Book Description
When Special Agent Kathryn Dance -- a brilliant interrogator and kinesics expert with the California Bureau of Investigation -- is sent to question the convicted killer Daniel "Son of Manson" Pell as a suspect in a newly unearthed crime, she feels both trepidation and electrifying intrigue. Pell is serving a life sentence for the brutal murders of the wealthy Croyton family in Carmel years earlier -- a crime mirroring those perpetrated by Charles Manson in the 1960s. But Pell and his cult members were sloppy: Not only were they apprehended, they even left behind a survivor -- the youngest of the Croyton daughters, who, because she was in bed hidden by her toys that terrible night, was dubbed the Sleeping Doll.

But the girl never spoke about that night, nor did the crime's mastermind. Indeed, Pell has long been both reticent and unrepentant about the crime. And so with the murderer transported from the Capitola superprison to an interrogation room in the Monterey County Courthouse, Dance sees an opportunity to pry a confession from him for the recent murder -- and to learn more about the depraved mind of this career criminal who considers himself a master of control, a dark Svengali, forcing people to do what they otherwise would never conceive of doing. In an electrifying psychological jousting match, Dance calls up all her skills as an interrogator and kinesics -- body language -- expert to get to the truth behind Daniel Pell.

But when Dance's plan goes terribly wrong and Pell escapes, leaving behind a trail of dead and injured, she finds herself in charge of her first-ever manhunt. But far from simply fleeing, Pell turns on his pursuers -- and other innocents -- for reasons Dance and her colleagues can't discern. As the idyllic Monterey Peninsula is paralyzed by the elusive killer, Dance turns to the past to find the truth about what Daniel Pell is really up to. She tracks down the now teenage Sleeping Doll to learn what really happened that night, and she arranges a reunion of three women who were in his cult at the time of the killings. The lies of the past and the evasions of the present boil up under the relentless probing of Kathryn Dance, but will the truth about Daniel Pell emerge in time to stop him from killing again? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (62)

Good book but not about Lincoln Rhyme
This author is so creepy (I've meet him in person at a signing) but boy can he write. This book is about a serial killer who escapes and trying to catch him. There are some wonderful and much unexpected turns in this book. My only real criticism is that the book is a bit too long. The story is told in 398 pages and could easily be cut down 50 to 75 more. Still, a good book that I would recommend reading. This is not part of the Lincoln Rhyme book line (although he is mentioned in here briefly).

Absolutely Riveting
I have never read a Deaver novel I didn't love, but this one was over the top in reading pleasure, as far as I am concerned.

First of all, we have a very interesting and endearing heroine, Kathryn Dance, whom we've met before (and in my case, loved) in the wonderful Lincoln Rhyme novels. Kathryn, a widow with two children, works for the CID, a fictional creation of Deaver's that is a quasi California State FBI, if you will. Her expertise lies in kinesic interviews, where the interviewer can tell if the perp is lying or not by the subtle clues he or she gives off in body language and intonation. The entire subject is fascinating, and Deaver has done his homework well. Rather than just give parenthetical asides, he weaves the information on how it's done right into the story so that nothing slows down.

This time, Kathryn may have met her match in Daniel Pell, a "family leader" a la Charles Manson, who escapes from a maximum security prison in a move so daring, it has the reader on the edge of the seat. And that's only the beginning of the novel! After the escape, Kathryn is put in charge of the search and capture team.

The rest of the book follows the good guys in their relentless pursuit, and, in almost a separate story, Pell and his naive girlfriend in their attempts to escape. There is much murder and mayhem along the way, as expected, but here is the genius of the book: Deaver manages somehow to make Pell, a sociopathic bad guy extraordinaire, sympathetic. Quite the feat! I'm not saying I was rooting for Pell's eventual triumph over the good guys--but I had my moments.

There are enough twists and turns to fool you throughout the book, and the ending, while maybe a tad too pat, was perfect. I give this book an A-plus.

Subpar effort by Deaver
In the past I have had very positive experiences with Deaver's books, both in the Rhyme series and in the short story collections. Therefore, I was really looking forward to this novel, featuring a new main character, Kathryn Dance, an investigator that's an expert in kinesics. Sadly, even though I cannot say the book is bad, the overall result was well below what I expected.

Dance gets involved in the case of a cold-blooded killer, Daniel Pell, who, shortly after the book starts, escapes from prison in an ingenious and bombastic way. After that, the plot basically consists in the chase after the killer. I think that Deaver did a very good job in the development of the character of Daniel Pell, since we can clearly picture his motivations and way of thinking. On the other hand, he clearly falls short when considering the same aspect relatively to Dance. I felt that the author spent way too much time telling us about how she spots tells in the people she is talking to, identifying lies, fears and doubts, than he spent providing us with details that would allow us to form a complete picture of the lead character.

At first, the description of the process involved in kinesics is really interesting, but Deaver goes to that place way too often and towards the end of the novel it feels like he is beating a dead horse. The pace of the novel is pretty uneven too, with a start at full-speed and hitting several bumps along the way, some of them more pronounced than others. It looks to me as if the author is planning to continue using this character in future novels, and my hope is that he will correct the existing issues and deliver the kind of works we are used to getting from him. In my case, I am willing to give Dance a second chance.

Plot with twists
I found this book to be a sensational read with twists in the plot like no other I've read. California Bureau of Investigation Special Agent, Kathyn Dance, is an expert in kinesics, the science of interpreting body language, and has been assigned the task of dealing with escaped murderer and cult leader, Daniel Pell, a psychopath with a personal magnetism, especially for emotionally needy women. It's a riveting story of Pell's attempt to avoid recapture and his need to punish people whom he feels have let him down. The science of kinesics is a fascinating one and we are treated to Kathryn Dance's establishment of her expertise in this field, along with her personal fear of danger to her own family, with this maniac seeing her as his first line of blockage in his mad schemes. It's a fast, exciting read, full of amazing twists and turns and with an unexpected final twist which I certainly didn't see coming.

mensa calanders, no stars
I never recieved two mensa desk calendars which were supposed to arrive Jan 5, they were g ifts for two people. I am out the money and am very disgusted with this whole process ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

This one won't let you go
Another great example of the lesson I've learned when exploring thriller writers: always go back to their first books, those early works upon which their reputations were built...Hunter, Burke, Connelly,Deaver,Ross MacDonald,the list goes on. Here Mr. Deaver shows a ferociously understated intelligence in his grasp of character-especially those perversions of character which make this novel read at moments like a fictionalized psychology text from hell....ain't it great??? And, as I said, understated and believable every step of the way. Especially believable are the procedural aspects of small town law enforcement and their inexperience when confronted with atrocities beyond their ken, and the wonderfully wicked views of the dark side of academia. Also a pitch perfect characterization of a decent person of mediocre intelligence, without resort to parody or patronization...not an easy task. Very High recommendation.

An Early Jeffery Deaver Tale That Is Wonderful!
This is a fascinating and intriguing novel with more than one plot twist and surprise! If you are a Deaver fan, I'm sure you'll love this story.
Bill Corde is a deputy in a small midwestern town, New Lebanon. When the murder of a college student, Jennie Gebben, is discovered. Detective Corde is placed in charge of the investigation. Sheriff Ribbon and one of his deputies, Slocum are convinced that this is a cult killing, and that it is connected to a previous murder of another college student, Susan Biagotti. However, Bill Corde is not convinced of this, and continues to pursue the case in his own manner.
Tied in with the murder are two mysterious teenage boy's who call themselves Jano and and Phathar, characters from a science fiction movie that they are obsessed with. As the story continues, the reader wonders if these teenager's are serial killers, or perhaps just troubled youth's.
Detective Corde not only faces the puzzle of Jennie Gebbens murder, and difficulties he faces in the sheriff's department, in his family life he is dealing with a nine year old, learning disabled daughter who is a possible target of the killer, and living in a fantasy world, a teenage son who becomes a suspect in the murder, and a wife who is less than happy with their marriage.
This is an intriguing and fascinating mystery. The characters are well stuctured and believable. Everything is wrapped up and explained by the conclusion of the novel. The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because I would have liked to know what happened to several of the characters shortly after the mystery was solved. It's a pet-peeve of mine.

