[Lincoln Rhyme 09] • The Burning Wire - 09

From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. An explosion at a Manhattan electrical power substation that destroys a bus—followed by threats of much worse violence unless Algonquin Consolidated Power and Light meets virtually impossible demands—sparks Deaver's sterling ninth Lincoln Rhyme novel (after The Broken Window). Forensic expert Rhyme takes charge of looking into the fatal blast, aided by his partner and sometime lover, field agent Amelia Sachs, among others. Rhyme is able to glean many clues from the scant trace evidence left by the elusive killer at the crime scene. Meanwhile, Rhyme is also staying in close touch with Mexican army and police commander Rodolfo Luna, who's tracking dangerous assassin Richard Logan (aka the Watchmaker) in Mexico City. The twin investigations take an increasingly dangerous toll on quadriplegic Rhyme's precarious physical health. Not even the brilliant Rhyme can foresee the shocking twists the case will take in this electrically charged thriller. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From BooklistIn the latest Lincoln Rhyme thriller, Deaver rounds up the usual suspects—well, crime-solvers—and pits them against a shadowy perpetrator (or perhaps it’s a terrorist group?) who is using New York City’s electrical grid to commit murder. And if that isn’t frightening enough, it looks like murder might be the least of the villain’s intended mayhem. The Rhyme novels follow a pretty tight format, but that’s fine because it’s a killer format, mixing aspects of the traditional procedural with CSI-style forensic techniques. Deaver, master of the plot twist, does his usual magic—no matter how hard you try, you can’t figure out what he’s about to spring on you—and, as an added tension-intensifier, the Watchmaker, the nasty villain introduced in Cold Moon (2006), is still behind the scenes, just outside our peripheral vision. Another winner from the dependable Deaver. --David Pitt