Book Review: Several Temperance Brennan Books
I'm going to group these together. These are the books that inspired the tv show Bones. Or four of them anyway.
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs
Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs
Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs
I first listened to Deja Dead as an audiobook and really enjoyed it. The deeply detailed anthropology was a little boring, but otherwise it was really enjoyable. I don't really watch Bones anymore, but I did for a couple of seasons. I was struck by how unlike the TV!Brennan that the Book!Brennan was. Book!Brennan is a middle-aged, recovering alcoholic divorcee with a daughter in college. Although she is perhaps more introverted than others, she is nowhere near the so-detached-she-doesn't-understand-real-human-behavior TV!Brennan. I kind of like Book!Brennan better.
Anyhoo, Deja Dead was really entertaining. The answer to the murder mystery wasn't what I expected but was still satisfying and there was a great showdown in the dark with the killer. It was just what I was looking for at the time and I thought...jeez I need to read more of these books if they are all this great.
Well...they are all good, but they appear to follow a pattern of sorts (at least so far):
1. Brennan is assigned to a case.
2. Uh-oh! There is a mystery here (or possibly three).
3. Brennan investigates a la Quincy, M.E.: it's not in her job description and she's really mucking up things for the legal investigation that is happening right now/will be happening once the police get their heads out of their asses.
4. Someone tries to kill Brennan in order to stop her from investigating.
5. Brennan convinces herself that the person wasn't actually trying to kill her, so she doesn't immediately tell her police friends.
6. Brennan travels to Quebec/South Carolina. Sometimes she goes back and forth several times.
7. Someone Brennan cares about is killed/kidnapped/maimed/missing-but-really-is-just-fine. This makes her even more likely to investigate.
8. Brennan manages to end up in a showdown with the killer where she gets the shit kicked out of her. Sometimes the police show up to save her (which is odd considering she never tells them what she's doing...they kind of just figure it out from reading the script, I guess) and sometimes SHE STABS THEM IN THE EYE.
9. Brennan decides to/decides not to date Detective Ryan.
And some of it is really absurd. For example, in Deadly Decisions there are several murders that Tempe investigates: some bikers in Quebec, one that she literally stumbles on while hanging out at her friend's monkey island, and some more bikers in South Carolina. And I though, well they can't possibly all be connected. That would just be silly. And they're all connected. *sigh* Then there is the airplane that almost literally crashes on a satanic cult....
That being said, the books are entertaining enough. Gruesome, but entertaining. And there are a bajillion books in the series, so perhaps Kathy Reichs moves on to be less formulaic in later books. I need a break from the formula, but I'll definitely come back to these books over the summer if I have time.
Rating (for Deja Dead):
Rating (for the rest):
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs
Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs
Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs
I first listened to Deja Dead as an audiobook and really enjoyed it. The deeply detailed anthropology was a little boring, but otherwise it was really enjoyable. I don't really watch Bones anymore, but I did for a couple of seasons. I was struck by how unlike the TV!Brennan that the Book!Brennan was. Book!Brennan is a middle-aged, recovering alcoholic divorcee with a daughter in college. Although she is perhaps more introverted than others, she is nowhere near the so-detached-she-doesn't-understand-real-human-behavior TV!Brennan. I kind of like Book!Brennan better.
Anyhoo, Deja Dead was really entertaining. The answer to the murder mystery wasn't what I expected but was still satisfying and there was a great showdown in the dark with the killer. It was just what I was looking for at the time and I thought...jeez I need to read more of these books if they are all this great.
Well...they are all good, but they appear to follow a pattern of sorts (at least so far):
1. Brennan is assigned to a case.
2. Uh-oh! There is a mystery here (or possibly three).
3. Brennan investigates a la Quincy, M.E.: it's not in her job description and she's really mucking up things for the legal investigation that is happening right now/will be happening once the police get their heads out of their asses.
4. Someone tries to kill Brennan in order to stop her from investigating.
5. Brennan convinces herself that the person wasn't actually trying to kill her, so she doesn't immediately tell her police friends.
6. Brennan travels to Quebec/South Carolina. Sometimes she goes back and forth several times.
7. Someone Brennan cares about is killed/kidnapped/maimed/missing-but-really-is-just-fine. This makes her even more likely to investigate.
8. Brennan manages to end up in a showdown with the killer where she gets the shit kicked out of her. Sometimes the police show up to save her (which is odd considering she never tells them what she's doing...they kind of just figure it out from reading the script, I guess) and sometimes SHE STABS THEM IN THE EYE.
9. Brennan decides to/decides not to date Detective Ryan.
And some of it is really absurd. For example, in Deadly Decisions there are several murders that Tempe investigates: some bikers in Quebec, one that she literally stumbles on while hanging out at her friend's monkey island, and some more bikers in South Carolina. And I though, well they can't possibly all be connected. That would just be silly. And they're all connected. *sigh* Then there is the airplane that almost literally crashes on a satanic cult....
That being said, the books are entertaining enough. Gruesome, but entertaining. And there are a bajillion books in the series, so perhaps Kathy Reichs moves on to be less formulaic in later books. I need a break from the formula, but I'll definitely come back to these books over the summer if I have time.
Rating (for Deja Dead):
Rating (for the rest):