Jefferey does it again!
This was a very good book. The begining was a little slow, but when it picked up I couldn't put it down. Jeffery has you mistrusting all of the characters. Jeffery has done it again!

Early gem
I don't know how people get it into their heads that early Deaver books are not as good as his later ones. ALL of his early books are of an incredibly high class, equally as good as his more recent. They are slightly different, in tone perhaps, but the quality remains the same.

This is an idea book...there is so much of interest going on at once. It is the kind of book i adore...the kind with a central core plot, but one with many other subplots (usually to do with simple events in the lives of the characters) all orbiting around that core-plot, but never really touching it. It makes the books rather realistic, and such a feast for the reader. So much is happening, just like real life. (For another brilliant example of this, check out "Cry Wolf" by Tami Hoag, which is one of my favourite books of all time.)

Deaver's writing is very good, and his characters are great. Very human. He gets into everyones head, and shows us inside, so incredibly well that it looks remarkably easy. I have not met an author who actually can get inside his characters heads so well, and make whats in there seem so simple and ration, especially in the heads of his killers.

The plot is good...interesting, exciting, twisting. There are some nice subtle twists, although they are not quite as pronounced or as shocking as in some of his other novels. Indeed, the identity of the killer is discovered in the final 100 ish pages, and there is no real surprise about their identity from then on. (Which, having found out so early, you would expect there to be.)

If anything, this book is perhaps a bit too long. But not much...

This is not Deaver's book, but that doesnt really clarify matters at all. As all of his books are exemplary, and much better than most authors working today. (Hence the fact that it still garners a five star rating.) However, it may not be quite as good as such classics as "A Maiden's Grave" or "The Empty Chair" it is still a hig class, enjoyable read. If you are new to Deaver, this is probably good place to start and ease yourself into the water.

Very Good
This is one of Deaver's earlier works.I'll echo most of the other reviewers and say that this isn't his best.It is, however, still a very strong story.Deaver's weakest is still as good or better than most writer's best.

This is a strong plot, but there are fewer twists than Deaver has become known for.The characters are also very good.He makes you cheer for Corde and wonder how his coworkers can be so stupid.

Again, it's not his best, but you still won't be disappointed by it. ... Read more

Amazon.com
When a vicious smuggler known as the Ghost scuttles a ship filled withundocumented Chinese immigrants less than a mile from New York harbor, only ahandful of survivors--and the Ghost himself--manage to escape the burningvessel. Lincoln Rhyme, the quadriplegic NYPD forensic detective first introducedin 1997's The BoneCollector, and Amelia Sachs, his partner and lover, must stop the Ghostbefore he murders the two families who made it to shore. The families have goneto ground in the all but impenetrable world of Manhattan's Chinatown, a factthat makes the pair's two allies--Sonny Li, a Chinese cop, and Dr. John Sung-- invaluable partners.

The group's race against time showcases Jeffery Deaver's many talents,particularly intricate plotting, plenty of surprising twists, and breakneckpacing. This is a real standout from a writer whose previous thrillers haveearned him a solid following among mystery fans. --Jane AdamsBook Description
Forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme and his protégée Amelia Sachs have been recruited by the FBI to capture "the Ghost" -- a homicidal immigrant smuggler. But when they corner him aboard a cargo ship, the bust goes disastrously wrong and the Ghost escapes. Now, he must eliminate the only witnesses -- two families who jumped ship and vanished into Chinatown. Against a ruthless adversary, Lincoln and Amelia race to find the families before the Ghost can silence them...

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Lincoln Rhyme returns! First introduced in the spine-chilling novel The Bone Collector, Lincoln Rhyme dazzled readers with unparalleled forensic sleuthing -- all done from the confines of a wheelchair. A famed criminologist, paralyzed from the neck down, Rhyme compensates for his physical disability with his brains -- and the arms and legs of his brilliant and beautiful protégée, Amelia Sachs. It is Amelia who "walks the grid" for Rhyme, acting as his eyes and ears for the famously dangerous and difficult cases chronicled in Jeffery Deaver's bestselling novels The Bone Collector, The Coffin Dancer, and The Empty Chair.

Now the awe-inspiring duo returns in The Stone Monkey. Recruited to help the FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service perform the nearly impossible, Lincoln and Amelia manage to track down a cargo ship headed for New York City and carrying two dozen illegal Chinese immigrants, as well as the notorious human smuggler and killer known as "the Ghost." But when the Ghost's capture goes disastrously wrong, Lincoln and Amelia find themselves in a race against time: to stop the Ghost before he can track down and murder the two surviving families who have escaped from the ship and vanished deep into the labyrinthine world of New York City's Chinatown.

Over the next harrowing forty-eight hours, the Ghost brilliantly and ruthlessly hunts for the families, while Rhyme, aided by a quirky policeman from mainland China, struggles to find them before they die, and Amelia Sachs pursues a very different kind of police work -- forming a connection with one of the immigrants that may have consequences going to the core of her relationship with her partner and lover, Lincoln Rhyme.

The Stone Monkey abounds with Deaver's famous trademarks: wholly unexpected plot twists, breakneck pacing, and characters who are heartbreakingly real, reminding us once again why People hailed him as "the master of ticking-bomb suspense" and Publishers Weekly called him the "most clever plotter on the planet."

Customer Reviews (103)

Topical, intelligent and good reading
Jeffery Deaver's popular duo of Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are back again, as they did in The Bone Collector, The Empty Chair, The Coffin Dancer, and (after The Stone Monkey) The Vanished Man - which for me is just, just the best of the bunch. They are all good, and Deaver has created an enigmatic character in the immobile Lincoln Rhyme who, grumpy though he is, always displays such a lucidity of mind and exceptional talent for forensics that all other characters in the book pale into insignificance. He's human though, he has failings, but we always forgive him because we know that despite his intense frustrations (brought about by his almost absolute physical disability) he is a man of integrity and sound judgement. In The Stone Monkey he is on the trail of a 'Snakehead', a Chinese man who exploits the desperations of those in his home country and who seek a better life in The Beautiful Country (is New York beautiful?). The Snakehead, aka Ghost, is a pretty nasty piece of work and his identity is cleverly hidden throught most of this story although I have to confess that, for once, I got it right and quite early on. It didn't spoil a thing though, the book gave me new insights into the pain and politics behind human trafficking, and once again I can give a Deaver novel the thumbs-up and a strong recommendation. By the way, there's more to Deaver than the Rhyme/Sachs series - try Twisted (a series of short stories) and The Blue Nowhere for starters.

Yet another solild entry in the Rhyme saga.
No spoilers

The Stone Monkey is yet another blazing and captivating read by Deaver staring Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs that has plot twists throughout it that I promise you won't see coming. I won't summarize the plot, but I will say that seeing as how this is the fourth book in the Rhyme series, I doubt anyone reading this is new to Rhyme, so having said that, if you've read the previous three books and liked them, read this now. While I wouldn't say this is the best book out of the first four (it lacked the "wow" surprise factor that the others had throughout the book), it's still a great and fun book. If you haven't read Deaver before, stop reading this review and go look up and buy The Bone Collector, the first book of this series

Bottom line: another fun and informative read that a Deaver fan will demolish is minimal sittings.

An endless series ofturns of events
Another riveting thriller featuring forensic expert Lincoln Rhyme and partner and lover Amelia Sachs, with the latter showing a hint of interest for a soothing-voiced chinese doctor who is not who he pretends he is...

My first Rhyme novel
This is the first book I read by Jeffery Deaver. It was hard at first to visualize the condition Lincoln is in pertaining to the wheel chair and his disability. After a while I did not think about his disability, but how his mind worked to solve the crime. He works well with Amelia and the story intrigued me until the end. I have since read five more of Deaver's books.

