Title: Déjà Dead
Author: Kathy Reichs
Format: HC
Pages: 411
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Scribner, 1997
ISBN-13: 978-0684841175
Series: Temperance Brennan, Book 1
Favorite Quote: Less than thirty seconds since his arrival and I wanted to rip the sandwich from his hand and insert it forcefully up his nose, or any other orifice.
Synopsis (Amazon): It's June in Montreal, and Tempe, who has left a shaky marriage back home in North Carolina to take on the challenging assignment of director of forensic anthropology for the province of Quebec, looks forward to a relaxing weekend.
First, though, she must stop at a newly uncovered burial site in the heart of the city. One look at the decomposed and decapitated corpse, stored neatly in plastic bags, tells her she'll spend the weekend in the crime lab. This is homicide of the worst kind. To begin to find some answers, Tempe must first identify the victim. Who is this person with the reddish hair and a small bone structure?
Review: This set of books is the basis for the television series 'Bones'. The only similarities I find between the book and the show are: the name of the main character and the fact that she's a forensic anthropologist. The Temperance Brennan in the book is emotional, moody, and a little squeamish. This is far from the character I have come to know and love in the television series, who is sometimes too logical and has trouble with showing even basic emotions. I've learned something from reading this novel --- if I really already am attached to a character, I don't like when that character is changed....even if the changed version is actually the original, which is the case here. This was a good book, with all the necessary elements of a thriller. It kept an exciting pace and kept me guessing. I just couldn't get past the main character's differences from what I was expecting. So, it didn't work for me. I was just too distracted with all the inconsistencies. I won't be finishing this series.
Rating: 3 / 5
I had heard that. Thank you for confirming it. Instead of trying her Bones series I'm going to try Virals by her.
ReplyDeleteVirals is part of a YA series which is for those who enjoyed The Goonies. Which I did. They're fun!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen much of Bones, so I read the books first. I enjoyed them, but my issue with them is that every single one I have read has her investigating something that could get her killed and ending up in a tight spot with the villain, who snarls, "I'm going to kill you, you interfering bitch!"
I heard the author speak once, when she was in Melbourne. Apparently she has done a walk-on in at least one episode, agreeing to do it when she found out David Boreanaz was in it. ;-) She says the lab in the TV show is a lot nicer than hers.