Customer Reviews

Bones of Betrayal LP: A Body Farm Novel (Body Farm Novels (Large Print))

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Bones of Betrayal has one of the more interesting premises I've read - it's a forensic mystery based on a radioactive puzzle. I've not read a book with that as the focus. This proves to be an interesting twist on an age-old classic suspense. While it has a few cliches, it doesn't suffer from them - and with a (slightly less-so) typical forensic adventure that's interesting on its own, they wind up enhancing the story. The running joke about the chainsaw, (sorry, but you have to read it for that one!), was really funny.

Oak Ridge is one of the country's greatest "forgotten" nuggets of history. Most people have no idea that this is where the foundation for our war won by the atom was laid. This made the backdrop interesting.

The writing is fun and engaging. I found myself wanting to turn ahead to find out more about a dire circumstance befalling one character. The personalities of his cast are complex while still falling back on that formerly-mentioned clicheness. The persona of Beatrice in particular filled me with horror and sadness in parts, amusement, pain and anger in others.

Like most good books, it ultimately shines because it's not made wonderful by the plot, but by the characters. No, it's not the next literary novel of the century, but it's a great forensic story with an amusing cast. Since I didn't read the earlier books, though, there was some context I was missing, which was my one major dislike.

Overall, a good book. An original twist on an unoriginal formula, it was unexpectedly enjoyable.

Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):

1. Frozen body found in dirty swimming pool
2. Add a STIHL* chainsaw to the list of casualties
3. Frozen body turns out to be hot, as in Geiger counter hot
4. History lesson on the Manhattan Project follows
5. Blurry photographs lead back to wartime Oak Ridge
6. The truth outs, but slowly

Unlike the other novels from this writing team, this one doesn't focus on the Body Farm and its decomposing occupants, but is more a historical whodunit with links to present time.

Despite its scientific subject matter, the story makes for light and entertaining reading, and you don't have to be a nuclear physicist to find out what makes it tick.

Half the life of the story is the attempted romance sub-plots, the cheesy but good natured humor, and the self-deprecating nature of the hero, Dr. Bill Brockton.

Recommended light reading for planes and trains, and people who live near to nuclear reactors.


*Gratuitous product placement plug for the world's best chainsaw


Amanda Richards, February 14, 2009


Footnote: "STIHL" is pronounced "schteel" rather than "steel".

Footnote 2: Tell Dr. Brockton that it's spelled "Husqvarna"

I am a huge fan of the television series "Bones," and when I saw Kathy Reichs' (author of the Temperance Brennan novels) endorsement of BONES OF BETRAYAL, I knew I had to read this book. BONES OF BETRAYAL is the fourth installment in the Body Farm series by Jefferson Bass. I have not previously read the other three books in this series and had some concern about starting at book four. However, this book stands on its own very well, with only mild, well explained references to previous stories. With a story based in forensic anthropology, the birth of atomic science, and a mysterious murder, BONES OF BETRAYAL is a clear winner.

Let me say up front that I am a geek. I have a Master's Degree in Physics with a minor in Mathematics, and love novels that are based in hard science. BONES OF BETRAYAL hits the jackpot for me, mixing two scientific fields quite well: atomic physics and forensic anthropology, as well as the history of the atomic bomb and WWII. All three play important roles in solving the murder case, all three are well and appropriately explained for the lay reader, and all three combine quite seamlessly. The details of each are just right: not too dumbed down and not too sophisticated.

In BONES OF BETRAYAL, a frozen corpse found in a swimming pool near the Oak Ridge nuclear research facility, where the atomic bomb was developed. Dr. Bill Brockton, founder of the Body Farm and a leading authority in forensic science, is called in to investigate. The body turns out to be that of Dr. Leonard Novak, one of the key scientists on the Manhattan Project, the code name for the WWII project that perfected the bomb. When Dr. Brockton discovers that the cause of death was not drowning, but rather radiation poisoning, he wonders if Novak's murder is related to events long past. Dr. Brockton meets Novak's bright and colorful ex-wife, Beatrice, at his funeral, and he begins his investigation of those long ago events with her. Beatrice weaves a number of captivating tales, but are any of them true? Can Dr. Brockton unravel the mysteries of history and navigate unsuspected twists and turns in order to solve a murder in the present?

I had great fun with BONES OF BETRAYAL and zipped right through it. The plot and pacing both worked well, with the science, action, and history all blending perfectly. Each fed the other beautifully. The characters were likeable and well developed, and I felt that I had a good rapport with them, even the ones introduced in earlier books. All in all, BONES OF BETRAYAL is an excellent read, and I will definitely be reading the other books in this series.

The first three Body Farm novels--Carved in Bone, Flesh and Bone, and The Devil's Bones--took readers deep into the backwoods of East Tennessee, where fascinating forensic science mixed with extraordinary characters, including the Farm's charismatic founder. Now, in the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series Kathy Reichs calls "the real deal," truth, lies, war, and history intertwine in a story that reaches new heights of suspense. This is Jefferson Bass's most ambitious and enthralling book yet.

Bones of Betrayal

Dr. Bill Brockton is in the middle of a nuclear-terrorism disaster drill when he receives an urgent call from the nearby town of Oak Ridge--better known as Atomic City, home of the Bomb, and the key site for the Manhattan Project during World War II. Although more than sixty years have passed, could repercussions from that dangerous time still be felt today?

With his graduate assistant Miranda Lovelady, Brockton hastens to the death scene, where they find a body frozen facedown in a swimming pool behind a historic, crumbling hotel. The forensic detectives identify the victim as Dr. Leonard Novak, a renowned physicist and designer of a plutonium reactor integral to the Manhattan Project. They also discover that he didn't drown: he died from a searing dose of radioactivity.

