As fresh and shocking as today's headlines, a "chilling" (People) Temperance Brennan novel in which a harrowing excavation unearths a terrible tragedy never laid to rest-from New York Times bestselling author and world-class forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs. They are "the disappeared," twenty-three massacre victims buried in a well in the Guatemalan village of Chupan Ya two decades ago. Leading a team of experts on a meticulous, heartbreaking dig, Tempe Brennan pieces together the violence of the past. But a fresh wave of terror begins when the horrific sounds of a fatal attack on two colleagues come in on a blood-chilling satellite call. Teaming up with Special Crimes Investigator Bartolome Galiano and Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe quickly becomes enmeshed in the cases of four privileged young women who have vanished from Guatemala City-and finds herself caught in deadly territory where power, money, greed, and science converge. Editorial Reviews "Such bloody good beach reading." - USA Today "There's nothing like a morgue mystery to brighten up a summer day." - Entertainment Weekly "Likely to leave you with the shivers of an ice storm." - People "As good as Cornwell at her best." - Detroit Free Press "The science is fascinating, and every minute in the morgue with Tempe is golden." - Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review - From the Publisher Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Tempe" Brennan gets caught in mysteries past and present when she's called in to determine if illegal antiquities dealer Avram Ferris's gunshot death is murder or suicide. An acquaintance of Avram suggests the former: he hands Tempe a photograph of a skeleton, taken in Israel in 1963, and insists it's the reason Avram is dead. Tempe's longtime boyfriend, Quebecois detective Andrew Ryan, is also involved with the case, so the duo head to Israel where they attempt to solve the murder and a mystery revolving around a first-century tomb that may contain the remains of the family of Jesus Christ. This find threatens the worldwide Christian community, the Israeli and Jewish hierarchy and numerous illegal antiquity dealers, any of whom might be out to kill Tempe and Ryan. Not that Tempe notices. She has the habit of being oblivious to danger, which quickly becomes annoying, as does Reichs's tendency to end chapters with a heavy-handed cliffhanger ("His next words sent ice up my spine"). The plot is based on a number of real-life anthropological mysteries, and fans of such will have a good time, though thriller readers looking for chills and kills may not find the novel quite as satisfying. Agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Tempe Brenner gets mixed up in historical and international intrigue in Reich's latest book featuring the forensic anthropologist (see also Monday Mourning). Tempe, stationed in Quebec, is assigned to participate in an autopsy on a Hasidic Jew who was found shot to death in a warehouse closet. At the autopsy, a stranger hands her a photo of an ancient skeleton as an explanation for the victim's death. An investigation suggests that the skeleton may be the remains of an individual who died at Massada, a mountain near Jerusalem where a famous battle between the Zealots and the Romans took place in 73 C.E. Tempe and Detective Andrew Ryan travel to Israel to question the main suspect in the murder investigation, and while there, Tempe meets with a colleague who may have stumbled across the Jesus family tomb. What do "Massada Max" and the bodies in the family tomb have in common? Will Tempe's discovery shake the foundations of the three major world religions? Reichs devotes too much time at the novel's beginning to technical details, but those who wait out the first few chapters will be pleased by the engrossing story that follows. Recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/05.]-Nanci Milone Hill, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal There's good news and more good news about this audiobook, another in the series featuring Medical Examiner Temperence Brennan. Those with analytical minds and an interest in forensic anthropology will appreciate Reichs's tight plot, faithfulness to the anthropological process, and sound scientific conclusions. Further, Barbara Rosenblat correctly pronounces the French words and names, as well as the myriad medical terms. She even manages to make understandable complex forensics, such as the difference between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Rosenblat's voice for Charlie, a cockatoo who yodels after drinking beer, is terrific comic relief. Dialogue between Tempe and male lead Andrew Ryan is clever and timed as the repartee of agile minds. K.A.T. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine - FEB/MAR 06 - AudioFile