Clay And Bones is a hugely fascinating look at author's life as a first female forensic sculptor in the FBI.
Lisa Bailey tells her story with unflinching honesty and humility. We see the love and passion for her profession, ability and willingness to help solve crimes and to provide closure to families of victims of crime. But we also get to see the ugly and frankly sad side of the institution that is FBI.
I really enjoyed that frank memoir and would recommend it to anyone with interest in the art of forensic science.

—Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting reading experience that was so unique. It was my first forensic analysis book and i love the new information i was able to learn through this insider’s pov.
4/5

The book is informative and compelling. The Author has shared every detail about her work and life. If you would like to read about forensic investigations, FBI and True crime, this book is for you. I found some details very fascinating while some details scared me like insight of Skeleton and the examination of the body and skull after death. Author has shared each and every detail about the body after death. I gained knowledge about Forensic team and FBI. I deeply felt for the author. Reading about the law enforcement and how the author became the target of the sex discrimination was so shocking. I think the author made wise decisions and she is indeed brave. The book is brilliant and touching.

Many Thanks to Author, Publisher and Netgalley

This book was fantastic. It painted a picture of one of the first woman forensic artist in the FBI and the abuse she went through with her superiors. The book was part science and art, where she described her job in detail and how she sculped faces of deceased victims or missing people and how she applied her artistic ability to bring these victims to life. But the other half was the abuse she dealt with during her time at the FBI as a woman. Her superior would constantly yell and demean her over simple stuff to get her to quit. He sabotaged potential rewards and even big projects that could have helped the forensic field all together. Overall I would recommend this book to anybody that enjoys FBI shows or forensic science.

This was a really interesting read. I enjoyed the story of how she became involved in the FBI, and some of the cases that she worked.

Great read overall.

I only got to page 44 because of vision issues but was totally entranced by the experiences of one called to artistry of a rare and unusual type as well as the development of that art into something a little closer to the fiction portrayed on TV. I may not have been able to give a complete review, but I preordered the audio.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Independent Publishers Group, Chicago Review Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
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Available 20 Feb 2024

This book was nothing like I expected it to be, but I loved it just the same.
Forensics and the FBI have always interested me, and although they were present in this book, Clay and Bones was so much more. Bailey's struggles seem far too commonplace for women in the justice system, and unfortunately made for a compelling read.
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Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Finding unclaimed bones or looking for a long lost criminal are projects for a forensic artist at the FBI. I learned so much about how artists in law enforcement use clay to construct a “facial approximation” of their unidentified remains and how age approximations find criminals who have aged.

I read to learn the artist’s contribution to solving cases but stayed for the workplace drama Bailey endures. She is harassed, bullied, and yelled at while she’s just trying to hang with some skulls.

I’d recommend to any crime aficionados.

This was a surprising read, a bit different from what I usually like but I was intrigued with the description of it and since I’m such a huge fan of the tv show Bones, I figured I would enjoy this book. I wasn’t wrong, it’s a great book and I already recommend it to all my friends.

I really enjoyed following Bailey’s career and discovering how her work as a forensic artist helped to solve so many horrendous cases. The amount of forensic science information this book has was insane and I couldn’t put it down. We also dive into the workplace environment and the way she was treated throughout her career. It was a bit to read about the harassment she suffered but I though it added to the story making it more engrossing and compelling.

Overall, it was such an interesting journey through Bailey’s career, written in such a fascinating way that makes it so engaging. We see the details of forensic reconstruction at the same time we see what’s happening in the back. If you like Bones and workplace drama this is the book for you.

Thank you, NetGalley & the publisher, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

OMG stop this book was so cool. To read about how she got her skills together and then her job. I love sculpting and this sounds like an amazing but also hard emotionally job. I lovd reading her story and her why for doing this.

I was surprised at how much of this book was her personal story about working at the FBI vs. her experiences in forensic art. I expected much more about the cool stuff she did, rather than how misogynistic the boys club FBI is. To be clear, I'm not saying she shouldn't also tell that story - it's infuriating and needs to be heard, especially given that's it's so recent. I just didn't expect so much of it here. I wanted to learn more about her, this badass woman that's passionate about facial approximation and worked with the body farm. The two topics were interwoven seemingly without much order.