Reasonably good entry in L. Rhyme series, with good NY Chinatown info!
"Stone Monkey" (named after a good luck amulet worn by the story's Chinese doctor) is Deaver's fourth in the NYPD Forensic Expert (and quadriplegic) Lincoln Rhyme series.In this one, he and "leg-man" Amelia Sachs are trying to locate a "Snakehead", a Chinese illegal immigrant smuggler, named the Ghost who has sunk the boat before the Coast Guard can get to it, and now needs to find and eliminate the two families and a couple of single people (a doctor and an undercover detective) who made it to the Long Island shore and survived.The Chinese people are temporarily hiding out in New York's huge Chinatown, but the brutal Ghost seems to have unlimited connections in his quest to find them and eliminate any witnesses to the incident.The detective, a fun character named Sammy Li, hooks up with Rhyme's team and nearly steals several scenes with both his insights and his humorous commentary on various turns in the investigation.

Like Deaver's "Vanished Man" that combines a forensic police procedural with considerable information about the practice of magic and illusion, this novel equally informs us readers about Chinese culture and the hopes and aspirations of those seeking a better life in the "Beautiful Country" (as they call America).While the indifference of the villain to human life gets a little hard to take, in the end he gets what he deserves, mostly through the hard work of Rhyme and Sachs.At the end, a twist we never expected helped explain some otherwise puzzling developments during the case.Just one caveat - it appears to us from the lack of much background on our leading man and lady that it might help to read this series in order - Deaver's technique of unfolding the bare minimum of character development in each successive story may detract from these otherwise interesting and suspenseful tales.
... Read more

Amazon.com
It's not easy being NYPD detective Lincoln Rhyme, the world's foremost criminalist. First of all, he's a quadriplegic. Secondly, he's forever being second-guessed and mother-henned by his ex-model-turned-cop protégé, Amelia Sachs, and his personal aide, Thom. And thirdly, it seems that he can't motor his wheelchair around a corner without bumping into one crazed psycho-killer after another.

In The Empty Chair, Jeffery Deaver's third Rhyme outing--after 1997's The Bone Collector and 1998's The Coffin Dancer--Rhyme travels to North Carolina to undergo an experimental surgical procedure and is, a jot too coincidentally, met at the door by a local sheriff, the cousin of an NYPD colleague, bearing one murder, two kidnappings, and a timely plea for help. It seems that 16-year-old Garrett Hanlon, a bug-obsessed orphan known locally as the Insect Boy, has kidnapped and probably raped two women, and bludgeoned to death a would-be hero who tried to stop one of the abductions.

Rhyme sets up shop, Amelia leads the local constabulary (easily recognized by their out-of-joint noses) into the field, and, after some Holmesian brain work and a good deal of exciting cat-and-mousing, the duo leads the cops to their prey. And just as you're idly wondering why the case is coming to an end in the middle of the book, Amelia breaks the boy out of jail and goes on the lam. Equally convinced of the boy's guilt and the danger he poses to Amelia, Rhyme has no choice but to aid the police in apprehending the woman he loves--no easy task, as she's the one human being who truly knows the methods of Lincoln Rhyme.

Rhyme's specialty combines the minute scientific analysis of physical evidence gathered from crime scenes and his arcane knowledge of, it would seem, every organic and inorganic substance on earth. Deaver combines engaging narration, believable characters, and his trademark ability to repeatedly pull the rug out from under the reader's feet. Lincoln Rhyme's back all right, and the smart money's betting that his run has just begun. --Michael Hudson Book Description
Renowned criminalist Lincoln Rhyme faces his ultimate opponent: a kidnapper and murderer dubbed the Insect Boy. But Rhyme is in for a surprise when he learns that catching a criminal is one thing...and keeping him is another. Now Rhyme, in North Carolina to undergo risky spinal cord surgery, finds himself hunting a ruthless killer in the heart of a southern swampland -- and going head-to-head with his protégé, Amelia Sachs, in a rivalry that tests the limits of both their expertise and their love.

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Jeffery Deaver's ingenious, wheelchair-bound criminalist from the international bestsellers The Bone Collector and The Coffin Dancer returns with a bang when an appointment at a renowned North Carolina hospital puts him in the exact wrong place at the exact wrong time. When the police turn to Lincoln for help finding two kidnapped hometown girls, he has no idea that the kidnapper will ultimately come between him and everything he holds dear -- especially his esteemed protegee and love, Amelia Sachs. When Rhyme and Sachs disagree about the perpetrator's identity, they find themselves pitted against one another in a winner-take-all battle of wits. A battle that will test the meaning -- and price -- of loyalty. The Empty Chair features the signature plot twists and heart-stopping suspense that have made Deaver a household name. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (186)

Not Deaver's Best
Empty Chair was a good read, not a great read, but a good read.I've read the majority of Deaver's novels and have found several to be great reads; this one unfortunately was not the best of his work.

Great concept, but the twist was a little forced and I actually didn't read the last 10 pages or so because of this.

Anyway, in comparison to the market, (seems really gripping thrillers are few and far between) I'd recommend it.

his best
Granted, I haven't read all of Mr. Deaver's work, but for some reason The Empty Chair is the one book that has stayed with me the most, and the only Deaver book which has brought me back for a subsequent reading.Great characters, fantastic plot not bogged down with too much science ... a superb balance of forensics and pure action ... and twists that stay with you.

If every Deaver book could be this good, I'd be buying hardcover.

"This goes way beyond stupid."
The quotation at the head of this comment appears about mid-way in this book.It is the one line in the volume with which I agree most strongly.

"The Empty Chair" is not a new book and there are already 183 Amazon reviews covering the whole range from deliriously positive to grimly negative.I have relatively little new to offer.This is the epic of "Insect Boy."If that statement doesn't put you off, nothing I can say will make it seem much worse.

I shall offer only a comment on the structure of the book.Instead of the quotation I used, I could just have well have chosen, "The Perils of Amelia," for the pattern chosen by author Jeffery Deaver for this book exactly parallels that of those staples of long-ago Saturday afternoon kiddie matinees at the local Bijou.The motion picture industry pompously named them "chapter plays," but their youthful audiences just called them "serials."

"The Empty Chair" is a book of cliffhangers.They are to be found both in the action sequences and in (for want of a better term) the character development.Chapter after chapter comes to an end just as some character, usually the continuing series-character Amelia Sachs, plunges off some metaphorical cliff on the way to certain doom.Author Deaver will then cut away in the next chapter to some more-or-less unrelated actions by other characters, returning to that "cliff of doom" a chapter or two later.And when we do return, what do we find?Well, it turns out that things hadn't been quite as we had been led to believe when we had arrived at that earlier cliffhanger.In the old serials, we always learned in the following week that the stalwart hero and his Sweet Sue had managed to escape the straight jackets and leap off the chuckwagon just an instant before it had plunged in flames down 500 feet to the bottom of Deadman's Canyon.

Watching those old serials, thoughtful moppets pondering over their popcorn, hot dogs and Jujubes soon concluded that it was not wise to develop any great trust in the narratives as presented on the screen.And so it is with "The Empty Chair."The narrative, time after time, is of doubtful veracity.If the narrator, as they say, does thee once, it is his fault; if he does thee twice, it is thy fault.Author Deaver quite plainly intends to do us readers about a dozen times.He is absolutely not a trustworthy narrator.

Deaver represents a particularly annoying case of a competent and technically proficient author who has acquired a taste for jerking us readers around.There are actually some merits in this book, but all those annoying fake cliffhangers, especially that great howling one that takes place about two-thirds of the way into the book, more than negate them.

Two exasperated stars.

