Point of View

Virals by Kathy Reichs is written entirely from the first person perspective of the main character, Tory Brennan. Tory is a fifteen year old brainiac. She has recently lost her mother after she was hit by a drunk driver, and is subsequently sent to South Carolina to live with her father - a man she has never met, and who had had no knowledge of her. Her father, Christopher (Kit) Brennan is a scientist/marine biologist. He is thirty-one years old and is a research professor for the Charleston University, assigned to the biology station at the institute on Loggerhead Island. Tory takes after her aunt Tempe whose specialty is the examination of bones/forensic analysis. That is likely why she is compelled to uncover the identity of the dog tags' owner.

Tory's perspective is crucial to the tone and direction of the story. Her discovery...