The
Breaking Point by
Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson, known professionally as Jefferson
Bass, realistically uses forensics to solve crimes. Jefferson
is a writer and documentary filmmaker while Dr. Bass is a
forensic anthropologist and founder of the renowned research
facility, the Body Farm. With all of their fictional books
they intertwine a powerful crime mystery with details about
forensic science.
The plot opens with the FBI working at the Body Farm, taking
a course on evidence response. They learn how to handle the
location and identification of skeletal remains. Shortly thereafter,
there is a devastating plane crash resulting in fragmenting
body parts, making it difficult to identify the victims. Working
closely with the FBI the main character, Dr. Bill Brockton,
is asked to help find the remains of a maverick millionaire
who was supposedly killed in the fiery plane crash. Brockton
has made a reputation for himself as a prominent forensic
anthropologist while doing research and teaching at the University
of Tennessee, home to the Body Farm. Brockton must determine
if the philanthropist is a diabolical killer and has faked
his own death or has really died in the crash.
What makes this story very powerful and a tearjerker is that
Brockton suffers one crisis after another. The parallels with
the prophet Job are evident, considering Brockton is a good
person who is beset with horrendous disasters that take away
all he holds dear. He is seen as drowning, with his life spinning
out of control. First his identification of the crash victim(s)
is called into question. Then he receives a threatening message
from the serial killer who attempted to kill his family. Because
this a prequel the next line might be a spoiler alert for
those who did not read previous books: his beloved wife Kathleen,
a soul mate and the source of his security, tells him she
is dying of cancer.
The comparison to Job was done, according to Jefferson, because
“ I wanted to explore suffering. Dr. Brockton is a decent
man who is caught up in personal and professional problems.
We want to bring in something new in every book and not do
retreads. Like Job, he is a man pushed to his limits, but
unlike Job not everything turns out fine for him regarding
his personal life. I think that is more realistic.”
One of the most interesting parts of the book is the discussion
of veteran issues. A shout out is given to the Vietnam veterans,
in the quote, “Our conflicted feelings-our national
shame-had created an unwritten but undeniable tragic domestic
policy: a policy of pretending that Vietnam had never happened,
and of turning a blind, indifferent eye to Vietnam vets and
their postwar troubles.” Yet, there is also a scene
in the book where the research of the Body Farm, studying
time of death, is called into question, since some of the
subjects were corpses of veterans.
Dr. Bass explained, “ The scene in the book about the
complaint regarding the veteran’s bodies is true, although
we took artistic license. A major challenge to the Body Farm
occurred when the Tennessee Department of Veteran Affairs
discovered some of the research subjects were veterans. These
were unclaimed bodies and the city/county did not want to
incur the expense of a burial so they gave me the bodies.
I did not know that some of the corpses were veterans. After
I found out I sent the six bodies back. I am very sympathetic
because I am a Korean War vet. They wanted to shut down the
Body Farm but I prevailed since it is obvious that the research
is valuable and helps to solve cases.”
Jon Jefferson regards “our country’s treatment
of Vietnam vets as shameful. Returning Vietnam vets have paid
the price for this national ambivalence, which I think is
dreadful. I was lucky since I had a high lottery number drawn
so I was not called. I put in the book a quote about how Dr.
Brockton was able to stay out of the war.”
Although the story of The Breaking Point is fictional
the science is all too real. What makes the plot fascinating
is that readers will have a hard time separating fact from
fiction. This novel has all the elements of a page-turner:
mystery, danger, and suspense. Yet, it also tugs at people’s
emotions as grief and loss are explored, something that can
resonate with everyone.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Carved
in Bone #1 [review
1] [review
2]
Flesh
and Bone #2
The
Devil's Bones #3
Bones
of Betrayal #4
The Bone Thief # 5 [review
1] [review
2]
The Bone Yard #6 [review
1] [review
2]
The
Breaking Point
#9
Without
Mercy #12
|