Body Farm founder, Bill Brockton, is a forensic anthropologist who has seen many things in his career. He is an expert on the terrible things that humans do to each other. However, even he is shocked when an autopsy shows that 93 year old Dr. Leonard Novak's death was caused by a radioactive pellet that was located inside the doctor's body. Without giving away too much of the plot, that autopsy is the true beginning of the rest of this horrifying story.

Moving from the present to the past and back to the present again, this is a story of what men do when they feel they have no other choices, and when they feel they know more than anyone else about what needs to be done. Brockton's assistant, Miranda, Dr. Edelberto Garcia who was performing the autopsy, as well as Brockton himself, are all caught up in a tragic backlash of what was intended to kill only one man.

Perhaps, Dr. Novak's ex-wife, Beatrice, has the answer somewhere in her captivating stories that she will only share with Brockton. Maybe she is the center of everything that is going on. Or maybe she only knows a part of the story.

The plot of this book has enough twists and turns to keep your head spinning around and around. On top of that, the ending is one you will never see coming. Parts of BONES OF BETRAYAL were so riveting that I could hardly bear to put the book down. Other parts dwelled a bit too much on the historical aspects of the building of the United States' most deadly weapon for my tastes. However, this did fit in perfectly with the plot of the book. If you have a weak stomach, there will be parts that you will want to scan rather than read intently because the team of Jefferson Bass pulls no punches. Dr. Bill Bass is a world renowned forensic anthropologist who did, indeed, found the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee 25 years ago. So he definitely knows what he is talking about. His writing partner, Joe Jefferson, is veteran journalist and writer. This superb writing team has collaborated on several books written around Dr. Bill Brockton. Happily , this one is not the last.

Book Summary

Forged in the crucible of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was a top-secret military installation— the linchpin of the Manhattan Project. Brilliant careers were born and dark secrets buried in the desperate race to build the Bomb. Those secrets begin to emerge when the body of a renowned physicist is discovered . . .

Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton, founder of the Body Farm, is shocked when an autopsy reveals the cause of Dr. Leonard Novak's death: a deadly radioactive pellet inside the elderly scientist's body. Who would commit such a horrific crime? Is it related to Novak's role in creating America's deadliest weapon? The answers may lie with the victim's aging ex-wife, Beatrice, a captivating, yet utterly unreliable storyteller. Careening between history and fantasy, dementia and lucidity, Beatrice draws Brockton into a maze of memories, leading him to darker truths than he could have imagined.