I read Break No Bones the other day and found it to be a fun book. It was a mystery with the usual setup of finding bodies, suspects, and clues for the detective. On the cover it said something to the effect that this is the Dr “Bones” Brennan that inspired the hit TV Show Bones. Inspired being the operative word here.
Bones on TV is a cross between a Vulcan and Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. She has no sense of humor, no interpersonal skills, and is pretty much a prototypical autistic idiot savant. She works at this super duper science lab called The Jeffersonian and she has a Scooby Gang of super hip and trendy geniuses to help her solve crimes. She has a macho cop who kind of hangs around giving her puppy dog eyes, but they don’t have a romantic relationship. I like the show, even though it was the finial nail in the coffin of Angel.
Dr Brennan in Break No Bones is a normal person-albeit a very smart normal person. She has a daughter, an ex-husband, and a boyfriend who works in Canada and is the only other character that resembles a character from the TV Show. Tempe has friends, family, and emotions. She did not, at least in Break No Bones, work for some super high level government agency and have a cohort of lab techs at her beck and call.
According to Wikipedia that character on Bones is based on Kathy Reichs, the author of the Bones books. There is one episode where the TV Bones talks about her books and how she lets one of her co-workers do most of the emotional writing which she is unable to understand it herself. Reich is an executive producer on the show, so I guess she is fine with the cold and sterile portrayal.
I liked Break No Bones, but I doubt I would have picked it up if it hadn’t had the tag-line about it being the inspiration for Bones. These characters share the same name and that is all-it was confusing listening to the life and times of someone I knew-but didn’t know at all. I hated that the fat one eyed evil wizard in Harry Potter returns as a fat one eyed good wizard in later Harry Potter stories-I want my evil wizards to stay evil and not change boats in midstream. I want Temperance Brennan to be one person, not two. So I won’t be reading any more Tempe Brennan books.
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