashes with high praise.
From Library Journal
Reichs keeps her superb suspense piece on track, leaving the reader totally wrung out by the time the ultimate villains are tracked down and confronted.
From Booklist
With crisp prose, well-drawn characters, unflagging attention to detail, and a resonant emotional angle, Reichs’s tenth Temperance Brennan mystery…finds the forensic anthropologist in top form…Reichs deftly provides enough background to make this a successful stand-alone, at the same time advancing relationships between characters for her increasing legion of fans, who won’t want to miss this one.
From Kirkus Reviews
Tempe is both deeper and funnier than she’s ever been, making this her best outing to date.
From More magazine
We can’t get enough.
From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Reichs's entertaining 10th Temperance Brennan forensic thriller (after Break No Bones), Brennan, her relationship with Det. Andrew Ryan on the rocks, welcomes the distraction of an unidentified New Brunswick skeleton from Québec's cold case unit. But when the bones are determined to be that of an adolescent girl, Brennan is convinced they belong to her childhood friend, Évangéline Landry, who disappeared at age 15. Now Brennan must come to terms with Évangéline's possible death, while trying to ignore her feelings for Ryan as they investigate a series of teenage abduction murders that could be tied to the mysterious bones. With her usual blend of cutting-edge forensic science, nail-biting suspense and characters that pop off the page, Reichs, who's vice president of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists and the producer of Fox's Bones, has produced another winner in one of the genre's most satisfying series. (Aug.)
From teaching FBI agents at Quantico how to detect and recover human remains, to separating and identifying commingled body parts in her Montreal lab, as a forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has brought her own dramatic work experience to her mesmerizing forensic thrillers. She continues to work full time for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina and for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Medecine Legale for the province of Quebec. She is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Kathy is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Demand for Bones to Ashes in paperback will be high. Check with your local bookseller for availability.
KathyReichs.com
Full Bones Episodes Available on Your PC
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Watch episodes from BONES on Fox Television on your PC in crisp, full-screen video with clear sound. The Fox On Demand web site provides outstanding viewer software for free download and installation that allows you to watch BONES episodes as though you were watching your television.
This feature may be especially attractive to BONES viewers who missed or want to replay the final episode of the 2008 season, The Pain in the Heart. More than a little controversy has been generated by the discovery that Zack, a beloved character in the series, is an apprentice of Gormogon, a cannibalistic serial killer.
Experience all the twists of the most controversial season of this hit television series on the Fox Television website.
KathyReichs.com
Crime Scene Investigations and Testimony
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
It used to be a complicated process at each new trial where scientists educated the jurors on what forensic science could do and what it had been able to reveal in that particular case. Sometimes this was such a new concept that it was not readily received as reliable evidence. As knowledge of forensic science entered the mainstream, public acceptance of this technology increased exponentially and scientists breathed a sigh of relief. Their need for an accurate explanation of the science was still needed, but at least they were no longer starting from scratch. Jurors began to accept these new procedures and take them into consideration during trials.However the pendulum has swung the other way, with news stories bringing up cases where the jury has not been swayed by significant amounts of this incriminating forensic evidence. This is called the CSI Effect, since TV shows showing forensic science solving case after case have led jurors to trust this evidence more than might perhaps be warranted. Jurors are waiting for that lynchpin piece of amazing forensic work that makes it an open and shut case like they see on television and while forensic science can help build a case, it may not always be able to completely solve the case.
While the level of public awareness regarding forensic science is laudable, entertainment is just that and isn't a solid basis for judgment. Kathy spends considerable time working with the Bones cast and crew to ensure the science is accurate but even this does not replace expert testimony in real life trials. While we as an audience enjoy the stories, we need to consider real life cases through a different lens as a jury of peers, considering the actual evidence instead of comparing it to evidence on TV.
KathyReichs.com
Suspense and Mystery
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Forensic anthropology offers elements of suspense and mystery, making it the perfect backdrop for a novel. When a skeleton is discovered and a forensic anthropologist such as Kathy is brought in, it may be as simple as verifying that the bones are not human, to as complex as identifying a victim and investigating the crime. The latter is filled with a natural mystery and process of discovery as clues are found and put together.Scientists use all the tools that modern technology has to offer, including carbon dating and DNA testing, to get to the bottom of the case. While not all cases start with a question and end with a satisfactory answer, it is amazing what forensics is able to uncover and how cases that once would have gone unsolved can now be closed. This ability to get to the bottom of a mystery is an obvious point of curiosity and interest, making it ideal for sharing with a larger audience. Much of the work Kathy does in real life becomes the jumping off point for storylines found in both Bones and in her novels.
