Review: Hollow Bones by CJ Lyons

Hollow Bones is the latest in The FBI Supervisory Special Agent Caitlyn Tierney series by C.J. Lyons. I'm not exactly certain where this lands in the series count but I'm assuming somewhere around #2 or #3. Hollow Bones is my first encounter with C.J. Lyons, and I have to say, it was pretty good.

Hollow Bones opens to an explosive standoff between Caitlyn Tierney and an unexpected adversary. From page one it's gripping and action packed. The next chapter doesn't lose steam as the character Maria Alvarado is introduced. Almost immediately things seem wrong, but the strong will of a 19-year old anxious to spend time from under a parents watchful eye, is plunged into a nightmare. Maria deboards a cruise ship and less than an hour later is running from some very scary people with guns in the Guatelmalan jungles. Oh My! 

After being missing for not very long, Caitlyn Tierney is called in to find the missing girl. Maria's father being a leader in biotechnology has pulled enough strings to get such a swift response to his daughter's disappearance. Slowly Tierney unravels the truth that there is a lot more going on than what she could have ever imagined.

The perks of this novel is that there are simply no dull moments. C.J. Lyons manages to keep the tensity and action going for the better half of the novel and for that I am grateful. There's nothing more boring than a boring novel. Lyons also brings her knowledge of medicine and the horrors of said profession into the forefront without slowing down the novel. There's info that's given in a funeral home that made me cringe... whoa!

The gripes I have with this novel should be pretty evident with it being a part of a series. Those gripes are the thinness of the characters. There's a lot eluded to about Tierney's past but not enough information was given for me to see how it affected her one way or another. The most well developed character is Maria but even she's simply a caricature. A naive teenage girl who suddenly finds the strength to survive no matter what. We all love those type of stories but readers aren't as dense as that. We want to really experience her development and see it blossom.

Overall, my introduction to C.J. Lyons has been enjoyable. I look forward to reading more novels she has written. Hollow Bones is definitely for her fans as well as fans of Tess Gerritsen or Tami Hoag. I recommend this novel to all interested in a quick paced read that allows no time to breath.  ***