My Ongoing Look at My Favorite Authors

Another warm autumn day. One of our miniature schnauzers hurt one of her feet two days ago so she's not able to go for walks. It's just me and Clyde for the next few days. Bonnie feels a bit left out so when Clyde and I come home we put her out in the front yard so she can have a bit of an explore and see some different scenery than just the back yard. We're supposed to check with the vet again on Tuesday after the long weekend. Hoping she's feeling much better by then.

My Ongoing Look at My Favorite Authors - Jeffery Deaver

Jeffery Deaver

Jeffery Deaver is an American mystery / thriller writer. He was born in 1950 in Illinois. I first discovered his work when I went to see The Bone Collector at the cinema. On my way I bought a copy of the book, the first in his Lincoln Rhyme forensic crime series. I think I read the first few chapters before the movie started. I've since read a number of other Rhyme books as well as some of his other series. I will try to just list books I've read since 2000 to stay within the parameters of this category.

1.The Twelfth Card (Rhyme #6).

"Unlocking a cold case with explosive implications for the future of civil rights, forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme and his protégé, Amelia Sachs, must outguess a killer who has targeted a high school girl from Harlem who is digging into the past of one of her ancestors, a former slave. What buried secrets from 140 years ago could have an assassin out for innocent blood? And what chilling message is hidden in his calling card, the hanged man of the tarot deck? Rhyme must anticipate the next strike or become history." (4 stars)

2. The Bodies Left Behind (2008).

"When a 911 call from a secluded Wisconsin vacation house is cut short, off-duty deputy Brynn McKenzie leaves her husband and son at the dinner table and drives up to Lake Mondac to investigate—and walks right into a nightmare when she stumbles upon the scene of an atrocious, gruesome murder. Brynn realizes that the perpetrator hasn’t left the crime scene yet, but it’s already too late to call for backup—dense woods surround the house, and there is nowhere for her to run but into the hostile Wisconsin wilderness." (3 stars)

3. The Sleeping Doll (Kathryn Dance #1).

"I've read many Jeffery thrillers and have for the most part enjoyed them very much. This is the first in the Kathryn Dance series. Dance works for the California Bureau of Investigation, a specialist in kinesics, ability to read people basically. She is called in to interrogate a serial killer who has been recalled from his prison cell, to answer to new murder charges. Pell, the criminal, escapes from his cell and this leads to a manhunt, with Dance, her partner and an FBI agent, Winston Kellogg, leading the chase. They bring in 3 women who were part of Pell's 'family' to help them in their search for Pell, a cunning, dangerous opponent. The CBI team always seem to be 5 paces behind Pell and the bodies mount up. There are all sorts of twists and turns and surprises. It's not my favorite Deaver book, but it was still an entertaining story and a bit of a thrill ride. Worth checking out. (3.5 stars)"

4. The Cold Moon (Rhyme #7).

"This is the 7th book in the Lincoln Rhymes/ Amelia Sachs series. It's long, with a convoluted story with many twists and turns and surprises, but it's so very enjoyable. Suspend disbelief and just enjoy. This story also brings in Kathryn Dance a kinesic specialist, one who specializies in gathering information from interviewing suspects and witnesses. Kathryn is in New York for a police conference (she works for the California Bureau of Investigation) and is invited by Rhymes' police link, Lon Selitto, to assist in the case of trying to find the Clockmaker and to ascertain what he is actually trying to do. Sachs also finds herself involved in a separate police investigation that might involve crooked cops and information she gathers during this investigation leads her to question whether she wants to continue as a police officer. Add to the mix new crime scene officer, Pulaski and you've got an action - filled, excellent story. Are Rhymes and Sachs too good to be true? Who cares. It's all good stuff. (4 stars)"

5. The Stone Monkey (Rhyme #5).

"Forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme and his protégé, Amelia Sachs, are recruited by the FBI to capture the Ghost, a homicidal immigrant smuggler whose next intended victims--two families who jumped ship and vanished in New York's Chinatown underground--are the only witnesses to his crimes." (4 stars)

The complete listing of Deaver's books can be found at this link.