The Bones Will Speak by Carrie Stuart Parks

Forensic artist Gwen Marcey has become the target of a serial killer who believes he's been appointed God's executioner.

In Copper Creek, Montana, Gwen Marcey is struggling to put together her life after cancer and divorce. When her dog retrieves a skull of a murder victim and leads her to the victim's grave, Gwen uses her forensic art ability to identify a serial killer. She is horrified to discover all the victims look like her fourteen-year-old daughter.

The murderer is a "lone wolf," a member of the terrorist group Phineas Priesthood-and he has a score to settle with Gwen. Unraveling the tangled Christian Identity movement, where race-not grace-provides salvation, Gwen is in a frantic rush against time. She must use all her skills to uncover the killer before he can carry out his threat to destroy her and everyone she loves.

My review:
  I enjoy a good suspense novel, and when the author has experience in real life of some aspect of the book, it makes it all the more interesting. This author is a forensics artist, just like her main character in her novels, and it makes her books all the more enjoyable to know she knows what she is talking about in the area of forensic artists.

   I read Carrie's first novel, A Cry From the Dust and loved it, so I was happy to see she had another one coming out. I thought it was even better and more suspenseful than the first. I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of the book, turning pages as fast as I could read them to see what happened next.

 Some of the characters were back from the first book along with some new ones, and they call combined to make a fascinating and exciting read.

 At the center of the plot is a Nazi hate group, and the author brought out some fascinating facts about this group based on a real group by the same name, and connected the group to Timothy McVey who was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing and the Columbine shooters. She did a great job of bringing in historical and recent events and combining it with fictional characters. The end result made a suspense novel that the author can be proud of and one that can stand with novels written by those who have a lot more books under their belt than Parks. She is an author to watch.

  This is the second in a series, and though it isn't 100% necessary to read them in order, I would recommend doing so.

About the author:

Carrie Stuart Parks is an award-winning fine artist and internationally known forensic artist. Along with her husband, Rick, she travels across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law enforcement as well as civilian participants. She has won numerous awards for career excellence. Carrie is a popular platform speaker, presenting a variety of topics from crime to creativity. 


The Bones Will Speak is available from Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for the review copy.