As that same peril threatens the medical examiner and even Miranda, Brockton enlists the help of a beautiful, enigmatic librarian to peel back the layers of Novak's life to the secret at its core. The physicist's house and personal life yield few clues beyond a faded roll of undeveloped film, but everything changes when Brockton chances upon Novak's ninety-year-old ex-wife, Beatrice. Charming and utterly unreliable, she takes him on a trip back into Oak Ridge's wartime past, deep into the shadows of the nuclear race where things were not quite as they seemed.

As Beatrice drifts between lucidity and dementia, Brockton wonders if her stories are fact or fancy, history or myth. But he knows one thing--that she holds the key to a mystery that is becoming increasingly labyrinthine. For as the radiation count steadily rises, and the race to find the truth intensifies, the old woman's tales hint at something far darker and more complex than the

When Bill Brockton got the call about a body frozen in a swimming pool in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, he didn't think of it as anything more than another case, and maybe a chance to use his chain saw. By the time they learned that the victim didn't drown, it was probably too late for the medical examiner; and Miranda Lovelady, Brockton's assistant, might also become a casualty. The area's past as part of the Manhattan Project and the building of the Atomic bomb just might be more a part of the present than anyone thought.

I grew up with duck-and-cover drills in school -- they didn't stop until junior high. It never seemed to me that sitting under my desk was going to protect me much even then, but one didn't question the drills' usefulness. Then there were the stories my grandfather told of the war - history mostly with a few asides to make it more interesting. I read a bit and while I have a fairly good idea about what went on at Los Alamos, I never paid much attention to Oak Ridge other than to know that it had something to do with the atom bomb. I guess Los Alamos got most of the press, the books, and the movies.

That gets a bit rectified by Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass (Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson). Dr. Leonard Novak, a Manhattan Project physicist and one of the brains behind Oak Ridge, is found dead and frozen into a swimming pool. Dr. Bill Brockton is asked for his help. Once the victim dries out and the autopsy begins they learn that Dr. Novak didn't drown - he was murdered and in a way that puts all of people at the autopsy at risk.

Brockton is driven to get to the bottom of the mystery, and to find out the why as well as the how and who of the murder. He meets Novak's ex-wife who tells him stories of the Oak Ridge during the war years. Through these stories and the investigation of Brockton of the history of the area and his forensic research with the police, we learn about the war years and what happened to the people who lived in Oak Ridge during those years.

Our past really does often come back to haunt us in mysterious and surprising ways. There are a number of surprising twist in Bones of Betrayal along with some intense emotional scenes. While the story is modern and takes place in our own time, the seeds of the story begin with the development and use of the atomic bomb. The issues involved are covered within context and highlight the social issues of the times and how they affected the people who lived through them.

If you enjoy history and a good mystery, give Bones of Betrayal a try - entertaining and educational, can't beat that.

It is an interesting story for those who live near or in Oak Ridge TN where most of the story takes place. Name of real people appear as historic figures and some contemporaries. It was a treat as I live here and know the condition and can see the places referred to in the book.
However I think it would be a good read for anybody interested in forensics .
I can recommend this book!

Caveat: I have not read the first 3 "Body Farm" novels. *Bones of Betrayal* is #4 in the series.

Even without reading the first three installments, this mystery was an enjoyable read. The mystery plot line was convincing and properly tortuous. Characters were interesting. The major "sleuth" characters were interesting without taking over the mystery story.

As I am a big ol' geek, I thoroughly enjoyed the very accurate forensics in this novel. When a novel makes a mistake in science, it loses all credibility with me, and I toss it aside with great force. *Bones of Betrayal,* however, did not miss a scientific beat. I loved that they used the decay of radioisotopes to figure out when the murder weapon (a very high intensity source of radiation) must have been stolen from its shielded location, thus narrowing the list of possible places it could have been stolen from. Having worked a lot with radioisotopes (P-32, mostly,) I can tell you that the math was spot on, and it was a nice way to insert a clue.

The other forensics were authoritative and well described. This book makes the CSI guys look like a herd of Clouseaus.

*Bones of Betrayal* is a great mystery. I recommend it highly. I plan to get my hands on the first three "Body Farm" novels and read them, too.

TK Kenyon

I've read the other Body Farm books and remember liking them. This one, however, I never would have finished if I had had anything else to read at home over the weekend. The story was interesting enough, but the annoying banter between Dr. Brockton and Miranda got extremely tedious and I ended up skipping over most of it. His descriptions of places were boring and I skipped over most of that too. Needless to say I finished this book quite quickly and the interesting story did not save it for me. I agree with other reviews - skip this one.

I love forensic mysteries and was really looking forward to reading this one. It did not disappoint. A mix of medical, atomic and forensic investigation, with really interesting characters. There is a lot of story here, and the author really lets the story go at its own pace, never pushing it faster than it should go. He focuses a lot on the characters, less on the forensics, although there is a satisfying amount of it. The story of Oakridge in itself is worthwhile reading, and I really enjoyed the stories within stories told by the various characters, particularly Beatrice (I won't spoil anything). I very much enjoyed reading this book, and will definitely check out the other Body Farm books because of it.

This is the first body farm novel I have read. I found it a little slow but the well researched history of Oak Ridge, TN was fascinating. You could almost imagine yourself there in the early 1940's, it was so realistic. What an exciting time that must have been! The story concerns an early scientist who worked at the beginning of the Manhatten Project who is found floating in a frozen swimming pool after being murdered so long after the beginning of the project. A fine blending of the past and the present.