Best-selling crime novelist Kathy Reichs uses evil to fascinate her readers.
"Death is the ultimate loss, to kill someone is the ultimate evil," Reichs wrote in an e-mail forwarded by her publicist. "This evil fascinates. I also think readers like trying to solve the puzzle before the end is revealed."
Reichs, the featured author for the Columbia County Reads Together program, will discuss her work and sign books 7 p.m. Saturday in the Jabez Sanford Hardin Performing Arts Center at the Columbia County Library in Evans.
Literature professors like to tell students to write what they know. Reichs' books are based on cases she worked on or experiences she had as a forensic anthropologist.
As an expert on human remains, Reichs has consulted with and taught classes for the FBI. She still does work for Canadian authorities.
Though all her books have a basis in anthropology, Reichs said she still does extensive research before writing them.
"I visit places that I have not visited before, like Israel," she wrote. "I research sciences other than my own, types of weapons or poisons, genetic disorders, many, many things."
Deja Dead , Reichs' first novel, became a best-seller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. She has written 10 novels since, all featuring forensic scientist Temperance Brennan.
Reichs' novels Bare Bones and Break No Bones are the featured works for the library book series, which started in February with book discussions.
The Brennan character attained such popularity that it became a basis for the Fox television show Bones .
However, the TV and book characters differ in some respects. TV Brennan doesn't believe in marriage and has expressed no interest in having children. Book Brennan is a devoted mother.
Reichs attributes the philosophical shift to a difference in age between the characters.
"I think of TV Tempe as a younger version of the book Tempe," she wrote. "It is set at an earlier point in her life."
For information on the book series or the author's visit, call the Columbia County Library at (706) 863-1946.
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