Deaver never lets you down
I have more books written by Jeffrey Deaver than any other author, and that's because he is so consistent, he never seems to come up with a dud. The Empty Chair is one of his Rhyme/Sachs series, Rhyme being the C4 quadriplegic criminalist who pursues the baddies from the confines of his Storm Arrow powered wheelchair or his bed in his apartment off Central Park, and the only part of his body he can move (from the neck down) is his 'ring finger', and even then only very slightly. I saw the film The Bone Collector some years ago, and as a result I can't but imagine that Denzel Washington in the part of Lincoln Rhyme in any of these novels, even though I believe that Deaver's vision of the man is white caucasian. And somehow I believe Amelia Sachs is far more attractive than Angelina Jolie (who played the part in Bone Collector), but maybe I just love tall redheads who love fast driving....... Anyway The Empty Chair is another example of Deaver making a complicated story out of ostensibly a simple plot, a skill he is very adept at. While in North Carolina for experimental surgery that might improve (or worsen) his disability, Rhyme is drawn into a local police hunt for a 16-year-old known as The Insect Boy, and who is alleged to be responsible for murder, rape and abduction. One of his female victims is thought to be alive but she needs to be found quickly in the intense August heat of the humid Carolina swamplands. As usual, nothing is what it initially seems, and although I constantly tried to guess the next twist, more often than not I was wrong - and I'm becoming a seasoned Deaver reader. The Empty Chair is as much a puzzle as a piece of entertaining fiction, and I admit I wasn't always able to come up with the answers before they were revealed. Standard Deaver fare, then, but a high standard nevertheless and worth adding to your personal library.

an entertaining read; A-
This was my first Deaver novel - I "met" Sachs and Rhyme in this novel (which I just found out maybe wasn't ideal, according to another review).Luckily I saw the movie "The Bone Collector" long enough ago that I could put the actors out of my mind and start fresh.I actually hadn't even drawn the connection when I started the book, not knowing Deaver was the common author.

Good:
I still feel like I appreciated the characters, despite not having the benefit of their background from the previous novels.Some reviews have cast them as 1-dimensional & cliche's...not sure I can agree with that.I was drawn in and Deaver did a good job at making the book as standalone as possible, in spite of being part of a series.It was very readable and rather gripping.I wouldn't know forensic evidence if it hit me in the eyeball, so I don't know how accurate Deaver is, but he does make that aspect of the novel very compelling, interesting and believable.When all else fails, there's the list of clues taunting you, the reader, to figure it out for yourself.Very engaging - a strong and cohesive element for the novel.

Bad:
The plot twists, while fun, grew a little tiresome.I felt cheated by many of them.I know better than to think Deaver made them up as he went along, but it began to feel that way.No previous hints/foreshadowing/allusions to give the reader a shot at them - they just get pulled out of a hat, it seems.The whole plot seems to balance on the knife edge of plausibility, as well.I'm pretty good at suspending reality and just letting books take me for the ride, but the ice got pretty thin toward the end, even for me.

Overall, though, I do recommend the book.It was an entertaining read that I kept coming back to.My reading time is sporadic but I found myself making time to finish The Empty Chair.If this is one of Deaver's worst offerings (as many of these reviews say) then I might become a fan. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Perennial bestselling author Jeffrey Deaver's alter ego, WilliamJefferies, knows a thing or two about Hollywood. So does John Pellam, the heroof his previous Shallow Graves and Bloody River Blues and the latest in the series, Hell's Kitchen. Pellam made a name for himself as a director before a stint in San Quentin tookhim off the fast track. Since his release he's been earning his keep as a location scout and not so incidentally shooting a documentary about New York's Hell's Kitchen, which he hopes will propel him back into the career that skidded south after he ran afoul of the law.

Pellam has found the star of his new film, one Ettie Washington, who has livedin the neighborhood for decades and is the perfect voice to tell the story of an area that's losing its old-time seediness to urban gentrification. But then Ettie's tenement goes up in a blaze that kills a small boy and puts her right in the public eye--as a suspect. It's only the beginning of a series of fires, each one more deadly. The cops know Ettie couldn't have set the others, since she's been in jail, but they're convinced she knows who did. Pellam has his own reasons for getting Ettie off the hook and embarking on a search for the real pyromaniac. Jeffriessaves the best one for the very end of this taut, well-paced, and highlyatmospheric thriller. --Jane AdamsBook Description
The New York Times bestselling author of The Empty Chair and The Devil's Teardrop, is back displaying his "ticking-bomb suspense" (People) in this never-before-published thriller.

Every New York City neighborhood has a story, but what John Pellam uncovers in Hell's Kitchen has a darkness all its own. The Hollywood location scout and former stuntman is in the Big Apple hoping to capture the unvarnished memories of longtime Kitchen residents such as Ettie Washington in a no-budget documentary film. But when a suspicious fire ravages the elderly woman's crumbling tenement, Pellam realizes that someone might want the past to stay buried.

As more buildings and lives go up in flames, Pellam takes to the streets, seeking the twisted pyromaniac who sells services to the highest bidder. But Pellam is unaware that the fires are merely flickering preludes to the arsonist's ultimate masterpiece, a conflagration of nearly unimaginable proportion, with Hell's Kitchen -- and John Pellam -- at its blackened and searing epicenter.

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Readers everywhere thrill to Jeffery Deaver's New York Times bestselling novels -- and now, Pocket Books presents his third and final book in the classic Location Scout mystery series! Hollywood location scout and former stuntman John Pellam is at hard at work on a new, no-budget documentary highlighting the fascinating history of New York's Hell's Kitchen. But when suspicious fires begin ravaging tenement buildings and claiming lives, Pellam realizes he's trapped in the deadly schemes of a twisted pyromaniac -- and unaware that the worst is yet to come.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

2 1/2 Stars -- Just A So-So Read!
I read Hell's Kitchen mainly because Jeffery Deaver wrote it -- and I'm a bit sorry that I did. The plot's concept is fairly interesting, which involves a Hollywood location scout in NYC to film a documentary about the residents of Hell's Kitchen and coming to the aid of an elderly woman accused of having her tenement set on fire. However, Deaver's execution of the plot is somewhat disjointed and implausible, and it moves at too slow a pace. And, while the ending has a fair amount of excitement, it's too litle, too late. Further, I found the characters in Hell's Kitchen to be rather thinly developed, in that they were one-dimensional, somewhat stick-like figures. Although Hell's Kitchen, which was written earlier in Deaver's career under the pseudonym, William Jefferies, is not a BAD book,it is a book I'd advise you to skip. It is easy to understand why it was not published until after Deaver became a "household name."

Read his other books first
John Pellam, former stuntman and location scout, is now taking some time off to work on a documentary about the New York City neighborhood called Hell's Kitchen.Located on the west side of Manhattan, it is a rather run down and rough neighborhood.The focus of his documentary is an elderly black woman, Ettie Washington, who has lived in Kitchen all of her life and has been telling Pellam numerous stories about life in that neighborhood.

When Pellam goes to visit Ettie one night, the building is set on fire where both he and Ettie barely manage to survive.After the investigation but the NYFD, the fire is ruled an arson and Ettie is immediately arrested as the one who hired the arson.Pellam is conviced of Ettie's innocence and seeks out to find the truth behind the fire.In the process, he captures the attention of the twisted arsonist who begins to focus his hate and passion on Pellam and wants to see him dead.

Honestly, I was not too thrilled with this book.It is my first book written by Deaver and he had gotten so many positive reviews that I figured I would give him a shot.The writing style wasn't too bad, but he seems to throw in twists and turns that make no sense and the progression of the story gets jagged at times.Also, I had a problem with the description of the Kitchen.He described the neighborhood to be this nasty hole in the wall that probably should be burnt to the ground.I worked near the Kitchen for four years and I will admit it isn't the nicest of neighborhoods, but it isn't nearly as bad as he described it.Especially since the city has taken a keen interest in rebuilding a lot of it.

A rich architectural mystery
The cover art doesn't do this book justice. Jeffery Deaver creates a rich archectural landscape for his mystery rather than putting it in some vague cliched archetypal buildings or rooms. The blury red building with yellow lit window does not capture this richness of set and scene!

All through the book not one character nor one scene is wasted. It's an extremely tight and satisfying mystery. The last thread that is tied up as a coda is perhaps one that doesn't need to be addressed. One loose end would have giving the piece complete plausability but to explain the protagonist's motivation for being such a good samaritan is unnecessary and overwritten.

