David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "paralyzed-detective"
KILL ROOM
In Jeffery Deaver's new novel, THE KILL ROOM applies to a drone pilot's "cockpit" . Once again, Deaver diverges from most modern mystery writers in that he deals with an actual theme: does the government have the ethical authority to kill an American citizen who has ties to terrorism?
Thanks to an operation, Lincoln Rhyme now has the ability to use one of his hands, although he doesn't have any feeling in that hand. He can also move around in a souped-up wheel chair.
Deaver creates a fictional government service called the National Intelligence and Operations Service (NIOS) which runs covert operations where they assassinate American enemies bent on harming the U.S. Shreve Metzger, a man with serious anger issues, is the head of this organization. Lincoln and Amelia Sachs go to work for Nance Laurel, a federal prosecutor, who wants to take Metzger down for the murder of Robert Moreno (an American citizen who has hated America ever since his best friend was killed during the Panama invasion) targeted by a drone equipped with a high-powered rifle. Two people are killed along with Moreno: Moreno's body guard and a journalist who was interviewing him at the time.
Of course Metzger didn't kill Moreno himself, so Lincoln and Amelia focus on the hit man and his partner "the fixer" who tried to destroy all the evidence. At first they think the killer is a sniper and he shot Moreno with a high powered rifle from an almost impossible distance. The reporter and the body guard are killed by shards of glass. Because of his new-found mobility Lincoln is able to visit the Bahamas, the kill sight.
Deaver also throws in some verisimilitude. The "fixer," who calls himself Jacob Swan, also considers himself a chef and a gourmet. He's also a psychopath who likes to torture his victims with a fancy knife. Deaver will also include a mystery within a mystery occasionally. Metzger refers to the president as "The Wizard." Like all politicians he seems to support Metzger's operation but only so far as it's expedient to product his own behind. Deaver also gives the Wizard fancy socks, so there is a possibility he had somebody in mind who was once the head of the CIA .
Of course the reader must remember that this is Jeffery Deaver we're dealing with; he's capable of more twists and turns than Barry Sanders. And once again that's the problem I had with the book. The tone changes in the last quarter of the book. At first we believe Deaver agrees with Nance Laurel, the murder of an American citizen by the government is a high crime. Because of the twist at the end of the book, that doesn't seem to be the case.
Thanks to an operation, Lincoln Rhyme now has the ability to use one of his hands, although he doesn't have any feeling in that hand. He can also move around in a souped-up wheel chair.
Deaver creates a fictional government service called the National Intelligence and Operations Service (NIOS) which runs covert operations where they assassinate American enemies bent on harming the U.S. Shreve Metzger, a man with serious anger issues, is the head of this organization. Lincoln and Amelia Sachs go to work for Nance Laurel, a federal prosecutor, who wants to take Metzger down for the murder of Robert Moreno (an American citizen who has hated America ever since his best friend was killed during the Panama invasion) targeted by a drone equipped with a high-powered rifle. Two people are killed along with Moreno: Moreno's body guard and a journalist who was interviewing him at the time.
Of course Metzger didn't kill Moreno himself, so Lincoln and Amelia focus on the hit man and his partner "the fixer" who tried to destroy all the evidence. At first they think the killer is a sniper and he shot Moreno with a high powered rifle from an almost impossible distance. The reporter and the body guard are killed by shards of glass. Because of his new-found mobility Lincoln is able to visit the Bahamas, the kill sight.
Deaver also throws in some verisimilitude. The "fixer," who calls himself Jacob Swan, also considers himself a chef and a gourmet. He's also a psychopath who likes to torture his victims with a fancy knife. Deaver will also include a mystery within a mystery occasionally. Metzger refers to the president as "The Wizard." Like all politicians he seems to support Metzger's operation but only so far as it's expedient to product his own behind. Deaver also gives the Wizard fancy socks, so there is a possibility he had somebody in mind who was once the head of the CIA .
Of course the reader must remember that this is Jeffery Deaver we're dealing with; he's capable of more twists and turns than Barry Sanders. And once again that's the problem I had with the book. The tone changes in the last quarter of the book. At first we believe Deaver agrees with Nance Laurel, the murder of an American citizen by the government is a high crime. Because of the twist at the end of the book, that doesn't seem to be the case.
