Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for the state of Quebec, is abruptly recalled from a course she is teaching at Quantico for a gruesome duty. A biker was is raging in Quebec and two of its foot soldiers have blown themselves up. The only person qualified to make sense of what remains is Tempe. Like many in the region, she cares little what 'les motards' - the bikers - do to each other. Until the body of a nine-year-old girl is wheeled into the morgue, slain by biker crossfire. Fired with anger and a sense of injustice, Tempe vows to lend her skills to fight the outlaw motorcycle clubs. When an enhumation beings to light another tragic death, her resolve is heightened. But the bikers are dangerous people to corss. Unable to turn to her sparring partner, Andrew Ryan, for help, Tempe finds herself vulnerable as events escalate.