Without Mercy (Body Farm Book 10)

[Without Mercy] by Jefferson Bass
The Body Farm series Book #10
4★’s

From The Book:
Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton has spent twenty-five years solving brutal murders—but none so bizarre and merciless as his latest case: A ravaged set of skeletal remains is found chained to a tree on a remote mountainside. As Brockton and his assistant Miranda dig deeper, they uncover warning signs of a deadly eruption of hatred and violence.
But the shocking case is only the beginning of Brockton’s trials. Mid-case, the unthinkable happens: The deadliest criminal Brockton has ever foiled—the sadistic serial killer Nick Satterfield—escapes from prison, bent on vengeance.

But simply killing Brockton isn’t enough. Satterfield wants to make show more him suffer first, by destroying everything he holds dear: Brockton’s son, daughter-in-law, grandsons; even Miranda, his longtime graduate assistant, now on the verge of completing her Ph.D. and launching a forensic career of her own.

The dangers from all directions force Brockton to question two things on which he’s based his entire career—the justice system, and the quality of mercy—and to wonder: can the two co-exist?
If not, which will Brockton choose in his ultimate moment of truth?

My Thoughts;
Anything that deals with forensic science or anthropology interests me. That is one big reason why I have always been fond of The Body Farm series. Following Dr. Bill Brockton through the times of his life since he established the research facility known as The Body Farm’ located just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee at the University, has been an adventure in itself. Yes…the facility does indeed exist but Dr. Brockton is fictitious.

I have enjoyed the previous 9 novels and #10 was no exception. However I found myself struggling with it. The story was interesting enough…a man chained to a tree…perhaps for weeks…perhaps even months…. and kept alive by his captor as bait not only for the bear that killed him, but as bait for Dr, Bill Brockton. Somehow the story felt climatic. I just had the feeling that something dramatic was going to happen that would change the course of the entire series. Miranda was graduating…The sheriff’ officers from Cook County that had been such a big part of the stories previously, just didn’t come across as their usual selves…and Bill Brockton was visiting the past more and more often in his thoughts. Those particular feelings played out for me throughout what was actually a very good plot but I just could shake it. I won’t go into the ending as it would really be a spoiler. You just have to wonder if this is the end of the series. I hope not. show less

I have wanted to try out a book in this series for a long time and was glad to finally take time to get the latest published book to see if the series is for me.

Without Mercy is the 10th book in the Body Farm series about forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton. Brockton must in this book deal with a brutal murder case when skeletal remains are found on a remote mountainside. And, if that's not enough for him to deal with does he learn, while trying to discover more about the identity of the skeleton and who killed him that serial killer Nick Satterfield that he helped put away twenty years ago has escaped.

Since this is the first book I have read were the characters all new to me and I came to like them very much. Bill Brockton to his show more graduate assistant Miranda has an easy-going relationship (lots of funny moments as well as serious ones) and I felt after a while that I really wanted to read the previous books thanks both to them and to the fact that I enjoyed the slow progress of learning more about the skeletal remain. Adding a serial killer to the mix added some tension to the story and also tragic moments.

Without Mercy is a great book and I'm looking forward to reading more books in the series! show less

Fine finish to an excellent mystrery series. The past and present collide as the investigation of a murder by black bear is confounded by a bloody but well planned escape of a homicidal psychopath. He has reasons and weapons, enough, to pursue his revenge against Bill and his family..

I loved this title and what Bill Brockton spent close to 25 years solving brutal murders. I am sad that this is the first book I reviewed for Mr. Bass and volume ten just blew me AWAY! Brockton must stop in mid case as the criminal he put behind bars has escaped and targeted Bill with plans to destroy everything in his life that he worked so hard to achieve, including his assistant Miranda! It is a deadly dance to stay one step ahead of Nick Satterfield, a serial killer and he and Miranda could be dead if they stumble!

This was the last of this series. I am going to miss the characters, and even though there were two books I didn't particularly care for, I'd recommended this series to anyone who likes science and forensics and just good investigation techniques.

Good forensics crime mystery

This one didn't quite grip me like his previous works, but still a great read. Would like to see more from him, but I'm afraid he's run out of timeline... Perhaps we can get a spin off series of Miranda's run with the FBI?

My 2nd Jefferson Bass book. While the 1st was readable but forgettable, this book is filled with leftist drivel. You would think the author could have looked up the SPLC propaganda smear machine. A lazy story just to get out his talking points before he retired. The author should have looked to the big guys (Sandford, Connelly, etc...) to see how to handle politics.