Saturday, December 18, 2010

Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs

No complaints. Reichs is, as usual, both scientific and dramatic and if this time the threads to be connected were a little more scattered than usual, the process of tying them all together is well done.

I think I have gotten a some of these out of order. In this one Tempe first becomes actually involved with Ryan - and I think I have read others where this is a long-standing fact. Or not. Reichs never lets the characters' lives become the focus of the story.

Again, I am reminded of the capability of Hollywood to warp material. The real Tempe Brennan, the one in the books, is a well-rounded adult with deep insight into the vagaries of the human mind. The character of the same name in the television series supposedly based on Reichs work is anything but. TV Tempe's social ineptitude, which the character excuses as scientific objectivity, is one of the major features of the show. Laughs all round at the genius scientist who is saved from herself every week - or every night, if you are watching one of the rerun channels - by people she blatantly considers her inferiors.

The only actual similarity between the books and the TV show is the name of the main character. Everything else is changed -- for the worse. And yet, Reichs signed off on it and is cited in the credits of every episode. I hope she got paid plenty.

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