Clay and Bones
My Life as an FBI Forensic Artist
Lisa G. Bailey
Lisa Bailey was a talented forensic artist for the FBI. She found the work fascinating and fulfilling. She assisted law enforcement by recreating the likeness of victims. She worked on hundreds of crimes and was considered an expert in the field. She was the first female forensic sculptor. This book offers details on some of cases she worked on,
When she faced discrimination and bullying in the work place she fought back. Despite her successful record the FBI offered her blame and not protection. Her supervisors appear to be bullies and totally incompetent. She was singled out repeatedly for a reprimand; the rules that applied to her were different than what was applied to her male co-workers. It was not just one person that discriminated against her. One male supervisor told her to “hop like a bunny.” After continued abuse Bailey went to EEO. The result was, “They said that this was their way of managing you. And if you don’t like it, you can quit.” There were several men that abused Baily, among them: Randal, Brent, Frank and Harry. It was obvious what the end goal was…to make her quit.
Bailey was careful to gather emails and other documentation. She discovered where her evaluations had been altered. Bailey had taken screen shots of the original documents. She hired attorneys which cost her over $83000. However, she was never granted a fair hearing.
My heart goes out to Lisa Bailey; she fought back against a system and a good old boys club that was determined to destroy her. Bullying, abuse and discrimination were uncalled for. Why they targeted MS Bailey is unclear other than she rocked the boat. Her book is well written and informative. She enjoyed her job and was clearly passionate and good at it.

Don't judge a book by its cover fr. I thought this was just going to be a fun little memoir about Bailey's experience as an FBI forensic artist, with some day-in-the-life explanations of what a forensic artist actually does and maybe a few cases she helped solve. And it was that, but it also delivered so much more. Bailey details the insane harassment and discrimination that she faced at the hands of her FBI supervisors, which **kind of spoiler** culminates in an EEO complaint and an OPR investigation. (Booooo admin law.) The amount of feminine rage I felt while reading this book was borderline debilitating. There were several times I was physically anxious reading her account of the treatment she was subjected to, yet I was consistently amazed by her ability to maintain a genuine passion for her work in the face of bureaucracy at its worst. Highly, HIGHLY recommend.

For: True crime readers; artists; anyone who has ever had a shitty boss
Not for: Shitty bosses; those with weak stomachs; incels

Also, thank you to Chicago Review Press for providing me with a copy ahead of publication.

2/5

This book follows the life and career of Lisa Bailey, the first female forensic sculptor in the FBI. The narration touches on her life, how she found her way into such a specific field of work, some of the cases she's been involved in and the sexism and workplace harassment she suffered during her time at the FBI. I think this field of forensic science is fascinating so after a quick read of the summary and looking at the cover and title I decided to request this title. Sadly, I found this boring and disjointed.

There are two stories in here fighting for dominance. The story of a woman becoming a forensic artist and all the science and artistry behind it vs a tale of horrible frustrating misogyny and harassment in the workplace. These two do not mash well. Yes, the events are all real, however the way the book is written doesn't work and comes out as rambling and disconnected. I also feel like I had a different idea of what this book was going to be, perhaps I deluded myself. It's true that in the summary it references the hostile work enviroment and the actions Bailey had to take, yet the title of this memoir, the cover, and the blurb itself ("fascinating exploration into the surreal and satisfying work of a forensic artist.") led me to believe the book would go more into detail about the field of forensics.

Bailey writes in a wandering prose, at times I felt like we were two old college friends having a chat over coffee after having lost contact for several years. It made for an easy read but it also created some serious tonal shifts. We would go from her geeking out over some extremely cool modeling process (for example) only to be hit by the horrible workplace situation merely a couple of lines after. Her anecdotes regarding her life and family didn't click with the stories of skull reconstructions and crime victims and when the later were hitting their most interesting point then the horrible bosses would crash the scene leaving me feeling without a resolution and adrift.

I think it's incredibly important for Lisa Bailey to tell her story. Her experiences show why boy's clubs remain that way, through the systematic violence and humilliation they exert over women who dare to carve out a space, to show their abilities, to take pride in their intelligence and hard work. The FBI is such an institution, created with patriarchal ideals that reinforce these behaviors, and I applaud Bailey for speaking out. Readers will find something to enjoy here, something to be frustrated over, and perhaps a connection to the author, I'm just in the minority and that's ok.

