FLASH! Illuminated by lightning a lifeless human hand seems to reach from a barrel of asphalt beside the Charlotte racetrack. Even for forensic anthropologist Dr Tempe Brennan never easily shocked it is a disturbing sight. & now she is under pressure to find answers before thousands arrive for the years big race. But before she can carry out a proper examination the FBI mysteriously confiscate & destroy the body. Its a dead end. Until Wayne Gamble a young engineer alerts Tempe to the disappearance of his sister & her boyfriend from Charlotte twelve years earlier & she determines to uncover what really happened to them. When a few days later Gambles body is found crushed under the wheels of a race car Tempe realises the situation is truly sinister. & that even her own life could be in terrible danger...