In the most suspenseful installment of the New York Times bestselling Body Farm series to date, forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton investigates a bizarre murderâand confronts a deadly enemy he thought heâd put behind bars for good
Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton has spent twenty-five years solving brutal murdersâbut none so horrific and merciless as his latest case: A ravaged set of skeletal remains is found scattered in the woods of nearby Cook County. They are all that is left of a victim who had been chained, hand and foot, to a tree on a remote mountainside. The bones tell Brockton and his longtime graduate assistant, Miranda, that the victim was a young male under the age of thirty. As they dig deeper to establish his identity, they uncover warning signs that long-simmering hatred is about to explode into violence, engulfing the region in chaos.
But the shocking case is only the beginning of Brocktonâs trials. In the middle of the troubling investigation, the unthinkable happens. The most frightening and deadliest criminal Brockton has ever foiledâthe sadistic serial killer Nick Satterfieldâescapes from prison, bent on wreaking vengeance. And heâs had nearly twenty years to plan.
Simply killing Brockton isnât enough. Satterfield wants to make his nemesis suffer first, by destroying everything Brockton holds dear: his son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons, and even Miranda, whoâs now on the verge of completing her Ph.D. and launching a forensic career of her own.
Barraged by dangers striking from all directions, haunted by the ghosts of old cases, and desperate to save those he loves, Brockton finds himself slipping closer to the abyss. Pushed to the edge, he is forced to question the two pillars that have guided his life and his entire careerâthe justice system and the quality of mercy. Can the two truly coexist?
If he cannot reconcile these principles, which will Brockton choose in his ultimate moment of truth?
A harrowing, thoughtful, and provocative tale that explores what happens when one honorable, rational man is tested beyond all measure, Without Mercy is a powerful exploration that raises uneasy questions about justice and revenge, compassion and principle, the desire to kill and the will to survive.