First the Dead

Dead men tell no lies

When Hurricane Katrina takes New Orleans by storm, forensic entomologist Nick Polchak is waiting for her. He's part of DMORT (Disaster Mortuary Response Team), the FEMA team assigned to recover and identify human remains in large-scale disasters.

The trouble is, Nick isn't much of a team player. And he doesn't take well to following orders he doesn't agree with--such as the decision to divert all personnel to rescuing the living and leaving the dead for later.

Nick begs to differ. He's there to collect bodies, and he's going to do just that--especially when he starts finding bodies that were clearly dead before the hurricane struck. Nick understands that all forensic evidence will soon disintegrate in the hot, contaminated water . . . and he knows that's exactly what the killer wants to happen.

The more Nick tries to uncover answers, the stronger--and deadlier--the resistance becomes. And it doesn't help that a beautiful psychiatrist thinks he's on the verge of a mental breakdown . . . can even the Bug Man uncover the truth?

Starred Review. Downs's third thriller to feature forensic entomologist Nick Bug Man Polchak (after 2004's Chop Shop) stands out from the pack of CSI-inspired mysteries with its quirky hero and creative handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Polchak—an expert in using bugs to deduce the time and circumstances of death—is a member of DMORT, the disaster mortuary operational response team, used by FEMA to assist with mass casualties. As the deadly hurricane nears New Orleans, DMORT is called to the area, and Polchak soon finds himself locking horns with his superiors, who demand DMORT members make search and rescue their priority. After discovering several floating corpses with injuries pointing to deaths prior to Katrina, Polchak suspects that someone is using the disaster to conceal murder. He's aided by J.T. Walker, a young man searching for his father amid the chaos, who manages to get through the emotional barriers Polchak has erected against the outside world. Downs's sensitive evocation of the tragedy, combined with taut writing and well-developed characters, should gain him a wider audience and reward longtime Bug Man fans. (Jan.)
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