Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel (Body Farm Novels) [Hardcover]

Jefferson Bass (Author)

Book Description

Series: Body Farm Novels | Publication Date: January 23, 2007

Dr. Bill Brockton, the founder of the world-famous Body Farm, is hard at work on a troubling new case. A young man's battered body has been found in nearby Chattanooga, and it's up to the talented Dr. Brockton to assemble the pieces of the forensic puzzle. Brockton is brought into the case by the rising star of the state's mechanical examiners, Jess Carter.

Just as they're on the verge of breaking the case open, events take a terrifying turn. Brockton has re-created the Chattanooga death scene at the Body Farm, but a killer tampers with it in a shocking way: placing another corpse at the setting, confusing authorities and putting Brockton's career and life in jeopardy. Soon Brockton himself is accused of the horrific new crime, and the once-beloved professor becomes an outcast. As the net around him tightens, Brockton must use all of his forensic skills to prove his own innocence . . . before he ends up behind bars with some of the very killers he's helped to convict.

Flesh and Bone is another roller-coaster ride into the world of forensic anthropology, its twists and turns marked by drama and pathos, humor and grief, families and friends and enemies. With captivatingly real characters, plus fascinating scientific insights drawn from the case files of a living forensic legend, this astonishing novel confirms Jefferson Bass as one of our most talented authors of suspense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of the entertaining second Body Farm novel from the pseudonymous Bass (the writing team of forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass and journalist Jon Jefferson), Dr. Bill Brockton ties a dead man dressed in drag to a tree at the Body Farm (a facility he heads outside Knoxville, Tenn., devoted to researching postmortem decay), in an effort to replicate a recent murder. Dr. Bill's just beginning a romantic relationship with another participant in this experiment, Chattanooga medical examiner Dr. Jess Carter. The story veers wildly from fascinating forensics with a high yuck factor to sophomoric and corny romantic byplay, often in the same scene. Fans of the bestselling first book in the series, Carved in Bone, and readers with a penchant for the gross and grisly will take to Dr. Bill, a hero with a big heart who isn't afraid to tackle complicated issues while solving mildly engrossing mysteries. Dr. Bass and Jefferson are the coauthors of Death's Acre, about the actual Body Farm. 7-city author tour. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton, who made his debut in Carved in Bone (2005), returns to defend himself against a charge of murder. The mummified body of a woman is found in a cave in Tennessee. Brockton, who works at the University of Tennessee's Body Farm (founded in real life by Bill Bass, one-half of "Jefferson Bass"), has seen his share of gruesome sights, but this one has him stymied. And when a second body turns up, Brockton finds himself square in the spotlight. The second Body Farm mystery is as smoothly written as the first (Bass' coauthor, Jon Jefferson, is an accomplished journalist), but it goes a lot farther in exploring its protagonist, a man who spends his life looking at death. The story is razor sharp, too, with a nice mixture of mystery and horror. Fans of forensic fiction will want to add this author to their list of favorites. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (January 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060759836
• ISBN-13: 978-0060759834
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #342,137 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jefferson Bass is the writing team of Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. Together, they wrote Death's Acre, a nonfiction account of the Body Farm, before embarking on a forensic fiction writing career as Jefferson Bass. Their debut novel, Carved in Bone, reached no. 25 on The New York Times Best Seller list and was followed by a series of bestselling crime novels, as well as a second nonfiction title (Beyond the Body Farm). Their sixth and newest Body Farm novel is The Bone Yard.

Bios of Dr. Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson

Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass is a legend in forensic circles. In 1980 Dr. Bass created the world's first laboratory devoted to human decomposition: the University of Tennessee's "Body Farm." Dr. Bass has written or coauthored more than 200 scientific publications, many of them based either on the research facility's work or on murders and other mysteries he's helped to prosecute or solve. During half a century in the classroom, Dr. Bass has taught tens of thousands of students, including many of the foremost forensic anthropologists practicing in the United States today. He's been featured on numerous network television news programs, as well as in documentaries for National Geographic and the BBC. CBS was not exaggerating when it called Dr. Bass "America 's top forensic scientist."

