From Library Journal
The endearing protagonist in this riveting thriller is Lincoln Rhyme, a former forensics expert and cop who longs for death after an accident leaves him without the use of his limbs. Raymond Burr's Ironside he's not, as bitterness and indifference drive him toward suicide. But Rhyme soon finds a reason to live when his former colleagues enlist his help in catching a brutal serial killer. Partnered with Amelia Sachs, a (what else?) gorgeous female cop, Rhyme follows the trail of evidence left by the killer, who seems obsessed with historic New York. Although much of the forensic and police procedural details have been excised in this abridgment, the story remains fulfilling, thanks in part to David McCallum's excellent reading. Recommended for popular suspense collections. Deaver is also the author of A Maiden's Grave (Penguin Audiobks., 1995).?Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
With an initial print run of 100,000 copies and the film rights sold to Universal, it's obvious that somebody has high expectations for this book. Whatever success it achieves, however, will not be based on its literary merits. Cardboard characters are propelled by clunky prose through a silly plot. A quadriplegic detective comes out of retirement to try to catch a brilliant serial killer (a word to the wise: if you know anyone who's brilliant, watch your back!) who's re-creating murders from the turn of the century. Deaver did his homework, and he doesn't let a drop of research go to waste--arcane technical and historical factoids are dumped all over the pages. Oh, well. There's going to be a lot of publicity behind The Bone Collector, including a tie-in with an HBO movie based on another Deaver novel, A Maiden's Grave (1995), due to air in January, so it will no doubt move. June Vigor
From Kirkus Reviews
A quadriplegic criminalist hunts the most elusive quarry of his career: a serial killer who leaves clues at each crime scene allowing the cops to head off the next murder--if they can decode them in time. With nothing left to live for since an accident ended his forensic career and his marriage, bearish Lincoln Rhyme has made an appointment with Dr. William Berger, of the suicide-friendly Lethe Society. But Rhyme's old NYPD colleague, Det. Lon Sellitto, just happens to breeze in, uninvited and unwelcome, minutes before Berger does, and talks Rhyme out of suicide and into spearheading the hunt for Unsub 823, the demonic cabbie whose fares often face nightmarish scenarios of torture and death. Though he shows no mercy to his victims, Unsub 823 obligingly salts each crime scene with cryptic clues to his next, clues that whet Rhyme's jaundiced appetite and give him the hope of saving currency trader T.J. Colfax, German emigre Monelle Gerger, elderly William Everett, and widowed Carole Ganz and her daughter. It's not long before Rhyme's blood is pumping again, and he's persuaded beautiful Amelia Sachs, the Major Crimes officer who preserved the first crime scene long enough to gather a few precious scraps of evidence, to put off her medical transfer to Public Affairs and become his eyes, ears, and nose at each gory scene. Working feverishly against a series of impossible deadlines, Sachs and Rhyme piece together a profile of the perp's appearance, his lodgings, his car, his habits, and the ide fixe that drives him: He believes he's the Bone Collector, a demented ghoul who preyed on New York's dead and near-dead at the turn of the century, determined to free his victims from this mortal coil by stripping them to ageless bone. Deaver (A Maiden's Grave, 1995, etc.) marries forensic work that would do Patricia Cornwell proud to a turbocharged plot that puts Benzedrine to shame. (First printing of 100,000; film rights to Universal; $100,000 ad/promo) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
Praise for The Bone Collector
“Stunning...fascinating...a page-turner.”—People
“The Bone Collector is so dazzling, it makes your eyes water.”—The New York Times Book Review
“The headlong narrative...never lets up, and there is plenty of genuine forensic knowledge in evidence. There are dramatic switcheroos up to the very last page, and a climactic battle to the death.”—Publishers Weekly
“Deaver marries forensic work that would do Patricia Cornwell proud to a turbocharged plot that puts Benzedrine to shame.”—Booklist
“Craftily blends cutting-edge forensics, turn-of-the-century-Manhattan mayhem, pursuers becoming pursued.”—The Wall Street Journal
“A top-notch thriller....Rhyme is a great character...and Sachs a great partner. Chilling.”—San Francisco Chronicle
More Praise for Jeffrey Deaver
“The master of ticking-bomb suspense.”—People
“The Lincoln Rhyme series is simply outstanding.”—San Jose Mercury News
“[Rhyme] is among the most brilliant and vulnerable of crime fiction’s heroes.”—New York Post
“[Deaver is] the most clever plotter on the planet.”—Publishers Weekly
“Deaver is the master of the plot twist, and readers will only drive themselves crazy trying to outguess him.”—Booklist
About the Author
Jeffery Deaver is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty-five novels, including the Lincoln Rhyme series. He has been nominated for seven Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America and is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Readers Award for Best Short Story of the Year.
Be warned! In this novel Jeffery Deaver provides, not only heart-pounding suspense and fascinating details about police forensics, but also gruesome minutiae of sadistic mayhem. David McCallum does his best to render the latter with as much taste as the context allows while doing every justice to the author's other attributes. Some may boggle at the hard-boiled NYPD being filtered through a British accent. But McCallum displays a thorough knowledge of the urban American idiom and may be forgiven his refinement. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
