14 year old Tory Brennan, niece of renowned forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, has been living with her dad on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina for six months. She meets a group of teenage guys (Hiram, Ben and Shelton) who are just as smart as she is. She quickly becomes the leader of their group, the “Sci-Philes”. Tory is obsessed with a wolf-dog pack that lives on Loggerhead Island where her dad works. When she notices her favourite wolf-dog Cooper is missing, she knows something is wrong. Upon breaking into one of the science laboratories on Loggerhead Island to clean an old army dog-tag, the friends find Cooper. He is sick and trapped in a cage for medical testing. The “Sci-Philes” take Cooper with them when they leave the lab and keep him for a few weeks to help him recover. As they are caring for him, they realise that they are exposed to an experimental type of canine parvovirus B19. The parvo alters their DNA; their senses heighten to become dog-like and they gain canine-quick reflexes.
Tory, Hi, Ben and Shelton combine their scientific knowledge with their new physical attributes to solve a cold-case murder mystery relating to the dog-tag they found. However, as they uncover more about the mystery, the murderer becomes anxious that they will uncover him, and decides to kill them. Fortunately, now they are a pack. They are Virals.
Kathy Reichs is a popular author who has written many adult crime novels. The TV show “Bones” is based on her adult books. Virals is the first of her books for youths and many critics were impressed. The terminology is all explained in a clear way, allowing people who don’t know much about science to understand the story line. Readers were also impressed with the way the characters were developed.
I recommend this book to any teenagers who are interested in “Bones”, mystery/crime novels or biology.
You're reading whaaaat?