The Skin Collector
Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series has been a favorite of mine since the BONE COLLECTOR. And now he’s back with another collector, this time the SKIN COLLECTOR, seemingly about a tattoo artist who poisons people.
When Deaver includes a seemingly innocuous scene about the Watchmaker‘s funeral, you should pay particular attention. Lincoln sends his worthy enemy flowers, but of course he doesn’t trust him, so he sends Ron Pulaski to see who shows up. The Watchmaker’s lawyer does, and he files a harassment complaint. This plot thread then disappears, so you should smell a rat.
The main plot involves a tattooist named Billy Haven who seems to be sending Lincoln and crew a message. His first victim’s stomach is etched with the words “the second”. There’s no evidence of rape or any other motive involved. When Lincoln discovers a book with a chapter on the Bone Collector, mentioning Lincoln himself, he naturally assumes he’s dealing with a serial killer. Like John Sanford, Deaver gives us occasional glimpses of Haven’s machinations; hence we know his name. He also hints at what’s to come.
This is a masterful book in respect to what Lincoln, Sachs and the others can do with trace evidence. For instance they find bits of marble which lead them to a hospital addition, just in time to foil another murder. But the killer gets away and kills again, and we are given several other numbers for Lincoln to figure out.
We also learn lots of arcane information about the art of tattooing and what it means to various people who get them, thanks to two “experts” Lincoln brings in to discuss what’s going on. This guy is good, they say; he does things in minutes that would take others at least an hour.
Meanwhile the killer tattooist makes several attempts on the lives of the team, Rhyme and Sachs included. We know this won’t work, but Lon Sellitto does take a hit. There's also a sub plot involving Sachs' foster daughter Pam that also means more than it seems at first.
Okay, my gripe with this book is that it’s overcooked. Nothing is as it seems. All of a sudden we get one of Deaver’s patented wild twists, and we’ve got an entirely different plot, and then it changes again. At the end Lincoln is reveling in some new trace evidence he’s found, involving the last of the twists. In other words, what we have here is a cliffhanger. I personally despise cliffhangers; if this wasn’t the Rhyme series, I wouldn’t read the next book.
When Deaver includes a seemingly innocuous scene about the Watchmaker‘s funeral, you should pay particular attention. Lincoln sends his worthy enemy flowers, but of course he doesn’t trust him, so he sends Ron Pulaski to see who shows up. The Watchmaker’s lawyer does, and he files a harassment complaint. This plot thread then disappears, so you should smell a rat.
The main plot involves a tattooist named Billy Haven who seems to be sending Lincoln and crew a message. His first victim’s stomach is etched with the words “the second”. There’s no evidence of rape or any other motive involved. When Lincoln discovers a book with a chapter on the Bone Collector, mentioning Lincoln himself, he naturally assumes he’s dealing with a serial killer. Like John Sanford, Deaver gives us occasional glimpses of Haven’s machinations; hence we know his name. He also hints at what’s to come.
This is a masterful book in respect to what Lincoln, Sachs and the others can do with trace evidence. For instance they find bits of marble which lead them to a hospital addition, just in time to foil another murder. But the killer gets away and kills again, and we are given several other numbers for Lincoln to figure out.
We also learn lots of arcane information about the art of tattooing and what it means to various people who get them, thanks to two “experts” Lincoln brings in to discuss what’s going on. This guy is good, they say; he does things in minutes that would take others at least an hour.
Meanwhile the killer tattooist makes several attempts on the lives of the team, Rhyme and Sachs included. We know this won’t work, but Lon Sellitto does take a hit. There's also a sub plot involving Sachs' foster daughter Pam that also means more than it seems at first.
Okay, my gripe with this book is that it’s overcooked. Nothing is as it seems. All of a sudden we get one of Deaver’s patented wild twists, and we’ve got an entirely different plot, and then it changes again. At the end Lincoln is reveling in some new trace evidence he’s found, involving the last of the twists. In other words, what we have here is a cliffhanger. I personally despise cliffhangers; if this wasn’t the Rhyme series, I wouldn’t read the next book.
