“New York Times” best-selling authors Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bill Bass, who collaborate as the “Body Farm” writing team, will discuss “The Breaking Point” on June 17 at the downtown Huntsville-Madison County Public Library. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass and journalist Jon Jefferson, who are “New York Times” best-selling authors, will discuss their latest work at the downtown Huntsville-Madison County Public Library on June 17.

Bass and Jefferson collaborate as the “Body Farm” writing team known as Jefferson Bass. “The Breaking Point,” their ninth Body Farm novel, follows forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton.

Brockton is drawn into a high-profile FBI investigation to identify charred remains from a fiery plane crash, even as a prior case comes back to haunt him.

Jefferson and Bass will speak at 7 p.m. in the downtown library’s atrium. Admission is free. Books will be available for sale and signing.

“These popular authors always draw a big crowd to the library,” communications director Ann Marie Martin said.

When the book opens, Brockton is enjoying professional acclaim and personal contentment. His family is finally healing following a face-off with a sadistic serial killer named Satterfield.

“Brockton’s career is flourishing as his Body Farm continues to pioneer groundbreaking forensic research with the help of unclaimed cadavers,” Martin said. “But Brockton’s life turns upside-down after the FBI calls on his expertise to identify the remains of a pilot killed in a catastrophic plane crash near the Mexican border.”

An aggressive, self-promoting journalist questions Brockton’s identification, and the scientist finds himself in the middle of a nasty political battle filled with covert ops, secret agendas and a ruthless drug kingpin. Was the mountainside crash really an accident, a suicide or murder?

The book leads readers to ask if Brockton can weather the personal and professional onslaught or if it will push him past his breaking point.

“‘The Breaking Point’ brims with exacting, informed and gripping scientific detail, coupled with more twists and turns than a Tennessee mountain two-lane,” Martin said.

The downtown library’s address is 915 Monroe St. in Huntsville. For more information, call 256-532-2361 or visit hmcpl.org.