The Bone Yard

By: Jefferson Bass

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this latest thriller from New York Times best-selling author Jefferson Bass, Dr. Bill Brockton discovers the dark side of the Sunshine state when he's called in to investigate human remains found on the grounds of a boys' reform school in Florida.

The onset of summer brings predictably steamy weather to the Body Farm, Dr. Bill Brockton's human-decomposition research facility at the University of Tennessee. But Brockton's about to get more heat than he's bargained for when Angie St. Claire, a forensic analyst with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, asks him to help prove that her sister's death was not suicide, but murder.

Brockton's quick consulting trip takes a long, harrowing detour when bones begin turning up amid the pines and live oaks of the Florida panhandle. Two adolescent skulls - ravaged by time and animals, but bearing the telltale signs of lethal fractures - send Brockton, Angie, and Special Agent Stu Vickery on a search for the long-lost victims. The quest leads them to the ruins of the North Florida Boys' Reformatory, a notorious juvenile detention facility that met a fiery end more than forty years ago.

Guided by the discovery of a diary kept by one of the school's young "students," Brockton's team finds a cluster of shallow graves, all of them containing the bones of boys who suffered violent deaths. The graves confirm one of the diary's grim claims: that one wrong move could land a boy in the Bone Yard. But as the investigation expands, it encounters opposition from the local sheriff, who's less than delighted to find forensic experts from the state capital and the Body Farm digging up dirt in his county.

As Brockton and his team close in on the truth, they find skeletons in some surprisingly prominent closets.... and they learn that the ghosts of the past pose perilous consequences in the present.

©2011 Jefferson Bass, LLC (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Call me crazy

It was a time passing book to me.

It bothered me a bit that everyone was getting worked up emotionally about murders that happened so long ago. True professionals - Over acting a little around sensitive issues. A little too angry - A little too sad. I felt like I think they were trying too hard to make us feel empathy for a situation that sucked - But with all the travesty in current events - It would be hard to get that emotional about things from the past - Especially if you are seasoned Cops or Doctors. Their overacting took away from anything I would have felt on my own

Having said that - This book was more than a little predictable - Especially finding that diary.. I didn't hate it - But 5 star reviews? What can I expect though. I'm going back through books like 'The Memory Man" and people are giving 3 stars reviews to a book they say they didn't like - Pushing ratings higher.

Put me in the corner - I'm not playing well with others today.

For what its worth. J

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Jefferson Bass is a great author!

This is the thrid book I have read by Jefferson Bass. If you are in to forensic-style crime books, I highly recommend his books! In this book, I kept feeling like I had figured out the story and then he threw in another twist to shake up the plot. I listened for many hours at a time, as I couldn't seem to put it down! I also enjoyed the reader as he provides a great detective voice.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Thoroughly enjoyed it

A great forensic murder mystery novel. The book moves at a good pace and never loses my interest. I enjoy these types of books and have listened to a couple of his other books. I hope the other "Bone Yard" books are just as good.
Narrator, Tom Stechschulte, does an excellent job.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great book!

Would you listen to The Bone Yard again? Why?

Yes. It was a great mystery! Loved it.

What other book might you compare The Bone Yard to and why?

Patricia Cornwell?! In her first books...Loved it

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I couldn't put it down

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I'd give it a zero if I could

The book is so preachy and PC I deleted it off my device at chapter 9.

Perfect narrator for this book

I liked this one more than all the others in the series, and I have liked them all. It had lots of suspense and is based on a real juvenile detention home in Florida. The main character, Bill Brocton, is a kind person and the narrator does a perfect job of conveying that.

I love the body farm series!

I love how he weaves anthropological fact into his works of fiction. His stories fascinate me, or maybe it's the forensic details...either way, I'm hooked!