Bestselling author and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has been stunning readers with her in-depth thrillers featuring a character very much like herself. Since DÉJÀ DEAD, her first novel published in 1997, Reichs has made it clear that the quality and integrity of her work is matched only by Patricia Cornwell. I have been following Temperance Brennan from the very beginning, and the case in THE BONE HACKER will be one of the most confounding and dangerous of her career.

"Tempe has no idea how close to danger she is placing herself as she continues to work diligently on the investigation --- and that is where the true suspense of THE BONE HACKER lies."

Tempe is in Montreal with her significant other, Andrew Ryan, watching the fireworks display during L’International des Feux Loto-Québec. Alas, work rears its ugly head when Tempe and her expertise are required to help identify the human remains that were chopped up by the outboard motor of a private craft that was trying to enjoy the pomp and circumstance of the festival. With not a lot of physical body left to go by, Tempe manages to find a tattoo. Further investigation shows that it’s an octopus and the number five, a symbol that is traced to a gang on the islands of Turks and Caicos.

Guess where our favorite forensic anthropologist is heading to next? Upon her arrival, Tempe is met by Tiersa Musgrove, a British agent who quickly brings her up to speed on a series of murders in the area that appear to be the work of the same individual. All the victims are young males with seemingly no connection to each other whose hands have been mutilated in some way. But it isn’t long before Musgrove turns up dead in her hotel room. Tempe must now work with Detective Delroy Monck, an abrasive local investigator.

Their first real person of interest is Uri Stribbe, who is no stranger to sharp implements as he works as a shochet --- the Jewish term for a slaughterer…or, more specifically, a butcher who operates within kosher tradition. This all but eliminates Stribbe as a suspect because the hacking jobs done on these men were made with a damaged blade --- something that a true shochet would never use. Their pursuit of Musgrove’s boyfriend also turns out to be a dead end, so they cannot tie that homicide to the larger case they are working on.

Tempe has no idea how close to danger she is placing herself as she continues to work diligently on the investigation --- and that is where the true suspense of THE BONE HACKER lies. The very real peril she faces in a foreign land exemplifies how this case could be her last. What makes her so great is her no-nonsense approach to her craft and dedication to the victims for whom she is working. The FOX series “Bones,” which was based on these books, often fell into bits of goofy humor that were at times distracting. Rest assured there is none of that here. Tempe is serious about her work, and there is no one better in the business.