Twenty Seven Bones by Jonathan Nasaw

I usually don’t review audio books. I like listening to them as a preferable form of entertainment while I’m driving or working out (however rarely this happens :O) but I find it quite difficult to write about character and places especially if I am not sure what the correct spellings might be, if the names I would want to talk about are not mentioned at the back cover of an audio book. This was one of the issues I had with reviewing Twenty Seven Bones by Jonathan Nasaw, albeit not the reason why I didn’t like the book.

Twenty Seven Bones is supposed to be a bone-chilling thriller (note the ‘is supposed to be’) taking place on St. Luke island. This small, quiet place is being shaken by the discovery of two mutilated bodies with their hands chopped off. A retired special agent Pendergast is asked to come to the island to help the local police solve the murders before the news of a serial killer gets out into the open and potentially ruins the tourist commerce. Soon however, the rumors spread as there are more victims popping out and the serial killer gets nicknamed “The Machete Man”. As it turns out, it’s not one but two serial killers working together. The murderers are a married couple, obsessed with the mythical power of the last breath. Soon, Phil and Emily are joined with a sneaky well known and rich inhabitant of the island, Lois (at least I think it’s Lois, might be Luis, for all I know). From that moment the events seem to spin out of control and Pendergast saves the day!


I really did not like this book. It was boring and there was nothing shocking or chilling about it. Let me just start with saying that I dislike thrillers in which the murderer is revealed at the very beginning and there is no suspense whatsoever from that point on. This was such a book. I kept waiting for the shocking ending, and kept waiting, and waiting…and it didn’t come. Let’s face it, unless a book is a grand literary achievement, with captivating writing, you need a good plot and a healthy dose of mystery for a thriller to work. Twenty Seven Bones was not a literary piece of art and it had neither a good plot or any mystery. The only good thing about it was the narrator, Dion Graham, who did a splendid job with the Creole (I think)accent. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him, impersonating all characters and it was the only thing that kept me going to the end. At one point I stopped caring about the plot and just listened to the narrators voice. All and all, if you are in for the chills and thrills while listening to thrillers on audio, skip this one or you’re in danger of falling asleep at the wheel.