Reichs, Kathy. Bare Bones.When the television show Bones began, I wasn't a great fan. The characters were too different from those in Reichs' books. I've totally adjusted to that inconsistency now and rarely miss an episode, but still love connecting with the original characters in the novels.
As usual, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan has to find a way to weave a number of dangling threads into whole cloth, and as usual, she does so handily.
Perhaps there was a wee bit too much going on in this one, though. While all of Reichs' books have complex plots, this one seemed to lack the appropriate focus. Burned baby, missing mother, bear bones, romance with Ryan, concern about daughter's romance, deadly stalker...
Most of the novels in this series have a secondary theme; this one deals with endangered wildlife. I like this aspect of the series and usually learn a little something along the way.
Maybe not the best in the series, but an entertaining evening's read!
Fiction. Mystery. 2003. 380 pages.
I've only read one book by Reichs but didn't love it. Can't remember why. Maybe I should give her another try.
ReplyDeleteI like the TV show too and, like you, I have managed to separate the two Tempe's. I have not read all the books and want to catch up on them at some point.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read this series for some time now. I think I'm still recovering from my disappointment in Patricia Cornwell. Why that should carry over to Kathy Reichs, I haven't a clue.
ReplyDeleteIt could be too that I am not a fan of the show, Bones. There, I admitted it. I've seen several episodes and I just can't warm to the characters among other things. I know the two are quite different from one another--the show and the books--but it still makes me hesitate in picking up the books.
It was years ago that I read one on this series, liked it, bought a few more and haven't read another one since. I do watch the show and decided I wouldn't bother with the books, but you say they are different. I'll need to rethink this.
ReplyDeleteI like the show but sometimes I think Tempe acts too socially inept to be believable. More so in the earlier episodes.
Framed - Sometimes I have to read more than one in a series to find a liking for the characters. Still, I also find that some series just don't appeal to me. I never got into either Janet Evanovich's or Sue Grafton's series--which most people love. Besides, you have a full book shelf to get through!
ReplyDeleteKay - :0 I'm not sure how many of them I've read. I'd have to look at a synopsis of each to be sure. I just pick them up at the library occasionally.
LF - I gave up on Cornwell a long time ago, and yet last year
tried her again because my daughter gave me one she'd read. That sealed it. No more Cornwell...ever. Maybe coroner/forensic anthropologist books are just not for you!
Cheya - I don't really care for the socially inept Tempe in the tv series either, but in the books Tempe is not at all that way. Some of the books are better than others. I read one about a motorcycle gang in Canada that I didn't care for at all.
I like Tempe when she's at work, but otherwise, I lose interest.
ReplyDeleteI have watched Bones and like it all right.
Bybee - :) I agree, the most interesting parts involve the forensic science and the mystery plot. I don't like to much digression from those aspects either.
ReplyDeleteI want to read some of her works but I haven't finished the last two detective novels I was reading (both were Patricia Cornwell). I'm scared that if I don't like the books, it will somehow affect my perception of the series. I enjoy the series, and though the books are supposed to be quite different from the series, I somehow have this irrational worry that if I dislike the book, it will carry over to the series as well.
ReplyDeleteHazra - I wish they had not used the name Temperance Brennan in the series. She is the only character from the book that they included in the series, and there is little resemblance. The series tends to humor, but the books are pretty much straight-forward mysteries. At first, I couldn't watch the series because the two are so different, but now I can enjoy both.
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