Review: Forgotten Bones by Vivian Barz

“If you want something for the spooky season that covers all bases then Forgotten Bones is perfect.”
~ Under the Covers

When bodies of children are discovered on the property of a well known paedophile the culprit seems obvious. But, small town cop Officer Susan Marlan isn’t so sure. The bodies go back for decades and no matter how extensively they search, their suspect seems to have disappeared as well. Professor Eric Evans has moved to this small town to get away from his recent divorce and start afresh. Only he is haunted by grotesque visions of a dead child. Could it be related to the recent news of the children’s bodies that have been discovered, or is his schizophrenia offering up new hallucinations?

This book has been on my kindle for a while, there is so much packed in: there’s the thriller element, the paranormal aspects of the book and then finally, there’s even a hint of romance as well. Perfect. If you want something for the spooky season that covers all bases then Forgotten Bones is perfect. I really enjoyed it, there are so many interesting story threads in this book and they all weave together to create a thriller with hints of horror, romance and intrigue.

Lets talk about the aspect of this book which prompted me to grab it as soon as I saw the blurb, the hero Eric. Eric has schizophrenia, which first manifested when he was a teenager, now as an adult he has this well under control. Until he moves and he starts to see some horrifying hallucinations. Are they real, is he really seeing ghosts? Or is this his schizophrenia reacting to the recent emotional turmoil caused by the breakdown of his marriage and subsequent divorce? I loved this uncertainty, of not quite knowing what was real and what wasn’t. I also liked that we have a neurodivergent hero. Schizophrenia is something you hear a lot about in a negative context and, ghostly visions aside, it was good to see a character who represented this in a positive way.

Susan, our heroine, was also a strong character but, stuck in a small town her talents are mostly overlooked. When the bodies appear and she begins to suspect it isn’t as simple as it seems, she is ignored. Her and Eric were unlikely partners, but they worked really well together and, I, of course, was excited about the romance that began to develop between them and I am looking forward to seeing how this continues in the next book.

As for the mystery whodunit it aspect of the story. I love it when a book keeps me guessing and Forgotten Bones has so many dark twists and turns, it was fantastic. By the end I had figured some of it out, but there were some shocking moments and genuinely tense and exciting scenes. The only issues I really had with this book and why it didn’t quite meet the 4 star mark, was that it was very slow to start and had a fairly plodding pace. I can understand why, as it was building up the picture of Eric and Susan’s life, but the first part of this book was a little too slow for me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, the characters were great and the story was gripping, I am definitely going to be picking up the next book in the series, I can’t wait to see what scary situation Eric and Susan get into next.

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[about-author author=”Vivian Barz”]

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