Will keep the reader up late at night
Jeffrey Deaver is a bestselling author of detective thrillers. His most famous creation is Lincoln Rhyme the quadraplegic detective. He is highly acclaimed and very well established. Therefore, it is a bit of a surprise to find him nominated in the best paperback original category. This category usually consists of either authors just establishing themselves or those that cannot get a hardback contract for whatever reason. Jeffrey Deaver comes out with at least one bestseller a year. His work is, typically, a high octane thriller in which the action doesn't let up. This work is quite different from what he usually writes. In some ways it is superior.
John Pelham is a filmmaker who has decided to film a documentary on the residents of Hell's Kitchen, a tough neighborhood in Manhattan. He chooses Ettie Washington, an elderly black woman living in a tenement, as being his eyes and ears. He interviews her and invests hours of taping. AS he goes to interview her one last time, an explosive fire rages from the basement of the tenement. Both Pelham and Ettie barely escape with their lives. Ettie, incredibly, becomes a suspect on hiring a professional to set the fire for insurance purposes. However, it soon becomes apparent to both the police and Pelham that a serial pyromaniac is on the loose with the stakes going up with each successive fire.
Jeffrey Deaver has changed his writing style from his other books. This is a much more introspective work. The plot moves along at a much more lugubrious fashion. Characters are more well rounded than a typical Deaver novel. However, the style of writing remains superior and the plot is certainly compelling enough to keep the pages turning but not compelling enough to keep the reader turning the pages late at night in lieu of sleep. A solid nomination.

Bleak but excellent
John Pellam is a former stuntman and location scout filming an oral history of New York's Hell's Kitchen. While working on the documentary he meets Ettie Washington, a septuagenarian who lived in that New York City area for most of her life. They get together for several days a week where Pellam records Ettie's memories of life in Hell's Kitchen. One day on his way to see Ettie, John witnesses her building being engulfed by flames. Ettie manages to escape but gets arrested shortly thereafter on suspicion of arson and insurance fraud. The police have strong circumstantial evidence against Ms. Washington and they plan to indict her for the death of one of the building's tenants. Pellam is not convinced of her guilt and he will do everything in his power to prove her innocence.

During the course of his investigation he meets several characters that show life in Hell's Kitchen. Carol Wyandotte is a pessimistic social worker that does not have any hope for the youth living in that area. Roger McKennah is a real estate developer who wants to replace the tenements with new buildings. Sonny is a pyromaniac who is burning buildings all over Ettie's neighborhood for some mysterious motive that will be made clear later in the novel. There are other secondary characters that help bring the book to life, everything from Irish gangs to male prostitutes. Everyone has a story to tell and they make sure John hears all about it.

Jeffery Deaver (or William Jefferies) gives a bleak portrait of this infamous New York area. There is a sense of hopelessness and despair shown throughout the book. It has an interesting plot and it was just recently nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Paperback Mystery Novel. The author's work had certain twists and turns that surprised me as a reader. I strongly recommend this book but be warned, it is a downer. Hopefully the next book I read will lift my spirits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (100)

Tick Tock
The plot changes so fast toward the end of the book, what you thought was going to happen does not happen.Deaver's plots are astonishing.I often wonder how he comes up with some of this stuff.There is no thriller writer like Jeffery Deaver.The Cold Moon will give you what you want in a thriller book.Read it tonight!
d_may

Exciting, intricate and well structured.You'll feel like you've read countless stories in one book!
An expertly managed, carefully considered climb to a momentary peak, which flips over an unforeseen edge to a breath snatching, twist filled, wildly elaborate, multifaceted and complex plot.

There is already plenty given away in these reviews about the specifics of the plots (yes, plural), as well as the various old and new characters.So I won't say much about either and instead offer thoughts on other aspects of this book.

The pacing and timing, as well as both character and story development, are the work of a genius.The writer expertly interweaves scenes of suspense and tension building clue and character analysis with suddenly exploding machine gun fast sequences of unexpected events that take your breath away.Sudden and dramatic reveals stop you in your tracks and force you reevaluate the story so far as well as the presumed motives of the various evildoers.You think you know what's happened and why, and then you are forced to reassess.

Initially, other than from a brilliantly crafted killer and his doting sidekick, there seems to be little emotional contribution from the characters.A reader new to the series may hardly notice the bond between Lincoln and Amelia until a poignant touching of hands at a significant moment gives us a sign of the truth.As the stories progress, plots, sub-plots and oh-so-deeply emotional sub-sub-sub plots unfold.By (and throughout) the last third of the book your racing mind and emotions are not given a moment's respite.The words sprint across the page forcing you to frenziedly chase them as if they're the murderer and he's going to get away again.

Both main story threads are sharply plotted and for the most part progress fluidly.There's little description of environment or emotion other than precisely where relevant to the case or atmosphere.At times, it almost feels like we are skimming a factual surface but at others you're intimately involved in the hearts and emotions of the characters.Of course, Lincoln and Amelia are particularly fascinating and multi-layered.At first glance perhaps dislikable, but the author's skill allows us insight into the true depth of their love for each other and for the cause.

As always, a fascinating and engaging procedural, although, of course, it seems that every time a clue is questioned using any kind of forensics analysis or data source the answer is almost instantly arrived at (or in some cases dismissed) with a `phone call or Google search!I wonder if the police forces around the world are aware of these wonderful crime solving facilities.

Clues scatter the pages but the pieces only come together during the final chapters to reveal an almost impossibly devious crime.The write explains his rationales for the incredibly detailed layer upon layer of plot and these motives, I'm sure, would seem quite reasonable to the twisted diabolical mind of a psychopath!

The Cold Moon
Not Jeff Deavers best with his favorite hero and a bit long for the available action but a good read none the less. I enjoyed it.

Cold Moon
I am addicted to the Lincoln Rhymes series and recommend it to anyone into crime mysteries

Entertaining Lincoln Rhyme and crew mystery
This is a terrifically told story that intertwines several cases, some of which eventually combine.The reader can't get too savvy thinking they know the results of all this action.Jeffery Deaver's character, Lincoln Rhyme, and his group of expert detectives and forensic professionals give us a tale of intrigue involving the Watchmaker.This character is so good at fooling experts that even Rhyme's team is stumped.

Amelia Sachs is Rhyme's "partner" for want of another descriptive word.She is an expert in police work but has interest in Rhyme also.For those of you that are not used to Lincoln Rhyme, he is a quadriplegic in a wheelchair with virtually no feeling in his extremities but his brain is so far superior to most others that the police have kept him on the job for years after his disability.

The Watchmaker is cunning.He appears to be killing people while leaving a clock at the scene of the murder, but little else in the way of clues to anything.He picks and chooses his victims in a way no one can figure, even the partner he has met to assist him in these murders.The partner then gets to sodomize the body after its death, unless something goes wrong with the crime scene and escape must be immediate.

Tie all of this in with a hint of police corruption, another murder that Sachs has taken upon herself to solve, and normal goings on in a huge city like New York, and you have REAL puzzles to work on.The cunningness of The Watchmaker will make you cringe as you read while he stalks his next victim and how he is going to kill them, yet appearing to make them stay alive as long as possible.His partner in crime is not a very smart helper, slipping up on things he would do to throw the evidence other than where The Watchmaker wanted it to go.No matter since The Watchmaker could arrange anything the way he wanted it no matter how many slip ups his partner made.

This book is long but never once did it slow down and lose my attention.I have always enjoyed Jeffery Deaver's books and The Cold Moon is no exception.If anything is different from his other books it would be the way he has spun so many stories into this one and yet managed to connect most of them together.Thank you Jeffery Deaver.
... Read more

Amazon.com
Presto! With a conjuror's flourish, the reliable Jeffery Deaver has pulled another winner out of his hat. The Vanished Man brings back Lincoln Rhyme, forensic investigator, and his sidekick Amelia Sachs, ex-model and beat cop, a team featured in four previous books. Their case begins with a murder in which the culprit, cornered in a locked room, seemingly vanishes into thin air. Rhyme soon realizes he's up against a master illusionist--and then acquires a conjuror of his own, a spunky apprentice magician, to advise him. The book is chock-a-block with magic lore and with details of the craft of illusion, which provide a fine complement to the engrossing forensic-science puzzles.

