'Deja''s corpses, killers, shadows make it a dead-on thriller

Deja Dead
Kathy Reichs
Scribner
4 stars

When you're reading a book that is impossible to put down not only because it is incredibly compelling but it has you scared to turn off the lights and go to bed, then you know you're reading one hell of a book. Kathy Reichs' "Deja Dead" is exactly one of these. Filled with dark shadows and endless horrors, this tale of terror will have you constantly checking over your shoulder as you unfold its wicked tale.

Can it be possible that this is only a debut novel? "Deja Dead" marks Reichs' first venture into fiction writing, but it is a more formidable piece of writing than the works of most seasoned and acclaimed veterans. The book is so real and powerful that it sucks you into its world of corpses, psychosis and serial killers from the first syllable.

Reichs' daytime job as a forensic anthropologist allows her to weave an accurate story about a heroine of the same profession. Having worked in the province of Quebec, her knowledge of the craft, as well as the area, make the tale almost too real for comfort.

With the air of a natural-born storyteller, Reichs shows us her dungeon of horrors through Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist working in the culture-rich area of Quebec.

Nothing prepares Brennan for a body discovered on the grounds of an abandoned Catholic seminary in Montreal. The body of a female that has been brutally butchered beyond recognition greatly disturbs Brennan, who has been able to withhold emotional involvement for so many years.

Soon other mutilated bodies begin turning up, and Brennan goes on a crusade to prove that these are all the work of a dangerously psychotic serial killer. The killer turns his eyes on Brennan, and her ignored attempts to convince the police soon take on a more personal and desperate spin.

Forced to hunt the killer herself as the killer simultaneously hunts for her, "Deja Dead" becomes a harrowing race as to who will find the other first.

Reichs has already been compared to Patricia Cornwell, and it is possible that her talent exceeds that of the phenomenal and established thrills expert. Reichs' "Deja Dead" not only has the eerie feel of "Silence of the Lambs," but her vivid details and her skilled manipulation of words create similarly haunting images that return to the reader for weeks whenever the lights go off.

The characters, including the fatalistic Brennan and the variety of law enforcement officials with whom she deals, as well as the prostitutes and social lowlifes, seem more like living people rather than mere concoctions of Reichs' superior imagination.

Every single character is well-developed and rich. Every single aspect of the novel is carefully crafted and put into place with the eye of a perfectionist. The intense and unpredictable story is seamless with no flaws that can be seen with the naked eye. Could this be the perfect horror/crime novel? Very possibly.

How often is it that a novel has you afraid to turn off the light, afraid to close your eyes and wishing you still lived with your parents so you could crawl into their bed for protection against the horrors of the night? As difficult as those tasks are, "Deja Dead" is fully capable of them.

A masterpiece in manipulating a reader through an unbelievably graphic and horrifying tale, "Deja Dead" is one of the best thrillers of the year. An amazing reading experience, "Deja Dead" will have you sleeping with the light on for weeks and raving about it for years.

- Julia Shih

Beavis and Butthead: The Butt-Files; Beavis and Butthead Travel Log
By Greg Grabianski and Aimee Keillor; by Kristofor Brown
MTV Books
3 stars

Uh-huh-huh-huh. So, like, see, there are these books. And, uhhh, they're about Beavis and Butthead. Actually, they're not really about Beavis and Butthead. It's more like they're about everything else. But they're really cool, see, 'cause it's Beavis and Butthead who are talking about everything else. Uhhh, yeah, like, those guys really know how it is.

You should check out "Beavis and Butthead Travel Log" because they say "log." No, really, in this book, Beavis and Butthead go to every state, including Mexico and Canada, and say exactly why it's cool (or why it sucks.) "Mishigan," for example, is cool because it's the place where cars are made. Prison is the place where license plates are made. So if you get bored on vacation, you can drive around and see if any license plates are really messages from prisoners. You can also visit Dr. Death, "like a pro wrestler or something ... He's got a killer sleeper hold. Heh heh heh." Another reason why "Mishigan" is a good place to go is because of the cool town names, like Nirvana, Bad Axe, Peck and Needmore.

Along with information about each state, "Beavis and Butthead Travel Log" is also full of vacation tips, such as where to find the hottest chicks and where to go so the weather doesn't suck. There is also a list of what to look for in a hotel: places that say "adult motel," hourly rates and vibrating beds.

"Beavis and Butthead: The Butt Files" is their guide to "the supernatural" and "science friction," so you can understand the unknown better "in case you're, like, slow or something." The unknown includes Easter Island, voodoo dolls, mental telepathy, "Baywatch Nights" and The Giant Floating Butt of Highland High. The Giant Floating Butt haunts the school and sometimes cuts the cheese, then disappears - "Some people think it comes from this kid who, like, years and years ago cut off his butt in wood shop. Huh-huh-huh! The kid lived and stuff, but his butt died. And now the ghost of his butt haunts Highland forever, or something."

Other mysteries include "Why Butthead Sucks" and "Why Beavis Can't Score" (just look at him. Huh-huh-huh-huh!) Like, maybe these aren't as big of mysteries as the Twilight Zone or Elvis, but they're still kind of scary.

These books are both really cool. Beavis and Butthead know how the world really is, and stuff. Huh-huh-huh. Yeah.

- Jessica Eaton

12-05-97