The Breaking Point

Dr. Bill Brockton--founder of the University of Tennessee's macabre Body Farm--is riding high, enjoying professional acclaim and personal contentment. While celebrating his thirtieth wedding anniversary with his loving wife, Kathleen, Brockton recalls how close he once came to losing Kathleen and their son at the hands of a sadistic serial killer named Satterfield. But that was long ago, and in the years since Satterfield's conviction, Brocktons family has grown to include a lovely daughter-in-law and two lively grandsons. His career has flourished, too, as the Body Farm's pioneering research--along with Brockton's forensic expertise--have brought him respect, renown, and high-profile cases. Now the FBI needs Brockton's help with his highest-profile caseever: identifying the remains of a pilot killed in a fiery plane crash outside San Diego. Are the charred bones indeed those of Richard Janus, a maverick humanitarian whose daring airlifts to international disaster sites made him a celebrity? And was thenighttime crash on a mountainside an accident, or was it suicide--or murder? But a storm is about to hit Brockton with cataclysmic force. First, he discovers he's landed in the middle of a nasty political battle involving warring feds, secret agendas, a ruthless drug kingpin, and a celebrity whose life was a labyrinth of secrets. Then Brockton's identification of the crash victim is called into question, as is the future of his research facility. Reeling from these shocking blows, he receives a gruesome threat from the killer who nearly murdered the Brocktons more than a decade before. But worse is to come: from his beloved Kathleen--his lodestone and his source of security--Brockton gets the most shocking news of all. Will the legendary Dr. Bill Brockton be able to weather the onslaught...or will it push him beyond his breaking point?