The Bone Hunger

I read the first book in the series, The Bone Curse, and really liked it, so I was happy to see there was a new one. No voodoo this time around, but Ben gets caught up in something else weird. It's three years later, he's matured a bit, and he's enjoying being a father and an orthopedic surgery resident. But then the severed legs of his patients start turning up, and things get ugly for him again.

I had trouble putting it down. I loved the thriller aspect but also the whodunit mystery angle. Was happy to see Laurette is back too. Fans of medical thrillers will enjoy it, even if they haven’t read the first one. It stands on its own. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this gruesome book....

well it took me a while to get my head around all the characters and being a bit squeamish i found some of the bits a bit gruesome...

but oh my word i couldnt stop reading this book....and oh man that ending...gee whiz...didnt see any of it coming...so many red herrings and innuendos that until it was revealed i never suspected a thing....

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors works

The Bone Hunger is the second book in the Benjamin Oris medical thriller series written by Carrie Rubin. I followed the author's blog a few years ago and picked up a copy of the book to read on a trip to Italy. If you read my review of that book, you'll learn that something that happens to the main character happened to me while in Italy, and I was convinced I had a curse put on me. Fast forward a few years... this one is released (or will be soon, yes... I got lucky enough to find an early copy), and since I can't travel right now, I opted to read the book in my apartment. Luckily, I didn't experience the same thing this time around as I would not want to find missing human limbs in the park! But I would definitely recommend you read this book; it is fantastic.

To catch you up... Ben has a young son with a woman he met in the last book. They are not together, but they are very close. As a result of what happened in the previous mystery, her knee needs to be repaired. Just so happens that it's a doctor Ben works for who will do the surgery, but it's also the same doctor who has several patients that have been brutally murdered. Less than 10 people were part of the surgical team, and it's clear one of them has gone a little off the deep end after a plane crash earlier in the year. But can Ben save the mother of his son in time?

I don't often read medical thrillers, and the only other one I do regularly read is the Patricia Cornwell Scarpetta series, which is much more technical and detailed, sometimes too much so. Rubin's books are perfectly balanced because she explains enough to keep you connected but also not too much that you're inundated with trying to understand the medical pieces and losing track of the clues and red herrings. As a mystery, it's well plotted and ripe with moments of clarity and confusion. Between characters with expected attitudes and others with shocking ones, there are lots to sink your teeth into here... you will bounce back and forth with guessing the villain's identity, and when it comes together in the end, you might kick yourself for missing some things.

The setting is described strongly. I can see the hospital, recognize the city of Philadelphia, and connect with the various rooms and backgrounds. I easily followed the chase scenes, found myself drawn to Ben's generosity and love for his family and friends. His dad is amazing, and his mom is quite a pip - by the way, she's in a coma the entire book! This is a great series... I like that I root for him, and in the end, there is a shocker apart from the mystery that left me breathless and worried. I can't wait to find out where the series goes next! Easily 4.5 stars and one to put on your reading lists this summer.

The first book was great and this one was no exception. It did start out a little slow but picked up once it caught back up to the present time. Benjamin has definitely grown since the first book, though he is still stubborn about anything supernatural. But he is more open to it now than what he was after the ordeal in the first book. The plot was very suspenseful and it kept me guessing until the very end who the killer was. The surprise/twist right at the end was also well done. It was definitely something I didn't see coming at all. I can't wait to find out how it will affect the next book.

I have never read anything by Carrie Rubin before, but will definitely be reading more by her. This book snared me from the first page and was well paced and I liked the characters. It reminded me of the Robin Cook books, medical based thrillers. Its nice to find a lead who is not a hero type, but a hard done by guy. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers. Can't wait for the next one to see where the story goes, especially with the cliff hanger at the end.