Book Commentary

Tube-Tied Books

Read it or watch it? -- We decide how readers will react to the television adaptations of ''Gossip Girl'' and ''Women's Murder Club''

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Women's Murder Club
ABC's Friday mystery series is based on the six (and counting) James Patterson books.
Ch-ch-changes
''70 million people already know how the books end,'' says exec producer Elizabeth Craft. So the plots are original: a new crime in each episode and a serial killer (modeled on the books) menacing the whole season. And another thing: In the books, homicide investigator Lindsay (Angie Harmon) is blond.
Author Involvement
Exec producer Patterson previews outlines, scripts, and cuts.
How Readers Will React
The female-fueled sleuthing is familiar, but the mysteries are fresh. — Youyoung Lee

Gossip Girl
The CW's Wednesday soap is based on Cecily von Ziegesar's 12 (so far) young-adult novels.
Ch-ch-changes
Actors don't always resemble the book characters (Taylor Momsen's Jenny isn't a big-chested brunette); hard-partying Serena (Blake Lively, above) is more subdued, but exec producer Stephanie Savage promises future flashbacks of her bad behavior; suicidal Eric (Connor Paolo) is now Serena's younger brother.
Author Involvement
Von Ziegesar has no say in the scripts.
How Readers Will React
Despite tweaks in plot and character, the seductiveness of affluent Manhattanites remains. — Lindsay Soll