The Bone Yard
by Jefferson Bass
Dr. Bill Brockton leaves the Body Farm,
a human decomposition research facility at the University of Tennessee,
to investigate a Georgia death and a decades old mystery in the
panhandle of Florida. When Angie St. Claire, a forensic
analyst at the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement, asks help from Dr.
Bill Brockton, he can't refuse. Local authorities in
Georgia have ruled her sister's death a suicide but Angie believes her
sister was murdered by her brother-in-law. Can Brockton help her
prove it? When he discovers two skulls with lethal fractures,
this investigation takes a backseat as the two join Special Agent Stu
Vickery to find the lost victims. The investigation leads to the
North Florida Boys' Reformatory, a juvenile detention
century. Most of the records were destroyed in a fire forty
years ago. When a hidden diary surfaces, the claims of horrific
events at the reform school, Brockton and team must look to the bones
for answers. Local figures are not helpful to say the
least. As the past comes to the surface, the present becomes more
and more perilous!
Writing duo Jefferson Bass (forensic anthropologist Bill Bass and
journalist Jon Jefferson) team up in this sixth
Body Farm novel to write a fictional thriller based on a true story of
a real Florida institution. THE BONE YARD is fast-paced suspense
with intriguing scientific clues to thrill the intellect and glue a
reader to the pages. The science is a refreshing and most welcome
change from the typical suspense. Was the finding of the diary a
little too convenient. Yes, but it still made for great reading as the
author's brought back the voice, not just the bones, of the victims to
the current day. The diary reminds one that the victims are
indeed real and that history is lived by real people. The
ending, though fast-paced, veers more into the typical genre suspense
ending. While thriller lovers are accustomed to this typical mad
race and escalating danger, I still found myself disappointed.
THE BONE YARD is such a wonderful, exciting change of pace within the
thriller genre, that I could not help but feel this book would have
been truly outstanding if the authors had taken a bit more risk and
veered from the suspense genre formula to end the book in a more unique
way. For most of the book, I felt THE BONE YARD would be one of
the best books I had read all year so when the ending veered from
scientific clues to a more typical fast-paced action scene with perils
to the main character, my thrill in finally finding something different
was lowered. Perhaps the ending is part of the expectation of a
more general fictional audience, and as such, will please readers
looking for both something different yet still part of suspense
expectations. I still highly recommend this book, especially to
suspense lovers. The author balances the disturbing investigation
with a sense of humor in the characters. The path of the clues is
more intellectually interesting than the television trend to ramp up
the gore of forensic investigations.
A reader need not read the preceding books to enjoy this particular
book in the Body Farm series, although reading this one left this
reader eager to read more by this author team.
Publisher:
Willliam Morrow (March 8, 2011)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