The characters, as usual with Deaver, are little more than cardboard cutouts. Even Rhyme himself, a brilliant quadriplegic and former head of NYPD forensics, seems more a collection of characteristics than a man. But Deaver's cutouts are sturdy and well-constructed, and the book's plotting and pacing--featuring twist upon twist and reversal upon reversal--are nothing short of dazzling, reminiscent of Agatha Christie at her best. Deaver proves himself an accomplished illusionist, misdirecting your attention with one hand while slipping a firecracker down your pants with the other. --Nicholas H. AllisonBook Description
Forensic expert Lincoln Rhyme and his protégée Amelia Sachs are called in to work the high-profile investigation of a killer who seemingly disappeared into thin air just as the police closed in. As the homicidal illusionist baits them with grisly murders that grow more diabolical with each victim, Rhyme and Sachs must go behind the smoke and mirrors to prevent a horrific act of vengeance that could become the greatest vanishing act of all....

Download Description
It begins at a prestigious music school in New York City. A killer fleesthe scene of a homicide and locks himself in a classroom. Within minutes,the police have him surrounded. When a scream rings out, followed by agunshot, they break down the door. The room is empty. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are brought in to help with thehigh-profile investigation. For the ambitious Sachs, solving the casecould earn her a promotion. For the quadriplegic Rhyme, it means relyingon his protegee to ferret out a master illusionist they've dubbed "theconjurer," who baits them with gruesome murders that become morediabolical with each fresh crime. As the fatalities rise and the minutestick down, Rhyme and Sachs must move beyond the smoke and mirrors toprevent a terrifying act of vengeance that could become the greatestvanishing act of all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Entertaining
Just when you think you have it figured out - you don't. Just when you think it's over - it's not!

And now, revered audience! Presto!
A musician is brutally murdered in the rehearsal hall of a music school and the culprit, with a bang, a brilliant flash of light and a puff of smoke, vanishes into thin air from inside a locked room with no apparent exits. Within hours, a second victim is virtually sawn in half and the murderer walks away from the gory murder scene escaping the clutches of the police in a brilliant disguise that even Sherlock Holmes would have been proud of. When a bizarre third murder attempt fails, the coin finally drops. Quadriplegic forensic criminologist, Lincoln Rhyme, and his partner/lover, Amelia Sachs, having assembled the clues and the scant forensic evidence left behind at each scene, realize their target is a master magician who is basing his murder scenarios on historical illusions made famous by the likes of Houdini and Selbit. They've called him "The Conjurer"!

And like the polished illusionists he seeks to portray in his novel, Deaver uses sleight of hand, psychological and physical misdirection, disguises, ventriloquism, escapism and the art of physical illusion to create false trails, red herrings, cul de sacs, twists and turns and investigative dead ends that will leave you baffled as to not only who's doing the dastardly deeds and what is the murderer's motive but ... believe it or not, you won't even know who the real target is until very close to the end of the novel.

Deaver is a successful thriller writer and, like many of his genre contemporaries, will never be accused of crafting deep characterizations or composing literary fiction. But "The Vanished Man" is thoroughly enjoyable, utterly compelling brain candy that will have you absorbed and turning the pages quickly for hours at a time. In addition, he has fleshed out his story with a thoroughly researched series of engrossing, entertaining, educational and informative essays on the history, psychology and mechanics of the stage performance of illusions and magic.

Absolutely recommended to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

Paul Weiss

Deaver is good, but I figured out the puzzle instantly.
Deaver is good, but I figured out the puzzle of the Vanished Man instantly, so the story was ruined right from the very beginning.Relax, I won't spoil it for you.

But anyone can figure it out.It is not even half as complex as an Arthur Conan Doyle "Sherlock Holmes" adventure.I was so disappointed that such an easy trick as that was used by the author.I wish a more elaborate ruse had been employed instead and the book would have been enjoyable.

Deaver is excellent at prose and dialogue, but the main attraction of his stories are the labyrinthine plots that are SO inventive!Not this time though.Maybe you'll be lucky and won't figure it out on page 10 like I did.

nah
I'm sorry this book didn't appeal to me. I was turned off by all the magic laden plot twists which for me were too unrealistic, even if this guy is a pro illusionist. I guess if you can believe somebody doing the cartoon style magic tricks he does, then it goes by better for you.
I also didn't care for the lead character Lincoln Rhyme and his whole troop of police friends. This was my first book by Deaver, and more than likely my last. ... Read more

Book Description

Tate Collier, once one of the country's finest trial lawyers, is trying to forget his past. But controversy -- and danger -- seem to have an unerring hold on him. Aaron Matthews, a brilliant psychologist, has turned his talents away from curing patients to far deadlier goals. He's targeted Tate, his ex-wife, Bett, and their estranged daughter Megan for unspeakable revenge. Featuring an urgent race against the clock, gripping details of psychological manipulation, and brilliant twists and turns that are trademark Deaver, Speaking in Tongues will leave you speechless.

When a sadistic hacker, code-named Phate, sets his sights on Silicon Valley, his victims never know what hit them. He infiltrates their computers, invades their lives, and lures them to their deaths. Desperate, the head of The California State Police Computer Crimes Division frees Wyatt Gillette, imprisoned for hacking, to aid the investigation. Gillette and Detective Frank Bishop, an old-school homicide cop who's accustomed to forensic sleuthing, at first make an uneasy team, but they must utilize every ounce of their disparate talents to stop the merciless and brilliant killer.

Paul Schumann, a German American living in New York City in 1936, is a mobster hitman known for his brilliant tactics and for taking only "righteous" assignments. But when he gets caught he is offered a stark choice: prison or covert government service. Paul must pose as a journalist covering the summer Olympics taking place in Berlin and hunt down and kill Reinhardt Ernst -- the ruthless architect of Hitler's clandestine rearmament. If he refuses the job, his fate will be Sing Sing and the electric chair.

... Read more

Amazon.com
John Pellam, scouting locations for a new film in a small town in Missouri, inadvertently witnesses a double homicide and some serious gunplay that left a cop paralyzed. He didn't see the guy who ordered the killings, but the police don't believe him. The U.S. attorney who thinks he knows who was behind the murders has bet his career on Pellam's identification of a criminal the feds have been trying to nail for years. They'll do anything to get Pellam's cooperation, including threatening his new girlfriend, shutting down the movie, and keeping Pellam from inking a deal to get his own film made. That project is Pellam's ticket back to the top of the heap in Hollywood, a perch he fell off of when he supplied the drugs that killed his best friend. The cops want Pellam's testimony, the mob boss wants him permanently silenced, and the film's director wants him to finish the job he's been paid to do. But first Pellam has to find his way out of the traps they've all set for him, and he does it with style, wit, and a self-deprecating charm that makes him a hero to everyone--well, almost everyone.

William Jefferies, who usually writes under the better-known nom de plume of Jeffery Deaver, has a couple of other Location Scout mysteries to his name (Shallow Graves, Hell's Kitchen). Pocket Books has reissued them as Deaver titles ("writing as William Jefferies"), but regardless of their provenance, they feature topnotch writing, snappy dialogue, solid pacing, and excellent characterization. Bloody River Blues was overlooked by Deaver's fans when it first came out eight years ago. Now that the publisher has cleared up the mystery of who actually wrote it, it ought to get the attention it deserves. --Jane AdamsBook Description
Jeffery Deaver is the New York Times bestselling author of The Empty Chair and The Devil's Teardrop. Here his trademark "ticking-bomb suspense" (People) explodes off the page in another heart-stopping thriller.

Hollywood location scout John Pellam thought the scenic backwater town of Maddox, Missouri, would be the perfect site for an upcoming Bonnie and Clyde-style film. But after real bullets leave two people dead and one cop paralyzed, he's more sought after than the Barrow Gang. Pellam had unwittingly wandered onto the crime scene just minutes before the brutal hits. Now the feds and local police want him to talk. Mob enforcers want him silenced. And a mysterious blonde just wants him. Trapped in a town full of sinister secrets and deadly deceptions, Pellam fears that death will imitate art, as the film shoot -- and his life -- race toward a breathtakingly bloody climax.

