Virals

Virals is a series of novels for young adults written by the American forensic anthropologist and crime writer, Kathy Reichs and her son Brendan Reichs, featuring Tory Brennan, great-niece of Temperance Brennan.

Series

The series was the idea of Reichs's son, attorney Brendan Reichs, who also co-writes the books.

The stories, which have elements of science fiction and fantasy, are set in Charleston, South Carolina and the nearby islands and follow the adventures of Tory Brennan (the great-niece of Temperance Brennan, the fictional heroine of Reichs's adult thriller series) and her friends Hiram Stolowitski, Ben Blue, and Shelton Devers.

Books

Downloadable Novellas

Virals (novel)

Virals is the first novel in the Virals series of novels for young adults written by the American forensic anthropologist and crime writer, Kathy Reichs and her son Brendan Reichs, featuring Tory Brennan, great-niece of Temperance Brennan.

It is the first of Reichs's novels to be written specifically for a young-adult audience.

Plot

Tory and her friends find a rusted dog tag dating from the Vietnam War era on Loggerhead Island, and trying to identify its owner leads them to an unsolved murder and infection by an experimental virus that gives them special powers, which they describe as "flaring". They acquire the infection while saving a wolfdog being used for illegal experiments by Dr. Karsten.

Meanwhile, they discover a skeleton who proves to be the daughter of the owner of the dogtag. But some people shoot at them, which forces them to run. They manage to escape, but the next time they visit, the skeleton has been replaced with monkey bones.

As the story progresses, it gets clear that someone else gets involved. Someone who wouldn't be suspected. But who is it?