Bone Factory

Booth City #2

by Steven Sidor

A collection of lonely souls look for one last shot at happiness. Instead they're trapped in the never-ending cycle of false hope and true despair--and deadly violence--that is Booth City.

Homicide cops Ike Horner and Eliza Ochoa are on the scene of a body dump in a riverfront park, crouching over the freezing corpse of yet another working girl--cut up in all the most delicate places. Soon Ike and Eliza find themselves on a fatal mission as they unravel a conspiracy that stretches from the darkest holes in Booth to the fringes of its most influential families. As the murder investigation hurtles toward its startling conclusion, Ike and Eliza uncover terrifying secrets that are buried too close to home. . .

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

I'm the author of the critically-acclaimed dark thrillers Skin River, Bone Factory, and The Mirror’s Edge. My latest novel of terror, Pitch Dark, is about a young woman on the run from a dangerous apocalyptic cult.

Reviews

[Danm · Rating 4 out of 5]

You will not remember this book, and there are too many characters, which leads to some confusion, but it's also a fast and intriguing read. If a light dark read existed, this book would fit into that category. I see that most readers didn't love this book, so keep that in mind.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the happy side, Sidor has created some really interesting and complicated characters. On the bad side, they all have nicknames and they are used as well as their real names. It does not help that the city is a fictional city, and it isn't very well developed - so you spend half the time wondering where this is and who the bad guys are. The entire book is like a run on sentence, that just goes around in circles. 2 out of 5 stars only because he created some really interesting characters, a couple that one actually can care about. This was a painful experience.

[Christina Yorke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprise ending! Good read - murder mystery.

[Cassandra Glissadevil · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars
Time waster. Fast read. Fun.

[S.B. (Beauty in Ruins) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Steven Sidor's Bone Factory was a very peculiar read. It read like a discarded Law & Order script, complete with short chapters, abrupt changes of scene, and the introduction of new characters every few pages. Unfortunately, what works well on TV doesn't necessarily translate well to the page - it takes a few paragraphs to get reoriented after every scene change, only to get kicked out of the flow a page or so later.

Even more peculiar, the main characters - Detectives Ike and Eliza - are far less memorable, far less sympathetic, and far less interesting than the dead victim and those around her. I found myself completely glossing over their identities, relegating them to the role of faceless police figures. There was some slow development of their respective backstories, but by the time anything of significance arises . . . well, I found it difficult to care.

By contrast, for a character who's dead when we meet her, Josine is wonderfully well-rounded. What's more, for a chain-smoking, cough-syrup addicted, transsexual prostitute, she's presented in a wonderfully sympathetic manner. The same is true of those around her, characters who would normally be relegated to the role of faceless dirty scum. For instance, the slumlord of her appartment is a reasonably nice guy, who even goes out of his way to correct the detectives when they refer to Josine as 'him' instead of 'her'. The murderers are interesting as well, definitely damaged and unquestionably on the wrong side of the law, yet sympathetic and - in the case of her transsexual 'sister' - almost likeable in their own way.

As far as the storytellung goes, it's a frantic, jagged, and disjointed. I found myself skimming over sections and racing towards the end, not to find out who did it or why, but simply to finish.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow and a bit plodding, but a good ending.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most unique or surprising mysteries I've read, but what grabbed me was Sidor's ability to define a character by action and setting with out drowning the reading in description. His tales tend to be dark and dreary, stormy and snowy and generally miserable for the characters involved. I read Mirror's Edge first and can see how he is improving as a writer. I just started Pitch Dark and am excited to see where he takes me next.

[Rowan O'bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little hard to follow, but the characters, even the ones that turned out to be not good guys, were well rounded in a way that made you care about them. The story was surprising at every turn, especially the way it ended.

[Barbara Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

still don't care about how the author writes the book. moving from one place/person to the next. I don't know how half of it fights in.
updated: I stopped reading... Wasn't as good as the first book... no wonder why he only has 2 books in the series.. book #1 has nothing to do with book #2

[Dany · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was interesting and I enjoyed it.

[Cindy Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

it seemed that the author just introduced more characters to resolve/explain plot elements, so new characters were added what seemed like every 5 pages.

[Hapzydeco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Convoulted characters - but author brought it all together at the finish. Even the rich are seen in the light of truth.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really suspenseful.. I wonder why the title was that though...

[Raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off great....then it started to hop, skip and jump around. I did like the authors characters and I thought it was a okay story. I would read another book from this author.

[Carol Hubbard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book at all....

[David Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forgettable investigation of murder in the homosexual subculture of a dreary rust belt city.