Reviewing the Evidence Time - Exposure by Kathy and Brendan Reichs

Title: Exposure (US Link)
Author: Kathy and Brendan Reichs
Genre: crime, sci-fi, thriller, YA
Series: Virals (#4)

A few starting notes:

Exposure is the fourth book of the Virals series - as such, my golden rule for reviewing sequels applies. The level of spoilerage will not go beyond what's revealed in the blurb of this book.

I'm a big fan of Kathy Reichs, and I picked this up in the library because I love the Virals series.

Premise:

Tory Brennan and her friends, known collectively (to themselves at least,) as 'the Virals,' are searching for classmates. Peter and Lucy, the twins, have been missing for days - and the police seem at a loss. But, it's not going to be easy to find them, particularly not with their Viral powers becoming increasingly unreliable...

Best bits:

This is kind of like The Famous Five or Mystery Inc meets CSI. Translation: awesome. This is teens solving crime with forensic knowledge and sci-fi hijinks going on. It rocks.

Tory Brennan is a fantastic heroine - smart, with a fabulous sense of humour, and a hell of a lot of determination. She's also likeable - which is refreshing, as often YA heroines are more than slightly irritating.

The plot twists and turns with pin-point precision, with few weak links to go around. The entire thing is handled with control, and the sparse prose is done incredibly well (people who have read this blog before may or may not be aware of my love affair with well-executed, sparse, prose.) The level of detail, as always with Reichs' books, is interesting and accurate - Reichs knows her stuff, to the extent that she can compress that knowledge into relatable facts with seeming ease.

Not so great bits:

Some fans of Reichs' adult books won't approve of the sci-fi elements of the Virals series - but many, (like me,) will be totally happy to just accept it and move on.

It's not so much as a love triangle but a love rectangle here - don't get me wrong, Tory rocks, but why are there so many dudes following her round in a state of puppy love? Argh! At least it largely stays out the way of the plot.

Whitney - Tory's father's girlfriend - is intensely irritating. Granted, she's supposed to be, but unless someone slaps her... and soon... I think I may have to scream. Loudly. :)

While theoretically you could read this as a stand-alone, I do recommend giving the Virals series the full treatment - you'll just understand everything so much better that way.

Verdict:

A fantastic and hugely enjoyable continuation of the series, this has peril, crime, forensics, teen kick-asses, and a whole lot of readable-ness! Enjoy.