The seconds tick away, minutes become hours, the sun rises and sets, leaves fall from the trees and then return and we all inch ever closer to the grave as all around us events on a global scale conspire to change the world we live in on a daily basis. It is, when you stop to think about it, very easy to say that there really is no such thing as the 'status quo'.
I'd like to think that some things really do never change; such as the fact that every month or two I read a Temperance Brennan book by Kathy Reichs. Sadly, even that comforting thought is no longer available to me. No, the time has come when I am almost; not quite, but almost, caught up with this authors output. At that point I will be reduced, like fans of longer standing, to the one new book a year that she releases. I don't look forward to that day, it has to be said.
First though, I have 206 Bones, the 12th book in the series. A slight change of pace for the series in this one, with the case (although still a cracker and a wee bit nasty), taking a bit of a backseat to the personal travails of our erstwhile heroine. Sadly, this can not really be called a good thing.
The, for want of a better term, 'soap-opera' element has long been one of the best aspects of these books, allowing the characters to grow and develop in a way that many long running procedural sequences do not have the space ( or inclination) to allow. Unfortunately, a couple of books ago Reichs implemented a storyline which seemed at the time to be an inoffensive contrivance to prolong the on/off nature of Tempes romantic life but has now morphed into a 'scream at the page' annoyance of the highest magnitude. It requires a particular (intelligent, mature) character to act in so ridiculous a manner as to make the character seem a) unlikeable and b) unrelatable.
It's the latter that makes this storyline so hard to read. No-one, and I do mean no-one, would ever act in the manner or make the decisions that this character does. Certainly, no-one outside of a daytime soap opera. It de-values him considerably, as a character. In fact, because at no point do any of the other characters point out to him the ridiculousness of his actions, it actually serves to make Reichs seem naive, because it seems that she thinks this is acceptable behaviour. Given the life Reichs has led, I don't believe for one second that she is, but that's the impression I got from this book.
That is one storyline among many (and one that thankfully seems to have come to a close finally in this book) so it seems churlish to judge the entire book based on it. Indeed, when the narrative focuses elsewhere, such as the aforementioned 'nasty' case, the slow disintegration of Tempes professional reputation in the face of several seemingly huge mistakes, or the incredibly claustrophobic account of a kidnap victims attempts to escape her tomb, it's actually a rollicking good read, up there with some of the best of Kathy Reichs earlier work.
Now that the one nagging irritation is gone (hopefully), the next book in the series will (hopefully, again) be able to capitalise on what Reichs (and Tempe) are so good at. Telling gripping tales of ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances to bring justice for those who can't get it for themselves, with the Soap as a side dish that doesn't overshadow the meat. We shall see.
