Bones is a very successful TV show that has been running since September of 2005, and is now on its 11th season. It features the wildly intelligent Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist at the Jeffersonian Institute in D.C. (based on the real-life Smithsonian Institution). Dr. Brennan partners up with FBI agent Seeley Booth and combines her ability to virtually read victims' bones with Booth's instinct for solving crime. Together, along with the rest of the forensics team at the Jeffersonian, they form an unstoppable team.
If you've never seen the TV show Bones or read any of Kathy Reichs' novels, you're really missing out. I originally started out watching Bones on FOX, and I immediately loved it. After a few episodes, I realized that the show was based on a book series written by real-life forensic anthropologist Dr. Kathy Reichs. I was very curious about how the books would compare to the show that I had grown to love, but for some reason it took almost 2 years before I read any of the books.
I read the first book (Déjà Dead) in about 2 days, and I'm currently halfway through the second book (Death du Jour). I'm actually enjoying the books just as much as I enjoyed the TV series when I started watching it. Now, the books aren't exactly like the TV show, so if you go in expecting to find the same exact characters as on TV, you might be disappointed. Even Dr. Brennan herself is different in the books, but there is a reason for that.
Brennan on the TV show is modeled after Kathy Reichs herself - not the Temperance Brennan in the books - so the main character is quite a bit different from one you might be familiar with. The high-tech lab that you see on TV is also not present in the books - the books are more true to what you'd likely see in a real forensics lab. Even the setting of the books is different than that of the TV show. Instead of Washington D.C., as in the show, the books take place in Canada (mostly Montreal and Quebec), and Charlotte, North Carolina.
That being said, these changes are not necessarily bad if you think of the book series as a completely separate entity from Bones. All of the important elements are still there in abundance. The character development that I loved so much in Bones is present in the book series, along with the wry (often dry) humor and the thrilling plot lines.
I don't usually get scared while I read, but I could actually feel my heart racing in several parts of the book. I was legitimately terrified. Any book that can do that is definitely worthy of being read – and its author deserves some serious praise.
So whether you've never heard of Bones or you've been watching it since it aired in 2005, you should give the books a chance. And, vice versa, if you've read the books but never seen the TV show, you should check that out, too.
Have fun reading and watching!
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