KathyReichs.com
Forensic Science in the News
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Forensic science is taking on an ever more important role as it becomes increasingly sophisticated and helps solve investigations. Forensic scientists have played key roles in high profile court cases and books, movies, and television shows have further brought forensics into the public eye. Every day, forensic science is part of the news. Here are some of the most recent of those stories.USA Today – Crime Scene Team Exposes Animal Cruelty
"Forensic crime-scene investigations are no longer limited to human victims. Many of the very same techniques brought to public awareness by the popular CSI television series are being used to make cases against those who have harmed or killed cats, dogs, horses or other animals."
This is also seen in Bones to Ashes when Tempe comes across a dog skeleton during her investigation.
Forensic Magazine – Eliminating DNA Backlog
"Every criminal that the United States fails to convict on first offence goes on to commit, on average, an additional six crimes. It's a chilling thought, and it sits at the heart of one of the most pressing issues to face forensic science today; the DNA backlog. The scale of the backlog problem has reached frightening proportions, with the latest Bureau of Justice Statistics indicating a 73% increase in case work, and a resulting 135% increase in case work backlogs, between 1997 and 2000 alone."
AP - 226 Bodies Exhumed From Grave in Bosnia
"Forensic experts have exhumed the remains of 226 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre from a mass grave in eastern Bosnia, officials said Thursday."
The Guardian - Forensic DNA tests 'reveal traces of Madeleine's body on resort beach'
"Forensic analysis by retired South African police superintendent Danie Krugel claimed to reveal Madeleine's body had either been temporarily buried or was still beneath the beach at Praia da Luz, the resort from where she disappeared on 3 May."
The Chicago Tribune - Pathologist shortage hits small towns hard
"It took 18 months for Marilyn McGill to be told what she already knew
in her heart. Until she had her father's official cause of death, McGill could not file a claim that the 79-year-old former coal miner's demise was linked to 'black lung' disease. So she waited anxiously for autopsy results from the lone forensic pathologist performing hundreds of autopsies each year in southern Illinois and southwest Indiana. The delay highlights the legal and emotional impact of a national shortage of forensic pathologists -- doctors who keep the wheels of justice turning by performing autopsies in cases of unnatural or unusual deaths."
Frederick News-Post - Forensic analysis begins
"The investigation into a set of human remains found Saturday in a park near Fredericktowne Village is now in the hands of an anthropologist."
Houston Chronicle - Value of eyewitnesses unclear
"For those who work on behalf of inmates who loudly proclaim their innocence - and ask for DNA testing to prove it - the faulty identification of Ronald Gene Taylor was no surprise. The great majority of DNA exonerations have involved bad eyewitness IDs."
The Freelance Star – Fingerprints Go High-Tech
"LatentMaster combines custom-made software with a custom-equipped camera. It can detect fingerprints left at crime scenes that can't be obtained with traditional techniques. It can process them faster and without the risk of destroying evidence the way methods involving chemicals can."
Seattle Times – Red Hair Part of Neanderthal Genetic Profile
"The hair color of humanity's closest relative might sound trivial, but the finding, announced today in the journal Science, stunned anthropologists with the sheer power of genetics to reveal what Neanderthals looked like and how they behaved. And that, some say, will change the way humanity views itself."
Chicago Daily Herald – State Police Lauded for Saving Evidence
"Illinois State Police forensic scientists Cecilia Doyle, Debora Depczynski and the late Barbara Wilson discovered DNA traces on a discarded chicken bone found at the Brown's crime scene. The evidence led to the May conviction of Juan Luna, one of two men charged in the grisliest murders in suburban history."
KathyReichs.com
Bones to Ashes Feedback
Monday, October 8, 2007
There has been a lot of buzz and great support for Kathy's latest book and it's been great to see! It's wonderful to read about so many people enjoying Bones to Ashes and to hear what all these readers have to say. Below are excerpts from some of the online discussion, so take a look and see what everyone's talking about.Houstoned
"Not many women live lives that become a series of bestselling books and a television series. Dr. Kathy Reichs does."
What I've Read
"This is another Temperance Brennan novel. This time the setting is Canada instead of the Carolinas. This book has multiple threads that all converge into an interesting conclusion. There's plenty of mystery and suspense, and Tempe's sister Harry shows up to add some spice to the story. Harry's presence almost makes you wish for illustrations :) Highly recommended.”
Patternings
"Reichs latest novel, Bones to Ashes, hasn't disappointed. Her heroine, Tempe Brennan, is once again caught up in the most horrifying of crimes, using her forensic anthropological skills to work out what has happened not only to several missing girls and unidentified bodies, but also to a childhood friend whom she hasn't seen for nearly thirty years."
Also, Searching Bones posted an interesting interview the Smithsonian did with Kathy that is definitely worth reading.
KathyReichs.com
