Lincoln Rhyme was once a brilliant criminologist, a genius in the field of forensics — until an accident left him physically and emotionally shattered. But now a diabolical killer is challenging Rhyme to a terrifying and ingenious duel of wits. With police detective Amelia Sachs by his side, Rhyme must follow a labyrinth of clues that reaches back to a dark chapter in New York City’s past — and reach further into the darkness of the mind of a madman who won’t stop until he has stripped life down to the bone.
I enjoyed this one! I haven’t read any thrillers for a while so this was a nice change. Lincoln Rhyme is a brilliant criminologist racing to identify and capture a serial killer taunting the police with clues for each of his next victims.
The crime scene analysis is fascinating and I enjoyed learning about the techniques used to piece together the clues. It did feel like Rhyme was probably a little too good at identifying every little particle of evidence but I have no real knowledge of police work so who knows! Maybe his skills aren’t too far from normal.
The character building in this book is great and Rhyme’s struggle to accept life as a quadriplegic is a constant theme throughout the book. Detective Sachs is working through her own personal issues as well and in the end Rhyme and Sachs just paired really well together.
Apparently I’m pretty late in discovering this series. Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington starred in a movie adaptation back in 1999 and NBC even did one season of a tv show based on this book. If you love forensic files and police procedurals give this one a try.
