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The Bone Curse (Benjamin Oris #1) by Carrie Rubin

 

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Publication Date: March 27th 2018

Publisher: ScienceThrillers Media

Read Date: March 28th 2018

Genre: Mystery Thriller / Medical Science-Fiction / Occult

Pages: 296

Stars: 3.75 (that sums 4)/5

4 star_crop

Goodreads blurb_edited

MEDICINE HAS NO CURE FOR EVIL…

Ben Oris, a pragmatic med student from Philadelphia, gets cut by an old bone while touring the Paris catacombs. His companion Laurette, a public health student from Haiti, senses danger and worries an evil curse now runs through him.

Ben scoffs at the idea—he simply has a wound that won’t heal—and back home he returns to his stressful clerkship at the hospital. But when people close to him succumb to a grisly illness and a dark priest pursues him, his skepticism wavers. Could a bone from an 18th-century skeleton with a frightening history really cause modern-day disease?

With the help of Laurette, he scrambles to find a cure through Vodou before more of his loved ones die. But first, he must battle the mysterious priest who’s bent on vengeance and determined to have Ben’s blood as his own.


review_edited

The Bone Curse was a medical science-fiction book that revolved around Haitian Vodou practice and culture and a curse that travelled father to son and messed up Benjamin Oris’s pragmatic thoughts and life. The story is about religion vs science and faith vs agnosticism, logic, trust, friendship, and vengeance.

Characters_edited

Ben (Benjamin Oris) was introvert medical student who worked hard to get into med school and Internal medicine clerkship under Hitler like attending (Dr. Smith) was even harder than the admission.  He was pragmatic to fault. He never believed his best friend Laurette when she warned him about the experience in Paris catacombs, the way bone hurt him and now he carries the evil with him, he didn’t believe her. Even though one after another all his loved once gets mortally sick. Weird thing is he clung to his skepticism till the end of the book as if all that happened to him and what he experienced was nothing, which I didn’t like. He even doubted Laurette, when all she did was help him. There were many flaws in this character- he was selfish, he cared only about his career, always at internal war, escaping his responsibility, he never talked about things when he should and so messed up many relationship in his life. That’s too many right? Well I was glad he developed in almost everything by the end of the book except in his skepticism which remained.

Laurette– she was my favorite character in the book. Her friendship toward Ben was most remarkable, she never given up on him even though Ben let her down again and again by not trusting or believing her. She was smart, funny, selfless, kind, and humble woman. Not a single thing about her I disliked. Her logic were similar to Ben she was also a believer which was the reason of all doubts for Ben.

I even liked Ben’s both gay fathers and his mother Harmony. Sophie was real great, the way she gave him a chance to escape his responsibility and handling the situation was not easy thing to do for a woman who is abandoned by her family. Character development was good in the book. I loved the way Ben’s relation with his mother was developed and change in Dr. Smith’s attitude towards Ben, and Ben’s gradual development as the book progressed.

What I liked_edited

It was like half of the book take place within hospital and other half of the book was about Haitian vodou and main character and people around him were tangled in this juxtaposed setting.

Beginning was strong with interesting paranormal experience of Ben and Laurette in Paris catacomb. Book was tense, gripping, and suspenseful with horrifying elements. The flow of the book was perfect it was not too fast or slow, every scene were placed in nice and smooth order that made the book very interesting.

The story was narrated through Ben’s POV and as he was medical student working for clerkship there was lot of medical science terminology which awesome and showed author’s experience in the field. I specifically liked Ben’s rounds in the hospital that was not only just medical talk but also gave overview of his colleague, hospital staff, and his relationship with them.

Vodou practice, culture and history related to it was depicted vividly with mention of all the small things that easily conjured up scenes. I loved reading about the curse, its story and the reason why it travelled from catacomb to Ben and why it is making him contagious and making his loved ones sick. There was also touch of racism along with religious beliefs.  

Ben’s logic and reasoning as a science students was right at its place but there are somethings beyond science that is called faith and religion that you can’t be reason with. Both things is different but has a fine line was represented in the book amazingly. Whole curse thing, illness and Ben’s experience through vodou practice was given a two way explanation, one scientifically and one a cultural belief, and Ben’s metal turmoil between this two was more focused in the book which made it realistic.

Some turns I could see coming and some twists were surprising. Climax was shocking and unpredictable. So much happened from climax to end that kept me on the edge. End was good only I’m not happy with Ben’s end thought.

why not 5 stars_edited

The reason was Ben. I didn’t like his skepticism. Till some point it sounded logical, liked his realistic approach but then he started irritating me. His constant mind battle in tense situations just fueled my frustration. I just wanted yell at him ‘to do something fast, believe for a minute, save people and get over with it’. As I said I didn’t like his end thought and the way he treated Laurette. There was something off with his narration, I couldn’t feel his emotions, it just made me understand his situation and his feelings but it didn’t reach to me.

conclusion_edited

Overall the plot and subplots was great, unique, intriguing that glued me to book till the end. Those who like mix of science and religious belief, and occult practice would love to read this book.


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Author: Carrie Rubin

To know more about author click ⇒Here

Buy Link: Amazon.com / Amazon.in

*** Note: I received e-arc of this book via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to publisher, author, and NetGalley.***

What do you think about the book and my review? Have you read this book already? Have you read something similar to this before? Share your thoughts in comment-box below.

 

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Hi, I'm Yesha, an Indian book blogger. Avid and eclectic reader who loves to read with a cup of tea. Not born reader but I don't think I’m going to stop reading books in this life. “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

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