Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "Breaking Point: A Body Farm Novel" by Jefferson Bass

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Review of "Breaking Point: A Body Farm Novel" by Jefferson Bass

In this 9th book in 'The Body Farm' series, Dr. Brockton is asked to identify the victim of a small plane crash. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Dr. Bill Brockton, a forensic anthropologist, founded and runs 'The Body Farm' - a University of Tennessee research facility that studies decaying corpses.

The Body Farm researches rates of decomposition in different conditions; insect activity; weather effects; and so on. The facility's work is valuable to the FBI; law enforcement agencies; medical examiners, forensic pathologists, etc.

Note: The Forensic Anthropology Center (aka The Body Farm) is a real thing.

Pictures from The Body Farm

Brockton is an expert in the identification of human remains, and the FBI calls him when a small, twin-engine jet slams into Otay Mountain south of San Diego, a few hundred feet from the Mexican border. The plane was ostensibly piloted by Richard Janus, a billionaire humanitarian who founded AirLift Relief International, a charity that flies supplies to disaster areas.

The force of the crash left the plane in bits and pieces, and crushed the pilot almost into oblivion.

Brockton is summoned to San Diego, where he works with the FBI and NTSB to collect plane parts and (hopefully) retrieve human remains. Brockton aspires to find enough bodily remains to identify the pilot, either as Richard Janus or someone else. The recovery mission is arduous and exhausting, with Brockton and the other workers crawling up and down the mountain in the searing California heat.

After a couple of days Brockton finds a spinal cord insertion that matches Richard Janus's medical records, and teeth that match Janus's dental X-rays. So Brocton makes a formal identification: the dead pilot is Richard Janus.

Well.....not so fast. A pushy reporter announces he has a 'source' that claims Richard Janus had all his teeth pulled. The idea is that Janus - whom the FBI was investigating for drug running - put his teeth in the twin engine jet and somehow made it crash.

The suspected misidentification garners Brockton anger from the FBI and bad publicity, which is exacerbated by yet another issue. A television journalist is making a stink about the bodies of military veterans being 'disrespected' at The Body Farm, and some Tennessee politicians are vowing to close the facility.

The story has Brockton dealing with these issues, as well as a personal crisis. Brockton's wife Kathleen has been diagnosed with a serious illness, and Bill is very concerned. On top of that, an imprisoned serial killer, who tried to kill the Brocktons ten years ago, is making threats once again.

Brockton has to dig deep to determine the truth about the Otay Mountain crash, but he has resources in the FBI.....

.....and (oddly enough) a reference librarian at the University of Tennessee library to help him out.

Reading about the crash recovery work and the methods used to identify bodies was interesting, and I enjoyed the novel. However, the business about the teeth, and why they were in the plane, was confusing and didn't make a lot of sense.

That said, 'The Body Farm' series is engaging and well-written and I'd recommend the books to fans of suspense stories.

Rating: 3 stars

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Barb's Book Reviews

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Review of "Breaking Point: A Body Farm Novel" by Jefferson Bass

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