Fatal Voyage (Temperance Brennan 4)

Author/Guide: Kathy Reichs

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: The Smoky mountains is a beautiful place but the horror of a plane crash and a murder in the mountains really sets an eerie tone.

ISBN: 978-0099556565
Genre: Crime

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What you need to know before your trail

Tempe is called to the Smoky Mountains where a commercial jet has crashed killing everyone on board.

This is not the worst of the scene however as a severed foot is discovered a fair distance away from the crash site. Temperance Brennan of course wants to know why and how this has happened. as she investigates however, the questions pile up a lot faster than the answers.

Is there more to the crash than first thought? Is there another corpse in the woods somewhere ? Who is it? What is going on?

A conspiracy of silence reigns and threatens to destroy everything

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Travel Guide

The Smoky mountains might sound nice but the reality and horror of a plane crashing into the side of the mountains is impossible to really imagine. How difficult the crash scene would be to investigate and how awful a place to die exposed to the elements in that way.

The remoteness of the landscape really enhances the mystery and the forensic detail is as gruesome as ever – perhaps more so. The investigation as to how the plane fell from the sky is also interesting and all the while, that foot being found elsewhere just adds another level of gruesome ness to the whole novel.

There is one interesting stop off – when she takes time out in Bryson City and eats at the very real Everett Street Diner on her way to the investigation. Now that is attention to detail!

As for the overall atmosphere, the horror of the crash in this place of wonder:

“The landscape of the mountains – the surreal beauty of the place – the Great Smokies roll across the south as a series of gently valleys and peaks. The forest cover is luxuriant, much of it preserved as national land.”