Deja Dead: A Novel (1) (A Temperance Brennan Novel) Mass Market Paperback – August 25, 2015

I was a little hesitant to read this book after having read some of the reviews on it. There are a couple points from other reviews I'll borrow here.The book and the TV show are completely different. "Bones" as Det. Booth so affectionately refers to her, is a completely different character to the Temperance Brennan of the books. They are both Dr. Temperance Brennan. They are both forensic anthropologists. That's where all similarities end.Although a little disappointed because I do love the show- the book isn't worse than the show or better really, they are just different. As another reviewer recommended: separate the two. You won't come away feeling cheated or disappointed. I thought going in, this would be hard to do. I generally like comparing the shows/movies to their written counterparts. Given the total lack of similarities between them, it wasn't at all difficult to think of them separately.I really enjoyed this book. I will definitely continue with the series. A lot of the science was above my head but fascinating. I love that this particular book was set in Montreal. I felt the author captured the feeling of the city well. There is a lot of repetitive and obvious foreshadowing. Some try to claim this as a twist- I don't think it's a twist or that it's even meant to be viewed that way. It's just a piece of the story you were warned about.The plot was exciting and kept me turning the page. I kept trying to solve some parts for myself but it was difficult because the author often doesn't give you the whole picture (although thinking back- it could be that I missed the mention of some things. I may go back and re-read). To clarify- I'm not speaking about the "whodunnit" aspect, I'm speaking more to the mysteries within the mysteries, what is the link between the bodies, are St. Jacques and Tanguay the same man, etc.I liked Tempe of the book. She isn't logical to the point of extreme like Bones, but logical and reasonable in a way that seems both smart and human. She was fiery in the face of adversity, and I enjoyed her revelations at the end about why she was so interested in the case.I also liked Detective Ryan, who kind of plays hero to Brennan's damsel in distress. Det. Claudel starts out as a minor anti-hero, but wins you over in the end.I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because some parts do drag. I think I witnessed every meal Brennan ate and could have plotted on a map where she was driving in the city. If the author had done away with them completely it would have made for a tighter, cleaner read, but all in all they didn't bother me much.

As big fan of the TV series Bones, at least the first few seasons, I hoped to really like this book; but I can't say that I did. Three reasons I can identify:It needs a good ruthless editing pass. There are small things: the lights of an office tower don't in fact flicker like lightning (absent a looming power failure), "his face did the World Cup of wry" is just silly, the descriptions of poor people, sex workers, and the "gay city" are painfully cliched, and so on. And then there is lots of simple overwriting, where I found myself marking paragraphs and whole ebook pages with "cut this", or "why do I care?". Given that it was a first novel and the author wasn't yet famous, I don't know how these survived the editors.Second, the book is just bleak. The protagonist seems to have a sort of resigned hatred toward her job, her city, her friends, and herself. Forensic anthropology doesn't enable her to rush in and save someone, it just helps her think extra-bleak thoughts after she fails to. Where TV Brennan is admirably but comically hyper-rational, novel Brennan is a constant emotional mess.And (third) there's not much forensic anthropology! The main factor that leads to cracking the case is an unlikely random connection to Brennan's personal life (more than one unlikely random connection, come to think of it). We do get one (entirely too detailed, literally down to the mouse-click) description of matching images of bite-marks, but it only eliminates a suspect.So anyway! I suppose I'm being pretty tough here, likely because I was hoping for something more like a Bones episode, and I got something wordy and bleak instead. Obviously my opinion is not universal, so don't take my sole word. Maybe I'll try one of the sequels and see if my opinion changes! Someday.

I'll not do a comparison of the novel to the TV show "Bones." Let the book stand on its ownAuthor, Kathy Reichs, is a forensic anthropologist and has modeled the protagonist, Temperance Brennan, in this series of novels somewhat after her own experiences.That being said, its best you like very detailed description. For that's what you have throughout the book. The woman know very well what she's talking about.I found I liked the detail very well at first. Halfway through it got to be somewhat wearisome. Parts of the story which have nothing to do with the plot become entrenched in detail, as well. That's when I started skimming.The plot, I felt, has a major flaw. There's obviously a serial killer on the loose who murders women, then badly mutilates them. How is it Ms. Brennan can't get the Montreal cops to make sense of this. The cops just can't see the forest for the trees until far into the book. Tempe is really forced to go a bit rogue and take some matters into her own hands.The book has some twists and I found the ending favorable.I should mention I've read a few other Reichs books and decided to go back to Brennan's roots. This being the first in the series.Ms. Reichs has ironed out some flaws in succeeding novels, making this an enjoyable series

Having been a fan of the TV series based on the novels I decided to go and read the origin story. I regret to say the novel was hard to finish because I grew very angry at the foolish decision making of the lead character. She is a highly educated professional but behaves in such a manner that her personality conflicts with her coworkers cause several times as much trouble as they solve. In the end she survives much more by luck than skill, and she creates hard feelings that make it more difficult for other professional women to succeed in the workplace where professional conduct is crucial to acceptance.

It didn't grip me, engage my interest, or draw me in I didn't finish it becuase I couldn't summon the interest to care what happened next.Everything seemed overdescribed. I suspect I would have been more interested if that stuff had been edited down to get rid of the flowery descriptive passages and the navel-gazing aspects. It would have been a shorter book, it's true, but more of it would have been story rather than word-count filler.

This is the first Temperance Brennan book I have read. Having seen most of the 'Bones' series, I decided I would try the source of the TV series and chose the first book in the Temperance Brennen series. 'Tempe' has a very different back story to the 'Bones' character of the same name, but the author explains a lot of this. Kathy's writing is informed and scientifically precise (as you would, expect from a pro). The story has a lot of twists and turns, lots of informative scientific content (which I loved) and at times I heard myself saying 'just don't do that'. I found the first person dialogue very engaging and I saw the story unfold through Tempe's eyes. I am intending to read the next in the series when I have a week when I can just read as I didn't want to put this book down.

Too gruesome and too stark for my taste. I enjoy crime novels but the ones I like don’t seem to need to be quite so basic or use obscenities quite so frequently. I like books that keep me on the edge of my seat and describe the intricacies of detective and forensic work without turning my stomach.

The novel kept me on my toes all the way through till the end, It twisted and burned right till the end of the novel. Due to this story I will read the next novel with interest and anticipation.

There' s no doubt in me that the author is an intelligent person in her profession as in the way she "thinks" and links her story ,but her style is unbearably monotonous and dense. As if she cannot get out of the thinking loud and re-explaining it all in a string of lassitude in an anthesis of what should be gripping events,not even at the climax of her story did she get out of this mode. Her characters are very weak and it is simply much too focused on herself ,a monologue ,almost. Very boring. I do not recommend it all.