This book didn’t gel with me. It was a strange mix of forensic cases and the author’s journey fighting the FBI on multiple bullying incidents. The two themes didn’t work for me on the narrative. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for a DRC

Thank you for the ARC copy of this book. I really enjoyed this book which did not come as a surprise since I am a fan of learning more about the world of forensics. Going in I thought this book was just going to be about the science and art of the forensic world but this is not the case. I think it was really important that Lisa’s story was honest and that she held nothing back about her true experiences in this field. You can tell the passion for the subject through her writing. Overall I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it reading it again.

Lisa Bailey's Clay and Bones: My Life as an FBI Forensic Artist had the potential to be a fascinating personal memoir of how a graphic artist grew into a forensic specialist for the FBI. And it did start that way.

"...a forensic artist could be expected to encounter in their career: composite sketching, cognitive interviewing techniques, how to create age-progressed images of fugitives, and postmortem identification techniques."

I was hooked on how she got started, was trained, her early cases,--which did get a bit gnarly at times--

"...the bomber is wearing the device on his chest when it detonates, it’s like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. The facial features go all over the place, teeth can end up where the eyes were, and the nose turns inside out. It’s essentially a mess, and they look ridiculous. If they wear the device on their back, like these guys did, the head pops off, taking the spine with it. Then the head 59 becomes a projectile, ricocheting off the walls and banging up the face even more than the explosion did."

I loved that Lisa Bailey held nothing back when explaining the skills and how they were applied to solving crimes. But, at a certain point, she changed her focus from crime fighting to personnel issues behind the scenes at the department. I get it. It is a memoir, not a procedural, and the blur warned me that this was the plan all along--

"her life changed when she became the target of sexual discrimination and harassment. She was stunned when FBI management protected the abusers and retaliated with threats, slander, and an arsenal of lawyers. Trapped in an increasingly hostile work environment, and infuriated at the hypocrisy of the FBI's tactics, Bailey decided to fight back."


But life is filled with unfairness. I can share my own where I didn't feel appreciated, maybe felt oppressed because of my sex, and it doesn't surprise me that the FBI is no different. When reading a memoir, above all, I want to be surprised. I found myself skipping scenes because I wasn't interested in how bad bosses made her working life difficult. I wanted to read about her impact on crime solving. 

"It also looks a bit smaller. Huh. Is that because your left eye is deeper set than the right, or is your left eyeball itself smaller? Or maybe, your eyeballs are the exact same size, but the orbit, the bony opening that your eyeball sits in, is actually smaller. A person could drive themselves crazy with these types..."

I almost gave this book 3/5, but accepted that the lower rating was probably my erroneous expectations and upped it to 4/5. Really, for those interested in both the nitty gritty of forensic sculpting and what's behind the curtain, this could be the perfect book.

Favourite Quote: "Behind every case is a victim - Man, Woman or Child- and the people who care for them"

Okay this book did not go where I expected it to. I was anticipating like a mindhunter, case study approach to it, and although it did contain a lot of interesting tidbits and education about Lisa's work as a forensic artist it delved so much deeper than that. It looked at the impact of renditions on artists and victims alike, the struggles the beginning of the unit had to go through (a hard realisastion in a time with so much technology at the touch of a fingertip), and unsurpirisingly the struggles she faced within the bureaucracy of the FBI. I became outraged on behalf of Lisa as I read this book and the detail and clarity with which she recounted the numerous injustices she faced. Yet sadly I wasn't shocked by them, it's a repeated pattern discussed by countless women throughout a variety of work environments, so I truly applaud Lisa for her resilience and how she battled back on it all. The work did occassionally jump between subject matters unexpectedly but I do think this was an attempt to break up some of the tension. A very interesting read I highly recommend, and I'm glad Lisa is getting to tell her story.

4.5 rounded down to 4

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Wow wow wow. Fascinating, heartbreaking, and eye-opening, CLAY AND BONES peels back the layers of work discrimination and sexism in the FBI while also describing the work of the author, Lisa G. Bailey, as one of the first female forensic sculptors. Told with wit and searing honestly, Bailey does not shy from calling out names and detailing her abuse within the US government, but her passion for reconstruction is obvious in the way she describes the undying hope that her work helps the people she works hard to bring a face to.

This book was impossible to put down, and I highly recommend it to fans of Bones, workplace drama, and those of us who want to fight against injustice.

Thank you Netgalley. I was looking forward to this read and it didn't disappoint. I have always been interested in True Crime especially from a female perspective. The telling of her story was fascinating from beginning to end highly recommend.