The Bone Thief (Body Farm Series #5)

by Jefferson Bass

Overview

It seems a routine case for Dr. Bill Brockton, the exhumation of a body to obtain a bone sample for a DNA paternity test. But a shocking discovery awaits Brockton and his colleagues when the coffin is opened: the corpse inside has been horribly violated. The grisly find embroils the Body Farm's founder in a dangerous investigation into a flourishing black market in body parts, as Brockton is recruited for an FBI sting to bring down a postmortem chop shop—using corpses from the Body Farm as bait.

But as he descends deeper into a ghoulish empire on the trail of a ruthless grave robber, Brockton faces a devastating choice that could compromise the investigation and place him in even graver peril. And for the sake of a damaged friend—a medical examiner who has lost his hands—Brockton may be forced to risk his principles, his freedom . . . and even his life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062277404
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/24/2013
Series:	Body Farm Series , #5
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	606,772
Product dimensions:	4.19(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Jefferson Bass is the writing team of Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bill Bass. Dr. Bass, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist, is the creator of the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility, widely known as the Body Farm. He is the author or coauthor of more than two hundred scientific publications, as well as a critically acclaimed memoir about his career at the Body Farm, Death's Acre. Dr. Bass is also a dedicated teacher, honored as U.S. Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Jon Jefferson is a veteran journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. His writings have been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and Popular Science and broadcast on National Public Radio. The coauthor of Death's Acre, he is also the writer and producer of two highly rated National Geographic documentaries about the Body Farm.

Editorial Reviews

Those looking for a mystery in this so-so sequel to Bones of Betrayal, the fifth forensic thriller from bestseller Bass (the pseudonym of Bill Blass and Jon Jefferson), may be disappointed to find the solving of an embalmer’s murder relegated to a subplot. Bill Brockton, the chair of the University of Tennessee’s anthropology department and head of the human decomposition research facility known as the Body Farm, is still preoccupied with the fallout of the previous book’s events, which left his emotions in turmoil and a close friend maimed. The woman Brockton had fallen for, who turned out to be the killer he was seeking, escaped after Brockton confronted her. The present book largely focuses on Brockton’s efforts at undercover work after the Feds involve him in a case against an unscrupulous tissue bank. No less than two deus ex machinas at the end undercut the realism. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly