9780061629723
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The Devil’s Bones audiobook

  • By: Jefferson Bass
  • Narrator: Tom McKeon
  • Category: Fiction, Medical, Thrillers
  • Length: 5 hours 40 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: February 05, 2008
  • Language: English
  • (6667 ratings)
(6667 ratings)
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The Devil’s Bones Audiobook Summary

In two previous New York Times bestselling novels, Jefferson Bass enthralled readers with ripped-from-the-headlines forensic cases, memorable characters, and plots that “rival Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). Drawing on research at the Body Farm–three acres of land in the backwoods of Tennessee, where bodies are left to the elements to illuminate human decomposition–Bass has moved fiction to a fascinating new realm, with forensics expertise drawn from his five decades of work as the world’s leading forensic anthropologist. But this latest novel cements Jefferson Bass as one of the finest writers of suspense working today, and in a work of drama, cunning, and heartbreak, thrills the reader with fiction that feels all too real.

A woman’s charred body has been found inside a burned car perched atop a hill in Knoxville. Is it accidental death, or murder followed by arson? Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton’s quest for answers prompts an experiment straight from Dante’s Inferno: In the dark of night, he puts bodies to the torch, researching how fire consumes flesh and bone.

In the meantime, Brockton is sent a mysterious package–a set of cremated remains that looks entirely unreal. With the help of a local crematorium, he investigates and discovers a truth too horrifying to believe: A facility in another state has not been disposing of bodies properly, instead scattering them all around the grounds.

Little does Brockton know that his research is about to collide with reality–with the force of a lit match meeting spilled gasoline. En route to trial, his nemesis, medical examiner Garland Hamilton, has escaped from custody. What follows is a deadly game of cat and mouse, played for the ultimate stakes: Brockton’s own life. With help from his loyal graduate assistant, Miranda, and ace criminalist Art Bohanan, Brockton eventually tracks Hamilton, but when the police arrive, they find only a smoldering ruin. Sifting through the ashes, Brockton finds the incinerated remains of Hamilton . . . or does he? The answer–along with Brockton’s ultimate test–comes in a searing moment of truth.

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The Devil’s Bones Audiobook Narrator

Tom McKeon is the narrator of The Devil’s Bones audiobook that was written by Jefferson Bass

Jefferson Bass is the writing team of Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bill Bass. Dr. Bass, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist, is the creator of the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility, widely known as the Body Farm. He is the author or coauthor of more than two hundred scientific publications, as well as a critically acclaimed memoir about his career at the Body Farm, Death's Acre. Dr. Bass is also a dedicated teacher, honored as U.S. Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Jon Jefferson is a veteran journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. His writings have been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and Popular Science and broadcast on National Public Radio. The coauthor of Death's Acre, he is also the writer and producer of two highly rated National Geographic documentaries about the Body Farm.

About the Author(s) of The Devil’s Bones

Jefferson Bass is the author of The Devil’s Bones

The Devil’s Bones Full Details

Narrator Tom McKeon
Length 5 hours 40 minutes
Author Jefferson Bass
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date February 05, 2008
ISBN 9780061629723

Subjects

The publisher of the The Devil’s Bones is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Fiction, Medical, Thrillers

Additional info

The publisher of the The Devil’s Bones is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780061629723.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Joanna

June 09, 2010

I know it gets tiresome to continually hawk the benefits of one author over and over (for three posts now!). But technically Jefferson Bass is TWO authors... So does that make it different? Probably not, but I don't care... The Body Farm series is continuing to entertain and amaze me, now three books in.The third novel in the series, The Devil's Bones, continues the story of Dr. Bill Brockton, University of Tennessee professor and Body Farm founder. You need to read the first two novels to really appreciate this one, as it delves deeper into a storyline about a former-colleague-turned-murderer who still has a bone to pick with Brockton (pun intended).Forensically, the novel discusses the affect of fire on bones. The book begins with a case of a woman who died in an automobile fire. There are reasons to suspect foul play, but the main suspect -- the woman's husband -- was thousands of miles away in Las Vegas at the time of her demise. Brockton conducts experiments to study the affect burning bones has on new and old bones. New, or "green", bones burn in a spiral pattern that develops from the moisture in them being released quickly, so that the layers of bone are almost steamed. Older, dry bones burn in a linear, heavily patterned way, much like old logs in a fire. Think about the end of logs burned in a fireplace or bonfire -- a crosshatch pattern. That's how you can tell the difference in new and old bones, therefore also being able to tell the difference between whether a body was burned soon after death or a lengthy amount of time after death.To go along with the burning bones experiments, Jefferson Bass (a team of both Dr. Bill Bass, the actual Body Farm founder from UT, and journalist Jon Jefferson) also addresses a real-life case that I remember from my college years in Chattanooga. In 2002, a Georgia crematorium was discovered to have been not performing its duties as advertised (and as it was paid for). During a search of the property that resulted from anonymous tips to the GBI, more than 300 bodies were found buried and piled up on the property. The crematorium had been sending back to families a mixture of human and animal bones, concrete mix, and filler materials rather than the remains of their loved ones. Bass places Brockton thick in the middle of this case, one that was extremely interesting to me, as I remember vividly watching CNN's 24-hour coverage of the property search and ongoing investigation. Real-life Body Farm professor and author Dr. Bill Bass worked some of the cases, which gave him an inside view and factual representation of the story in this novel.I think I've gone on enough... Go get these books! (My mom has them in hand and has already started the first one, soon to be followed by my other family members.)

Paula

May 31, 2020

I like this series and I learn a lot. There are some humorous conversations. I did learn more than I wanted to about cremations. No way are they doing that to me. I wasn't planning on it anyway. There were lots of mysteries going on in this book. Definitely not boring.

"Avonna

October 15, 2012

This series just keeps getting better and better! The characters are more like friends I need to check up on now. The Bone Farm and the forensics involved in each mystery are an interesting hook that these authors are very qualified to present. Please keep them coming!

Christy

March 02, 2009

Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton is trying to figure out who murdered Mary Latham and how her car caught fire and burned so extensively when his criminal defense attorney gives him what are claimed to be the cremains (cremated remains) of his aunt, which look more like concrete mix than bone ash. With the help of forensic scientist Art Bohanan, Brockton investigates the crematorium in Georgia that was responsible for the cremation but keeps butting up against stone walls. Eventually, he discovers a horror the likes of which he has never seen before. Meanwhile, he learns that his nemesis, former medical examiner Garland Hamilton, has escaped from prison and is on the prowl. Knowing he’s in Hamilton’s sites, Brockton is relieved to learn Hamilton’s charred body is discovered at a fire scene in Cooke County. However, as Brockton soon finds out, things are not always as they seem.This third installment in the Body Farm series is, as usual, chock full of interesting forensics information relayed through Brockton and his assistant, Miranda. Readers may find the book distracting as it seems to meander along from one investigation to the other, then dashes off to the conflict between Brockton and Hamilton. Although the three mysteries within the plot are good ones, perhaps focusing on one or two would provide a stronger read. The forensics investigations help buffer the distraction and will keep the reader invested throughout the book.

Sonia Cristina

July 08, 2019

3.5 estrelasO Dr. Bill Brockton divide-se em 2 casos, mas nenhum deles seguiu realmente uma investigação ao género policial, foi mesmo ver as coisas a acontecerem. Não foi mau, mas também não foi uma coisa extraordinária. Valeu muito foi pelos personagens, não me canso de dizer como são únicos e engraçados, especialmente Bill, Miranda, Art (adoro!) e Grease (quem diria que este advogado dos maiores criminosos podia mudar tanto?).Foi muito interessante ler sobre os crematórios, o seu trabalho e, especialmente, aquele crematório que não cremava os cadáveres... Ai que cenário...Foi ótimo rever personagens do primeiro livro, Waylon e o... esqueci-me do nome dele, o novo xerife, amigo de Waylon. Também foi engraçado aquele revés ainda com Hamilton mas, sinceramente, era um lado da coisa que dispensava. Mas, pronto, agora parece que está mesmo terminado.(view spoiler)[Será que vai haver alguma coisa romântica entre Bill e Miranda? Ele é tão mais velho que ela, o filho dele é mais velho que Miranda... (hide spoiler)]

Sandra K Gill

February 23, 2017

edge of my seat!made me laugh, made me cringe, made me mad....all this as i was reading throughout the book. i loved it!

Mike

August 22, 2021

Dr. Brockton is asked for help in the death of a local lady who police think may have been murdered. Throw in the suspect remains from a crematorium, and our friend has his calendar full. Just then, his enemy Garland Hamilton escapes imprisonment and looks for a way to end the good doctor's life.Fast, amusing read.

Magpie67

August 12, 2012

I started this title right after I read Fireproof by Alex Kava. I left one hot spot for another. Fire bugs and murder in Washington D.C. to a suicide by fire in Tennessee... or was it? While I love reading Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, Lisa Black and others who do forensic crime scenes.... I FREAKING love this due partnership of Jefferson Bass. Smart, gritty and right to the gory details. I get the real deal when they talk a crime scene and figure out the death with old bones or green bones. This particular title dealt with three crimes at once and I found that completely exciting. All dealt with fire and death in a different degree. One crime was covered up with fire, One crime was within realms of those who passed and of neglect by a crematorium and the next was an escaped looney who tried to use fire to make it look like he had died. The looney is from book two so don't read out of order! Nothing more I can say to praise such detail.... I love it! I want more! Can't wait to get book number 4 in the series. Bones of Betrayal

Patricia

February 01, 2009

Most everything you wanted to know about fire and cremation can be learned by reading The Devil’s Bones. When Mary Latham was found dead in a car destroyed by fire in a field at her farm, Bill Brockton was asked to give assistance to the police. The husband is suspected of the murder but he can prove he was out of town at the time.The first step in Brockton’s investigation was to burn up two cars at the Body Farm with a body in each car. One was a body that had been dead for sometime and the other was a recent death. Brockton’s attorney makes a special request, which leads Brockton to investigate cremation procedures. It seems that his attorney’s aunt’s remains had been returned to his uncle but he was convinced that something was wrong. When Brockton visits the crematorium where the aunt was cremated he makes a horrible discovery that seems almost impossible but it is real.To add to the suspense Garland Hamilton, the man that murdered Brockton’s girlfriend had escaped from prison and was out to kill Brockton.The three seemingly unrelated problems are blended together to make The Devil’s Bones an excellent and informative read. This is the third novel in the Body Farm series.

Trish

August 09, 2019

"The Devil's Bones" is the third in the Body Farm series featuring main character Dr. Bill Brockton in his role as professor of anthropology and researcher of osteology, human decomposition, and criminal investigations. The series is written collaboratively by Dr. William Bass and co-author Jon Jefferson, derived from Bass' experiences and career as founder of the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility in Knoxville.The story is very well-written and not the usual formulaic procedural that quickly becomes stale (and which so many authors unfortunately seem to default to just to churn out the obligatory contract fulfillment). It's told in a down-to-earth non-technical style, although this series does impart all sorts of scientific forensic details. Jon Jefferson does an excellent job with character development in making all of them human and personally engaging. The opening plot-line of "Devil's Bones" soon develops another major branch which is forensically related. Although fire deaths are quite gruesome by nature, Jefferson stays with details necessary for story advancement and doesn't engage in gratuitous gore. Things become quite complex as the second half builds tension towards the climax. Highly recommended for those who enjoy crime-suspense. The series can be read as stand-alone books, but it's really better to read them in order. There are currently 10 books in the "Bill Brockton" series, plus two collections of short "Body Farm" stories. I'd also recommend the non-fiction title by Jon Jefferson that set all this in motion, "Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Body Farm", published in 2004.

Chuck

November 17, 2021

The Body Farm series is written by two authors, Jon Jefferson and Dr. William Bass. Dr. Bass is the founder of the real life body farm and a renowned forensic anthropologist! The stories, I am told, are based on real cases from Dr. Bass. This is the third book in the series but it can be read as a stand-alone.I will give credit to Jon Jefferson for bringing the stories to life. I won't go into details, but there are several plot lines to keep you on the edge of your seat. The book is fun and exciting but the "real live science" is what makes things go!I did fine the engaging characters and humorous dialogue enjoyable and the fact that the book is grounded in real places with wonderful descriptions and details!

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