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Hollywood location scout John Pellam arrives in the scenic, yet dying town of Maddox, Missouri, to check it out for an upcoming Bonnie and Clyde -- style shoot-'em-up. But after real bullets leave two dead and a cop paralyzed, he finds himself neck-deep in a real-life, deadly plot. Trapped between the feds and the mob in a place full of sinister secrets, this is one script Pellam may be written out of -- permanently. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Hated It!
I'm a huge Jeffery Deaver fan and until this book had never read one of his tomes that I didn't absolutely love. Bloody River Blues was anything but spectacular in my opinion and it was a struggle to even get to the end.

Character development was fair but not the usual style I've come to enjoy from Deaver. I never really knew John Pellam like an intimate friend and was only given tidbits of information about him. Along the way a few more scraps were thrown out but most seemed unimportant. Subcharacters were also underdeveloped - even the villain was so underdeveloped that when the identity was known it was anticlimactic. One of my favorite characters was the paralyzed cop but his story was often short changed - his doctor could have been developed to give so much more to the story but she never was and it left me lacking enthusiasm for the storyline. And his chanting, nutsy wife could have been fun but again she was almost mentioned in passing and nothing more said.

The main plot was fair but not something that would grab the reader and not let go. In fact, I kept putting this book down and it was difficult to muddle my way through it. The subplots were tossed in with no clear reason behind them. For example, the subplot that has John Pellam trying to sell his own movie script so he can make it into a film himself had me scratching my head and saying, "So what!" I really didn't care and didn't see what relevance it had in the big picture. The other subplots were similar and left me wondering why they took up page space.

Overall this book was just a tad below average but for a Jeffery Deaver book to even be average is a very unusual thing. His books usually grab me from the beginning and I lose sleep trying to finish them. If anything, BLOODY RIVER BLUES put me to sleep! I'd definitely skip this one and read anything else by Deaver.

Awfully bad
As many books the beginning of this one is excellent. But as you go over and over it gets boring and boring. The book has four stories that at the end will meet and all of them are stark boring. And at the end... just skip it. Better'd be if you skip this book.

relatively solid tale from the back catalogue
i've been enjoying these early thrillers from Deaver a lot. (especially his RUNE series) this one is no exception. Its not exactly high-brow, but its a fast, entertaining read, as all his early thrillers have so far been. They have good plots, which are not very complex, and are easy to get your head around, they are also full of twists, as is the norm with Deaver.

however, this one is a tiny bit disappoinging, because the cahracters are not as fleshed out as he is capable of.

but, the writing is very good once again, the plot sustains interest, its a quick and enjoyable read, and is reccomended to all fans of Jeffery Deaver.

GREAT GREAT GREAT!!!
This book just sucks you in on the life of Pellam, a scout for a film company. He was a witness to a shooting that he wishes he never witnessed.

Witness To Murder
John Pellam works as a freelance location scout in the movie industry. His latest job has taken him to the supposedly sleepy town of Maddox, Missouri. He unknowingly bumps into a hired killer minutes before a hit takes place. Also caught up in the murder is a policeman who is shot and wounded. Both the cop and the killer remember Pellam and want to find him, though for obviously very different reasons.

Because a policeman was injured the local police department is very keen that Pellam comes forward as a witness and they become very aggressive when he claims that he didn’t see anything. The killer has assumed that he left behind a witness to his crime, and so takes it upon himself to eliminate the danger.

This early Jeffery Deaver provides a nice little thriller with a few surprises thron in, yet there is nothing that really grabs you and distinguishes it from the many other books in the genre. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Jeffrey Deaver knows how to hook readers and keep them guessing with suspenseful, twisty plots. This early Deaver effort, originally published in 1988, will not disappoint fans dazzled by his subsequent, high-profile Lincoln Rhyme series (The Bone Collector, The Coffin Dancer, The Empty Chair.)

Manhattan Is My Beat takes its name from the (invented) 1947 film noir watched obsessively by murder victim Robert Kelly. Our heroine, Rune, (a punk with a heart of gold) works for Washington Square Video. On a routine pickup to retrieve Manhattan Is My Beat, she discovers Kelly just shot dead, the target of a professional hit.Rune and a woman jogger glimpse the presumed killer as he speeds off in a green car. While cops drag their heels in solving the mystery, Rune takes matters into her own hands, convinced that the motive for the murder is a missing suitcase stuffed with one million dollars--the subject, not coincidentally, of the film that Kelly and Rune both admired. An avid fan of fantasy novels and prone to see life through the prism of magic and quests, Rune takes up the challenge of finding the lost money and catching Kelly's killers. But the formidable hit team is intent upon destroying both possible witnesses to the murder, and their nimble crosses and double-crosses--some of which the reader sees, some of which are revealed at the end--make for fun reading.

Plotting moves briskly in this novel, except for a slowdown in the story--Rune's ambiguous romance with downtown poseur Richard has little to do with catching killers.The conclusion, while neatly wrapped, is marred by the sudden appearance of a crucial detail that Deaver produces like a fancy dish under the waiter's silver dome.But the gimmick to offset the conclusion's predictability feels like a cheat rather than a revelation. All in all, however, the novel is excellent mind candy, a thrilling romp lead by an agile, street-smart heroine. --Kathi Inman BerensBook Description
Five feet two inches of slick repartee, near-purple hair, and poetic imagination, twenty-year-old Rune hasn't been in Manhattan for very long. But she's crafty enough to have found a squatter's paradise in an empty TriBeCa loft, and a video store job that feeds her passion for old movies. It's a passion she shares with her favorite customer, Mr. Kelly, a lonely old man who rents the same video over and over. The flick is a noir classic based on a real-life unsolved bank heist and a million missing dollars. It's called Manhattan Is My Beat.

That's the tape Rune is picking up from Mr. Kelly's shabby apartment when she finds him shot to death. The police suspect a robbery gone wrong, but Rune is certain the key to solving the murder is hidden somewhere in the hazy, black-and-white frames of Mr. Kelly's beloved movie. But as Rune hits the mean streets of New York to find answers, she gets caught up in a dangerous adventure more chilling than anything Hollywood could dream up. As her story draws to its terrifying conclusion, Rune's final close-up may include the killer of a co-star. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

A lot of fun
We see the roots of Deaver's work in this early effort from him featuring Rune (later to be seen in "Death of a Blue Movie Star" and "Hard News").While not perfect - I personally didn't see the point to the whole Richard sub-plot - it's overall a satisfying mystery with enough twists to keep you guessing until the end - all three of them.

Rune is a young woman who has come to New York from Ohio and is squatting in a gazebo while the building is being renovated around her.She works for a video store and one day while out to pick up a video from a customer, she discovers the customer has just been murdered.She had been friends with the customer - Robert Kelly - and they had shared a love of movies; she decides that the murder has something to do with Mr. Kelly's favorite movie - "Manhattan is My Beat," which was based upon a true story about a bank robbery.She decides that Mr. Kelly had found the money from the robbery (which had never been recovered) and therefore had been killed for it.So she sets out to solve his murder herself, and to find the money.

There isn't much else of the plot that can be outlined without spoiling the plot for those who haven't yet read it.Suffice it to say that those who are fans of Deaver, those who enjoy mysteries and thrillers - they should enjoy this book.Just keep in mind it is an early effort and Deaver hadn't quite shaken all the knots out of his style yet.That said, I enjoyed it a great deal.Recommend from me!

Deaver Makes You See the World
Jeffrey Deaver is often called the master of ticking time bomb suspense.While it is true of most of his works, the Rune books, starting with Manhattan is my beat lacks the ticking time bomb, but instead immerses the reader into the world seen through the vivid imagination of a young woman who sees things through fairy-tale glasses.

Rune is an almost perfect portrait of an ENFP, who vividly lives in a world half real and half of possibilities, which would both attract me to her... though she'd drive me crazy at the same time.In this book, her quest is one half of justice for a kindly old man who kept renting the same videotape over and over again, and half on a quest for a mythical treasure of great worth.However, when the worlds of her fantasy and the worlds of reality crash, the result is a strange mixture of the two world that only a person like Rune could survive.

