Without Mercy

Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton’s latest case proves to be his most bizarre and merciless: A ravaged set of skeletal remains is found scattered in the woods of nearby Cooke County. The victim, a young male under the age of thirty, had been chained, hand and foot, to a tree on a remote mountainside. As Brockton and his longtime graduate assistant, Miranda, dig deeper to establish his identity, they uncover warning signs that a long-simmering hatred is about to explode in violence.
Then, in the middle of the troubling investigation, the unthinkable happens. Sadistic serial killer Nick Satterfield—the most frightening criminal Brockton has ever foiled—escapes from prison, bent on wreaking vengeance. And he’s had two decades to perfect his plan.
Killing Brockton isn’t enough. Satterfield wants to make his nemesis suffer first, by destroying everything Brockton holds dear: his son, daughter-in-law, grandsons—and even Miranda.
Desperate to save those he loves, Brockton is torn between the forces that have guided his life and career—the pursuit of justice and the quality of mercy. If he can’t reconcile the two, which will Brockton choose in his ultimate moment of truth?

Jefferson Bass is the writing team of Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bill Bass. Dr. Bass, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist, is the creator of the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility, widely known as the Body Farm. He is the author or coauthor of more than two hundred scientific publications, as well as a critically acclaimed memoir about his career at the Body Farm, Death's Acre. Dr. Bass is also a dedicated teacher, honored as U.S. Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Jon Jefferson is a veteran journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. His writings have been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and Popular Science and broadcast on National Public Radio. The coauthor of Death's Acre, he is also the writer and producer of two highly rated National Geographic documentaries about the Body Farm.