Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Tory Brennan someday hopes to walk in the footsteps of her great aunt, Temperance Brennan, a famous anthropologist. For now 14-year-old Tory will have to focus on finishing high school and getting used to living on Morris Island with her new-found father, whom she finally met after losing her mother six months ago to a fatal car accident.

Morris Island doesn’t provide much mental stimulation for a young genius so Tory and her three pals, Ben, Shelton and Hiram have to find ways to entertain themselves. What started off as a simple boat ride to Loggerhead Island to see the wolf-dogs turns into much more than they expected. Though they don't see the wolf pack on this day, they do find an old military dog tag, a clue to a 40-year-old missing person’s case and a secret lab where illegal experiments are being conducted on one of the wolf-dog puppies.

As Tory and the boys look deeper into the ID tag mystery, they not only have to evade armed gunmen bent on ceasing their efforts, but the foursome must deal with strange physical changes that are coursing through their bodies; the result of unknowingly exposing themselves to a mutant virus strain after rescuing the wolf-dog.

Although she writes fantastic adult books, Kathy Reichs seemed to underestimate the intelligence of her younger target audience. Rather than simply making a slight adjustment to her usual style, the author took on a different voice and the resulting tone felt a bit dumb-downed.

Though the concept was interesting, the age demographic and structure got a bit tangled by a story-line led by a girl too young to be hanging out with 16-year-old boys—especially all hours of the night—numerous felonies being committed by minors and a smattering of curse words; only to dilute it all with random interspersing of picture-book prose. At times, Virals read like Scooby-Doo meets Encyclopedia Brown in a Stand by Me remake.

Whereas it seemed Tory was going to be a “Bones” for the younger generation, she and her “pack” have instead become a new hybrid of paranormal science sleuths. Perhaps the sequel will better determine the direction this series is going to take.
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Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Razorbill; First Edition edition (November 2, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-1595143426