Virals (Virals, Book 1)

Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2010: Kathy Reichs, creator of the hit television show and mystery series, Bones, brings her bestselling blend of science and suspense to teens with the first in a new series, Virals. Tory is the science-obsessed niece of a famous forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan (star of the Bones program and novels), living on a remote island off the coast of South Carolina. An old military ID tag leads Tory and her best friends, Ben, Hi, and Shelton--all self proclaimed “sci-philes”--to an illegal research lab, where they are exposed to a mutant strain of canine parvovirus. When the teens begin experiencing preternatural physical changes, their search for answers brings them in contact with cold-blooded killers. Reichs’s characters are realistically drawn modern teenagers, and the state-of-the-art forensic details give this thriller an added edge. Short, heart-pounding chapters move the action forward at breakneck speed and the satisfying conclusion sets the tone for the next installment (coming in summer of 2011). --Seira Wilson