Jon Jefferson is a veteran journalist, science writer, and documentary filmmaker. His journalism credits include work for The New York Times, National Public Radio, Newsweek, and USA Today. Jefferson learned the art of combining scientific material with compelling human stories during a decade as a science writer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In the 1990s he began writing and producing documentaries for the History Channel and the Arts and Entertainment network, covering topics ranging from Vatican treasures to World War II fighter planes. An aviation buff, Jefferson owns and flies an experimental airplane. As a volunteer with a search-and-rescue team, Jefferson trained his Australian shepherd, Chief, to work as a cadaver dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent sequel, January 31, 2007

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ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel (Body Farm Novels) (Hardcover)

Once again we meet Dr. Bill Brockton - whom we met in Carved in Bone - and his continued research at the Body Farm - Where Carved introduced the characters, Flesh gives them depth. Deals with murder, controversy, and reversal of fortune. Amidst this intensity, there is humor - my favorite character, Art, Brockton's best bud, adds much needed laughs in the book, especially after the intense opening of the book. But it is his steadfast friendship with Bill that remains steadfast and wish we could all have such a friend. We meet another character who I certainly hope will have a recurring role in sequels, Miss Georgia. Flesh continues the excellence of Carved and fans certainly will be looking forward to the next in the series. A great read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forensics Thriller is the Real Deal, January 23, 2007

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Mysteryheel "Ms Mystery" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel (Body Farm Novels) (Hardcover)

Following the NY Times bestseller CARVED IN BONE, which was a great forensic mystery, Bass has produced one of the best forensic stories I've ever read. In this outing, Dr. Bill Brockton and his University of Tennessee's body farm are at the center of the crimes--in more ways than one. The crimes themselves will appease the most blood-thirsty reader, and the peril will stump the most avid suspense reader. I'm not going to give a hint of the story--you'll just have to take my word for it: This newe series is NOT TO BE MISSED!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dynamic Duo is delving deeper into the realms of imagination, March 21, 2007

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R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel (Body Farm Novels) (Hardcover)

"Flesh and Blood" is the sequel to the writing team Jefferson Bass' first fictional work, "Carved in Bone." 'Jefferson Bass' is a pseudonym from Dr. William Bass, the famed forensic anthropologist and writer of "Death's Acre" (a non-fiction autobiography and excellent treatise on forensic anthropology) and Jon Jefferson, who worked with Dr. Bass producing "Death's Acre" and two National Geographic documentaries on the Body Farm.

"Flesh and Bone" takes up close to where its predecessor, "Carved in Bone" leaves off. Dr. Bill Brockton and his faithful GA assistant, Miranda, are setting up an experiment on the Body Farm. Their goal is to reproduce a gory murder of a young may they believe to be a hate crime against homosexuals. By reproducing the crime using a donated cadaver, they are hoping to clearly establish the time of death of a young man left hanging in a tree dressed in drag paraphenalia and brutally mutilated.

As the story goes on, Dr. Brockton and Dr. Jess Carter, the Chattanooga, TN Medical Examiner, are getting much closer. It looks like Dr. Brockton may stand a chance at love after 2 years missing his deceased wife.

Of course, not all things are going smoothly. A classroom lecture gone somewhat awry, ends up with Dr. Brockton having to defend himself against creationists, mirroring the infamous 'Scopes Monkey Trial' which happened only a few miles from Knoxville in Dayton, TN. Some would call this plotline 'unnecessary' but I think it's very timely and interesting--considering this week an East Coast teacher was fired under accusations of witchcraft--for teaching counter to the views of her principal.

But the situation decomposes much faster than the bodies--when the crime scene mockup is tampered with, Dr. Brockton is the prime suspect for murder. As the stories hurdles on, Brockton's job, family, even his life are all at stake.

"Flesh and Bone" is a fast-paced and very real look at the life of a forensic anthropologist. The only fault I can find with the book is that it's perhaps 'too real.' The commonalities between Dr. Brockton and Dr. William Bass are just too similar to be missed and in this reviewer's opinion, show some lack of imagination. Art Bohannon, the Knoxville Police Department fingerprint expert and childrens' advocate, is really Art Bohannon and names of people credited with helping the team in some way were only changed slightly--if at all.

"Carved in Bone" depicted a situation in an East TN county that was very similar to reality. "Flesh and Bone" did go a step further--taking real situations and bending them to work in the book.

In "Flesh and Bone" we look at the judicial system from the point of view of the Defense, which definitely is a twist from the noted criminalist's usual position. That showed imagination and a whole lot of research. Well done, gentlemen--I hope to see book three very soon.