As a long time reader of the Temperance Brennan books, I was surprised by how much I didn't enjoy this novel. These books are never going to break the mold, but you can count on them for fun suspense and decently-correct science.

Not so much with this one - it's messy, rushed, and the science ranges from bad (at best) to downright dangerous (at worst). I found it hard to connect with a single one of the characters, even the established ones, and the victims seemed more throw away than usual. I was way more interested in the b plot mystery about death masks, which is barely given 5 pages total and mostly shafted to Brennan's friend to solve.

I was straight up flummoxed by Ryan's mystically rapid recovery after he's hit by a speeding car (to say nothing of the fact that he should have been WAY more injured in general) and the use of CRISPR technology to... edit vaccines to disfigure and kill people? Not only is that not a real thing, it's also downright dangerous and tone deaf in our current climate of anti-vac sentiment.

All in all, it felt like everyone in the book hated everyone else and that the characters wanted to rush through to the end as much as Reichs clearly did. I suppose the one good part is Bridie - I too would have spent the whole time yowling my displeasure at the goings on.