I am a big fan of Karin Slaughter's Grant County series and am having serious withdrawals while I am waiting for her to release the next book. There is nothing like a good crime fiction series! It's exciting, scary and thrilling! So I was looking for something similar to sink my teeth into. I have heard a lot about the Bones series, especially with the TV show becoming so popular (no, I've never watched it) so I decided to give the first book in this series (Deja Dead) a go!
Genre: Fiction, Crime, Detective
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
Year: 1997
Rating: 3/5
In the year since Temperance Brennan left behind a shaky marriage in North Carolina, work has often preempted her weekend plans to explore Quebec. When a female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in trash bags, Tempe detects an alarming pattern - and she plunges into a harrowing search for a killer. But her investigation is about to place those closest to her - her best friend and her own daughter - in mortal danger..
This book had all the elements needed to make a good crime thriller. It was chilling, the mystery kept me guessing and it was realistic enough to totally creep me out because it could happen.
Since Kathy Reichs actually was a forensic anthropologist, she not only knows all the terminology and procedures in an autopsy, but she describes these is such detail that it was kind of gross. Yes I am aware you just found a rotting corpse, yes it probably is good you can tell me exactly how and why a corpse breaks down but do you really need to do it in so much detail? yuk!
I feel a lot more educated than I did before I picked up this book, but I am still a bit disturbed. Even though the characters are fictional, I still can't help but feel that, that is someone's mum, or sister, or wife... autopsy is not something I enjoy thinking about. This could be because I have a weak stomach and a very visual mind. When I read a book, I can see everything in great detail, so in this case parts of this book were very unpleasant.
I feel a lot more educated than I did before I picked up this book, but I am still a bit disturbed. Even though the characters are fictional, I still can't help but feel that, that is someone's mum, or sister, or wife... autopsy is not something I enjoy thinking about. This could be because I have a weak stomach and a very visual mind. When I read a book, I can see everything in great detail, so in this case parts of this book were very unpleasant.
One thing I loved about this book was how well fleshed out Tempe was. Reichs did a great job in bringing the anthropologist to life. She seemed like a very natural, normal person with hopes, fears, bad habits, stresses and needs. I enjoyed her as a character a lot. Besides one detail...
It annoyed the hell out of me that Tempe kept taking off, by herself, to hunt this killer! I mean, come on! What sort of woman would go out at night, alone, to hunt a serial killer that dismembers women??!! THAT'S INSANE. I understand she is supposed to be strong willed, tough and really wants to bring this man to justice, but really, is personal safety not important too? Or the safety of those around you? It just irritated me.
That said, I enjoyed this book. It was a fun (yet disturbing) read. I liked it enough that I have bookmooched the second book in this series and I look forward to reading that soon. If you like crime fiction with a strong female lead, you will like this series.
