Forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton is dealing with
the murder of the woman he loved by throwing himself back
into his investigative work at the Body Farm. A recent case
involving a charred body found inside a burned up car has
him running experiments to determine if it was an accident
or murder.
At the same time, Brockton is asked to aid in identifying
some remains from a rural crematorium. He discovers that
not only did they not cremate hundreds of bodies, but they
actually left the corpses stockpiled and strewn all over
the wooded grounds around the inoperable crematorium.
If this wasn't enough work and stress for the good doctor
to handle, the former medical examiner (Garland Hamilton)
accused of murdering Brockton's lover and almost killing
Brockton, too, escapes while being transported to trial for
the crimes. Now the hunt is on for this evil madman before
he kills again. When it seems that Hamilton may have burned
up in a cabin fire, Brockton won't believe it until he can
prove conclusively that the remains are Hamilton's. Yes,
Brockton certainly has his hands full.
Jefferson Bass (the writing team of Dr. Bill Bass
and Jon Jefferson) gives readers a gripping, detailed
forensic murder thriller that's brilliantly written and
researched. I was fascinated by all the facts provided in
such a concise, yet understandable and entertaining, form.
I highly recommend this novel.
A woman's charred body has been found inside a burned car
perched atop a hill in Knoxville. Is it accidental death,
or murder followed by arson? Forensic anthropologist Bill
Brockton's quest for answers prompts an experiment
straight from Dante's Inferno: In the dark of
night, he puts bodies to the torch, researching how fire
consumes flesh and bone.
In the meantime,
Brockton is sent a mysterious package—a set of cremated
remains that looks entirely unreal. With the help of a
local crematorium, he investigates and discovers a truth
too horrifying to believe: A facility in another state has
not been disposing of bodies properly, instead scattering
them all around the grounds.
Little does Brockton
know that his research is about to collide with reality—
with the force of a lit match meeting spilled gasoline. En
route to trial, his nemesis, medical examiner Garland
Hamilton, has escaped from custody. What follows is a
deadly game of cat and mouse, played for the ultimate
stakes: Brockton's own life. With help from his loyal
graduate assistant, Miranda, and ace criminalist Art
Bohanan, Brockton eventually tracks Hamilton, but when the
police arrive, they find only a smoldering ruin. Sifting
through the ashes, Brockton finds the incinerated remains
of Hamilton . . . or does he? The answer—along with
Brockton's ultimate test—comes in a searing moment of
truth.