Deja Dead

By Kathy Reichs
I was unimpressed with this book for two reasons, one of which is admittedly unreasonable.
Firstly, I read the book because I love the TV show based on it, “Bones.” Every single thing I loved about the show was missing here — the geeky secondary characters, the socially awkward but strong and brilliant (and childfree!) female lead, the relationship between her and her FBI partner… all gone. Replaced with a frequently stupid, emotionally-driven, alcoholic divorced Mom. Tempe of the book is a reasonably well-crafted character, but nothing like the Brennan I love in the show. Unreasonable, I know, but it bugged me. A lot.
The real reason I will not only not give this book a good rating but not even bother keeping it in my library is that it’s full of female victims. Tempe is strong in that she refuses to give in to her alcoholism even when stressed but she is driven by her heart instead of her head and repeatedly makes bad judgments that make her look stupid and put her in danger. I know this is a first novel and I should probably give it a break, but it annoyed the crap out of me.
(Book 4 in 2008)