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Bone Music by Christopher
Rice is not a classical melody, but more like hard rock. The
scenes are riveting and realistic enough that there is an
element of believability, alternating between a thriller and
the fringes of science fiction.
Rice considers it a “sci-fi crossover where it has a
gratified fantasy dusted with the grit of existence. What
was extraordinary: the drug that makes Charlotte able to do
incredible things and the pharmaceutical company that is so
wealthy they have infinite resources including their paramilitary
units. The drug attacks the process in the brain to prevent
fright so that Charlotte is not paralyzed by fear and can
actually fight. Also, throughout the series an ongoing question
will be why does the drug only work with Charlotte, allowing
her a three-hour window where she is capable of absolutely
Superhuman strength.”
This consuming read has the heroine trying to overcome her
tragic past by rebuilding her life and overcoming her trust
issues. The intensity begins from page one when a husband
and wife team of serial killers abducts a nine-month-old baby
after brutally killing its mother. They raised Trina, hoping
to include her in their viciousness, grooming her to follow
in their footsteps. Yet, she could not even kill a bird and
felt remorse. This shows that environment is not the sole
basis for serial killers since Charlotte refuses to kill.
Luckily for her, at the age of seven, the FBI raided their
hideout.
Throughout her life, Trina had to be under the suspicion of
some who felt that she was complicit in the murders, labeled
as “The Burning Girl.” She attempts to bury her
past by changing her name to Charlotte Rowe, and baring her
soul to a Dylan “Cole” the psychologist pretending
to help, but actually had his own agenda. He gives her a supposed
calming pill, which is actually an experimental drug. It transforms
her adrenaline when triggered by a sense of fear, allowing
her to have super strength. Now able to gain back her confidence
with a life ruled less by fear, she decides to use her extraordinary
ability to fight evil, a serial killer known as the Mask Maker,
with the help of the pharmaceutical company that makes the
drug.
As the story unfolds Charlotte transforms from a paranoid
and insecure individual to someone who gains strength, confidence,
and a small amount of trust. She returns to the town of her
childhood, Altamira, California, where she enlists the help
of those who she knew, including a high school peer, Luke,
who would bully her, but now wants to make amends by helping.
Wanting a superhero with some flaws, Rice notes, “She
does everything one step at a time. She is strong, determined,
resilient, smart, but has a dark side. When her grandmother
died she became grief-stricken. Since then she had built walls,
but once she decides to make the most of a bad situation and
gets a new purpose she is starting to bring the wall down
and allow people into her life. After she changed her name
from Trina Pierce to Charlotte Rowe she found her own voice.
Changing her name was a way to say ‘I can set my own
course,’ and make my own identity.”
Just as those in the military, Charlotte feels that it is
her duty to protect others. “I wrote that the people
Charlotte goes up against are fundamentally evil, and she
feels they must be stopped by her. I have to say, as I was
writing this I did not feel much remorse for the people who
died at Charlotte’s hands. Just as with the military,
people should not be weighing in and create a social media
jury system on every combat situation. Especially, since they
have no sense of what really went down, and we are not willing
to make the sacrifices our men and women in the military must
make. I think Charlotte realizes she will go after the worse
of the worst and I compare her to the special forces of serial
killer trackers. I address through Charlotte when absolute
force is justified.”
This is a fast-paced story that has very engaging characters.
Readers will root for Charlotte to succeed emotionally and
with her quest to rid the world of evildoers.
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