Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator by Josh Berk YP FIC BERK

Guy joined the forensics club against his usual policy of laziness and disinterest for two reasons: hot girls and death.  He’s always been interested in the former and the sudden passing of his father has him semi-obsessed (as much as Guy gets obsessed with anything) with the latter. When he and his best friend, Anoop find a REAL dead body at a FAKE forensic scene, they decide to solve the case. The deeper they look the more Guy has to actually DO things; and the more he finds out about his deceased dad, but they aren’t things he wants to find out.

I read this book weeks ago, but I’m just now getting around to reviewing it. HA! Procrastination joke!  Fortunately the jokes are way better in Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinato. Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator’s (Does it show that I like the ridiculously long title?) humor is by far its main strength.  The humor is brash, dumb, and juvenile, which means its right up my alley!  If you like about 337 variations on ‘your momma’ jokes, then it’s likely up your alley as well. And who doesn’t like ‘your momma’ jokes? Your momma? Like Beck’s previous book The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin,  the overall mystery is less of a draw than the humor. The main character is likeably dorky and lazy which made him very relatable to me.  Some of the side characters weren’t all that fleshed out or memorable, but never to the point of being distracting. This is a fun, light (and I could use that after the dark, darker, and darkest books I’ve reviewed lately), and consistently funny mystery.  I recommend it to anyone that needs or just highly desires a good laugh.  

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Virals by Kathy Reichs YP FIC REICHS

Tory Brennan, niece of famed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones TV series and novels), has just moved to a nearly uninhabited island to live with her father that she just found out existed. She passes her days exploring the islands wildlife with her newfound friends, fellow “sci-philes” that share her love of mystery and discovery. When they find and explore an abandoned lab they rescue a lab animal with a virus that has never been seen before. Soon the virus passes to the group altering their DNA and unlocking heightened senses and abilities that appear when they are in danger. And they certainly are in danger, because the first thing their senses lead them into is a mystery of murder and scientific corruption. They’ll need all their scientific know how and their new powers to crack the case and survive to tell about it.

This is a fast paced forensic science/mystery/paranormal adventure! And I never thought I’d see those genres get mixed together, but surprisingly they work well. Basically it is like Bones or CSI meets Maximum Ride. It can be a little weird to go from hard science to science fiction, but the powers are cool and once the plot gets really moving the action is so much fun most readers will enjoy the ride. The characters aren’t that original or deep, but no worse than the forensic science and sci-fi adventure books that Virals takes its inspirations from. Basically, the book is fun and there isn’t anything else exactly like it out there. Fans of Patterson’s Maximum Ride series should especially enjoy this one, and I think Virals could be an even better series in time.

The Dying Breath: A Forensic Mystery by Alane Ferguson YP FIC FERGUSON

Cameryn Mahoney is turning 18 in just a week and can’t wait to begin her life as an adult, but before she can she must solve her deadliest mystery yet. Her ex-boyfriend Kyle O’Neill has come back and says he’ll love her to “her dying breath,” which might be sweet if he wasn’t also a sociopathic murderer leaving a dead body next to a love note. Cameryn will have to use all her skills and knowledge of forensics to stop the killing and find Kyle before he kills her and the man dearest to her.

This is the fourth book in the Forensic Mystery series. It does a really good job of catching the reader up on the backstory, so it’s easy to jump into. There is some pretty creepy and gruesome stuff in these books, but nothing worse than what you’d see on CSI. The characters take center stage in this volume and Cameryn and her maybe-boyfriend Justin are more of a focus sometimes then the mystery itself. I think the characters were interesting, but it would have nice to have more forensic scenes in this volume. However the scenes they do have are top notch and the book is very suspenseful overall. If you are fan of the million or so forensics shows on TV then you really should check this series out. The previous books can also be found in YP FIC FERGUSON.