When a plane crashes high in the mountains of North Carolina, Temperance Brennan is one of the first on the scene. As a forensic anthropologist for the state, she serves on the region's disaster response team. The task that confronts her is a sad and sickening one. Putting normal life on hold Tempe and her colleagues must painstakingly identify the victims.

A chance discovery concerns her: a severed foot, well away from the main crash site. A deserted house close by is buried so deep in the woods that locals claim to know nothing of its existence. And her examination of the foot throws up more questions than answers.

Before she can make any progress, Tempe's professional standing is threatened. But she fears that, air tragedy aside, another corpse lies somewhere in the woods. Pitting herself against a conspiracy of silence, Tempe vows to bring justice for her mystery victim...

Despite my recent experience with Kathy Reich's Deadly Decisions, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and go for one more novel, not this time about bikers, in the hope that it would restore my faith in her. I must admit that after recent events in the US I'm a little less than eager to embark on a book detailing a plane crash, so this may be on my 'To Read' list for a while yet.

November 26th 2002
The End

I finished this in two days some weeks ago, and I have to say that without a doubt this is Kathy's best book to date. The situation is a hard one to read about; a major airline disaster, but it's that background and the fact that no one on the inside usually talks about just how horrific the aftermath is that gives the fantastic story a really macabre feel. The mix of reality and fiction mixes so dramatically that it draws you in even when you don't want to read more.

Having said that this is my favourite Reichs book to date there are a couple of niggles that it would be remiss not to mention. Her greatest fault as a writer is underestimating her reader's knowledge base when it comes to basic forensic procedure. With the amount of crime fiction available, not to mention movies and TV, I doubt there are many people around who don't at least know something, so when she sets up an exposition passage with a forensic expert it bugs me that she has her main character, Tempe (an expert forensic anthropologist), ignorant to even the most widely known aspect of their work. There are also times when Reichs feels the need to inform her readers as to the background science or procedures surrounding a case. These tend to be clumsily treated, and sometimes it feels as though these are text book passages that are pasted in merely to get the word count up. I would rather her concentrate on weaving her story, and if she felt the need, add an appendix.

The niggles in this book are far overpowered by the power of the narrative. The discovery of a foot on the outskirts of the airplane crash site that can't be fitted to any of the victims begins an amazing string of events. Tempe is dropped right into the center of an ancient mystery, steeped in political corruption and local legend. The progression of the tale is really intriguing, and can only be described as a page turner. I really enjoyed this book, against expectation. So much so that I began her next book almost on completion.