Supernatural Bone Key book non-review
Supernatural Bone Key
Keith R.A. DeCandido
This book has two very short prologues. The first takes place 200 years ago with a Native American Chief Priest and a young boy in Florida, committing a ritual suicide. Children’s death are always disturbing so this begins with a good creep factor.
The second prologue has the demons gathered, waiting on the other side of Samuel Colt’s Hell’s gate, but when the gate opens, there is no one to follow, since we know Dean killed Azazel and Sam killed Jake, so the demons take off into the world, unfettered. It stays with canon so I’m happy. If you read my not review of Nevermore, Mr. DeCandido’s first Supernatural novel, you’ll know I wondered if he even watched Supernatural, but this one so far, seems to be a vast improvement.
Chapter One: First victim gets killed. I liked this girl, she wasn’t stupid and I felt bad when her life ended.
Chapter Two: The boys are celebrating a subdued New Years at Bobby’s right after the Christmas when they ganked the two weirdo gods. Sam still has a missing fingernail. With his deal coming due, Dean jumps at the chance to go back to Key West for a job.
Chapter Three: Second and third victims die. Eeeew, creepy doll, creepy doll.
Chapter Four: Author still likes to name every street the boys drive or walk down. They arrive in Key West and discover a friendly ghost who wants to help them.
Chapters Five and Six: Famous ghost shows himself. Key West has lots of spiritual energy apparently and lots of famous ghosts are amped up in power. But why?
Chapters Seven and Eight: Another ghostly encounter. Sam and Dean meet another friendly hunter-aware cop.
Chapters Nine: Two more victims, er blood sacrifices to kick up what is really happening.
Chapters Ten: Laughing my butt off. Seriously? Okay, in this author’s first novel Nevermore, I complained that he wrote Dean’s eye color as blue. This is how he tries to make up for that:
“Anyone ever told you that you got the most amazing blue eyes?”
The truthful answer to that question was “no,” since Dean didn’t have blue eyes, and wasn’t entirely sure how anyone could think he did have blue eyes-but when the person asking was as hot as this girl was, Dean just gave her a big smile, and said, “Why thank you!”
It’s hilarious to see a writer backpedal like that. Reminds me of when someone clued Stephenie Meyers in that her werewolves were actually shapeshifters and she wrote an entire page trying to explain that away. Oh, man . . .
Keith must have gotten a ton of emails over the wrong eye color thing. Hee.
Creepy doll again.
Chapters Eleven and Twelve: More clues learned. The brothers interrupt a ritual by demons who came out of the gate. Unfortunately the ritual unleashed something much more powerful and ominous than they expected.
Chapter Thirteen: Bunch of deaths, making the Big Bad way powerful.
Chapter Fourteen: Oh crap, Big Bad has Sam and worried Dean can’t get to him. Don’t want to spoil it, but I’m really liking the way this is playing out. It has all the Supernatural elements of why it went after Sam and not Dean-which is really clever, not what you’d think-as well as the brotherly worry. It’s obvious that Writer Keith has watched the show and gotten what it really is all about this go around.
Chapter Fifteen: Mainly Sam struggling against what has him trapped while worrying about whether Dean is still alive.
Chapter Sixteen: Bobby shows up. They know what to do to save Sam, but it is really really risky to Dean.
Chapters Seventeen -- Nineteen: Big climatic showdown between the boys and the Big Bad. Dean does of course something he never would have done if Sam wasn’t in jeopardy. These chapters go back and forth between the boys’ point of view and what Dean does is really amazing and something we never really get to see happening to him. Plus with how difficult it is, he has to hold onto one thought to keep him grounded, and I don’t even need to tell you what that is. This last battle is really well-executed, clever and well-written.
Chapter Nineteen: Loose ends with demon and friendly spirit are tied up.
As much as I couldn’t recommend Mr. DeCandido’s first Supernatural book Nevermore, this second one is a winner. It’s almost as though he was pressured to get that first one out so he didn’t have enough time to fully immerse himself in what the show was about and it fell flat. He has certainly redeemed himself with Bone Key. I loved it. I wonder if that terrible start is what has given the Supernatural books a bad reputation, because so far, out of the three and a half I’ve read, Nevermore is the only one I would tell anyone not to bother with.
I definitely recommend reading Bone Key. It’s good.
Non-review of Nevermore
Non-review of The Unholy Cause
Non-review of Witch’s Canyon
Non-review of Heart of the Dragon