EXCITING! MIND-GRABBER!
This work by JD is really fast-paced and intricate at the same time! a page-turner if you ever saw one! if you're a native of NYC as I am, you'll like the way he describes the Village and Downtown Manhattan! really accurate; the story is fast-paced; Rune is kind of ditzy but determined to get what she wants regardless of the consequences.If you want to pass sometime and have some fun-reading, this is the book for you!

The Colorful World of Rune
Although not as highly publicized as his Lincoln Rhyme series, Jeffrey Deaver still delivers a suspense filled, highly entertaining book with MANHATTAN IS MY BEAT.

A whole review could be dedicated to Rune, the main character in this epic.She's punk, she lives in an abandoned apartment on a rooftop, and she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her.The reader is enraptured by her antics and I wished I could have such a carefree attitude, or at least know someone like her.The term colorful doesn't do her justice!

Rune works for Washington Square Video owned by an overbearing jerk.When customer Robert Kelly has a late movie that needs to be picked up, Rune is given the assignment.This simple task is muddied when Rune discovers Kelly's body, an obvious case of murder.As she exits his apartment, she and a jogger see a green car speed away that she guesses is the murderer.The police don't move fast enough, so Rune decides to investigate on her own.She's sure Robert Kelly's murder is somehow tied to the movie he constantly rented, "Manhattan is My Beat".As she plugs along looking for clues, the hit men are intent upon eliminating Rune and the jogger who witnessed the car.

Thrown into Rune's world is Richard, her boyfriend who is anything but what the reader expects.Rune is unpretentious to Richard's rigidity.It was almost as if Deaver had to put Rune in a relationship with a businessman so she wasn't so bizarre she would offend some readers.I would much rather have enjoyed Rune on her own and not have her fenced in by Richard.But then again, Richard only has a minor role, so he could easily be overlooked.

Some of the scenes are very predictable but Deaver always has a few that catch the reader by surprise.This mix, along with Rune's antics, make for a story that will have you not only trying to catch the killers with Rune, but also wanting to befriend her and just hang out.I laughed so hard at times that I had to stop reading and wipe the tears out of my eyes.Seldom does a character touch the reader like Rune, and when that happens, it's definitely a fun read.

MANHATTAN IS MY BEAT is a fast paced book that will capture you from the beginning.Not as mentally challenging as figuring out the villains in the Lincoln Rhyme series, it will leave you smiling and is a few hours well spent.

First effot by a stand out author
Deavers wrote this book under the nameof William Jefferies. He also wrote another series under this name featuring a film scout. This character is a young punkish girl named Rune who is trying to get through her 20's and survive NYC.She is currently working at a video store and when a regular dies under suspicious
circumstances she becomes interested in the movie he rented numerous times. She becomes obsessed with plot of the movie as it is based loosely on a true crime. She thinks she can solve the case find the money and live happily ever after. This plot is hard to follow at times and sometimes I don't think the author is aware of what he wants the characters to do.I have read his later books and know he can write a good thriller. Too bad this book falls flat, I believe his publisher re-released to capitalize on his famous status. I will read more of the scout series and might try the next one in this series just because Rune is such a likable character. ... Read more

Book Description

THE COFFIN DANCER

Read by Joe Mantegna

NYPD criminalist Lincoln Rhyme joins his beautiful protégé, Amelia Sachs, in the hunt for the Coffin Dancer -- an ingenious killer who changes appearance even faster than he adds to his trail of victims. Rhyme must rely on his wits and intuition to track the elusive murderer through New York City -- knowing they have only forty-eight hours before the Coffin Dancer strikes again.

THE EMPTY CHAIR

Read by Joe Mantegna

Renowned criminalist Lincoln Rhyme faces his ultimate opponent: a kidnapper and murderer dubbed the Insect Boy. But Rhyme is in for a surprise when he learns that catching a criminal is one thing...and keeping him is another.

THE STONE MONKEY

Read by Boyd Gaines

Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs have been recruited by the FBI to capture "the Ghost" -- a homicidal immigrant smuggler. But when they corner him aboard a cargo ship, the bust goes disastrously wrong and the Ghost escapes. Now, he must eliminate the only witnesses -- two families who jumped ship and vanished into Chinatown. Against a ruthless adversary, Lincoln and Amelia race to find the families before the Ghost can silence them...

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Collection of Lincoln Rhyme Novels.
THE LINCOLN RHYME CD COLLECTION
BY Jeffery Deaver
PUBLISHED BY Simon & Schuster Audio
REVIEWED BY Barbara Rhoades

This audio book is three times as much enjoyment if you are a fan of the Lincoln Rhyme series.It contains three of Jeffery Deaver's book:The Coffin Dancer, The Empty Chair and The Stone Monkey.It also has an excerpt from Mr. Deaver's newest book "The Twelfth Card".

The Coffin Dancer:What do you get when you cross a quadriplegic, forensic science and an apartment full of high tech equipment?You get Lincoln Rhyme, the best detective in New York City.And he has to face The Coffin Dancer again.He has killed Ed Carney, husband and co-owner of Hudson Air, a small freight company.Rhyme is called in to help the NYPD stop him.

Rhyme forms a team of the best people, Amelia Sachs, his right-hand person, Tom, his faithful care giver, DelRay, the street hardened black cop and Mel Cooper, the best lab technician anyone could ask for.This team has 48 hours to stop The Coffin Dancer before he kills Ed's wife, Percy and Brit, Ed's best friend.

The Coffin Dancer is very good as he leaves no trace evidence.So in order to catch him, they must be able to think like he does.From an airplane blowing up to safe houses being breached to landing an airplane safely that has an altitude bomb aboard, the Dancer keeps the team on its toes.And just to keep things interesting, Amelia and Rhyme have a romantic entanglement going!

Joe Mantegna reads this book and has the ability to provide each character with their own voice.A listener has no trouble knowing exactly which character is speaking.Mr. Mantegna speaks clearly and uses inflections in all the right places.

The Empty Chair:Corporate greed is the theme of this story.Garrett Handlin lost his parents and sister when he was only a child.He begins an interest in insects to ease the pain of this loss.Then as a teenager, he kidnaps Mary Jo and the Lydia.

Lincoln Rhyme comes to a hospital near Tanner's Corner to have surgery in the hopes of getting more movement.The Tanner's Corner sheriff comes begging for Rhyme's help to solve the kidnappings. Rhyme has some time before the surgery and begins an investigation.

Garrett is captured and Sachs believes he is innocent.She takes matters into her own hands and breaks Garrett out of jail.In the chase that follows, Sachs kills a deputy.

Not until the final moments of Sachs' trial are all the facts reveled and the real culprit is known which clears Sachs of the murder charges.

Joe Mantegna has a way with voices so you know just who is speaking.His inflections are a perfect addition to the actual words of the story.

The Stone Monkey:This is a story of human smuggling and the need for political asylum.The first few chapters are rather long and drawn out as the story is being set up.It reminds me of the way Tom Clancy goes into great and long details of setting up a story.After the first few chapters, the story returns to the true Lincoln Rhyme writing so being patient through them pays off as the rest of the story is great.

"The Ghost" has smuggled in Chinese dissidents but sinks the ship and begins killing all the passengers when the NYPD shows up just before the boat makes landfall.Between the INS, the State Department, the NYPD and a Chinese police officer, you don't know who to trust.Lincoln uses his forensic techniques to figure out who "The Ghost" really is and prevents him from being returned to China where he would go free rather than pay for all the people he has killed.

The secondary story is about Rhyme's upcoming surgery which Sachs doesn't want him to have.Listen to see what his decision will be.

The Twelfth Card:This is a small excerpt and tells a tale of a girl in today's world wanting to learn about her slave ancestors and what happened to him.She is reading in the History Museum when she notices she is being stalked.She is clever and gets away but in doing so sets off the alarm.The stalker blends into the crowd and returns to the Museum to see what the police have come up with........and this is where the CD ends.

The Civil War history is of interest to me so I will be sure to get The Twelfth Card and finish listening to the whole story. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Tate Collier, the flawed hero of best-selling author Jeffery Deaver'sexciting new thriller, is a divorced prosecutor whose tangled feelings about his ex-wi