#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with an тАЬedgy, eerie, irresistibleтАЭ (Sandra Brown) novel with тАЬplenty of twistsтАЭ (The New York Times Book Review) featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who must use her skills to discover the identity of a faceless corpse, its connection to a decade-old missing child case, and why the dead man had her cell phone number.
ItтАЩs sweltering in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Temperance Brennan, still recovering from neurosurgery following an aneurysm, is battling nightmares, migraines, and what she thinks might be hallucinations when she receives a series of mysterious text messages, each containing a new picture of a corpse that is missing its face and hands. Immediately, sheтАЩs anxious to know who the dead man is, and why the images were sent to her.
An identified corpse soon turns up, only partly answering her questions.
To win answers to the others, including the manтАЩs identity, she must go rogue, working mostly outside the system. ThatтАЩs because TempeтАЩs new boss holds a fierce grudge against her and is determined to keep her out of the case. Tempe bulls forward anyway, even as she begins questioning her instincts. But the clues she discovers are disturbing and confusing. Was the faceless man a spy? A trafficker? A target for assassination by the government? And why was he carrying the name of a child missing for almost a decade?
With help from law enforcement associates including her Montreal beau Andrew Ryan and the quick-witted, ex-homicide investigator Skinny Slidell, and utilizing new cutting-edge forensic methods, Tempe draws closer to the astonishing truth. тАЬA complete successтАЭ (Booklist, starred review), тАЬthis is Kathy Reichs as youтАЩve never read her beforeтАЭ (David Baldacci).