Cut to the Bone

New York Times bestselling author Jefferson Bass delivers the long-awaited prequel to his chilling series—revealing the origins of the Body FarmOne of Suspense Magazine's Best Books of 2013In the summer of 1992, Arkansas governor Bill Clinton and Tennessee senator Al Gore begin their long-shot bid for the White House. On a sweltering hillside in Knoxville, Dr. Bill Brockton, the ambitious young head of the University of Tennessee's anthropology department, launches a unique—some say macabre—research facility. Brockton is determined to revolutionize forensics to help solve homicides. But his plans are derailed by a chilling murder that leaves the scientist reeling from déjà vu. Followed by another. Then another: bodies that bear eerie resemblances to cases from Brockton's past. The police chalk up the first corpse to coincidence. But as the body count rises, the victims' injuries grow more distinctive—a spiral of death that bodes ill for Brockton himself. If the killer isn't found quickly, the death toll could be staggering. And the next victims could include Brockton . . . and everyone he holds dear.