The Kill Room

Starred review from April 8, 2013
In bestseller Deaver’s extremely timely 10th Lincoln Rhyme novel (after 2010’s The Burning Wire), Rhyme, partner Amelia Sachs, and other regulars conduct a highly irregular investigation that points up the moral ambiguities involved in what are euphemistically called STOs (Special Task Orders). At issue is the killing of a U.S. citizen, Roberto Moreno, who’s been operating as an anti-American crusader in the Bahamas. Shreve Metzger, the director of the National Intelligence and Operations Service (NIOS), a secret government organization, ordered the hit from NIOS headquarters in Manhattan. A.D.A. Nance Laurel is determined to prosecute those responsible for Moreno’s murder. Rhyme and Sachs engage in a continuously exciting game of cat-and-mouse with a host of adversaries, including sadistic killer Jacob Swann, at the same time they face important personal decisions. This is Deaver at his very best and not to be missed by any thriller fan. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents.

May 1, 2013
Lincoln Rhyme goes geopolitical. A mile away from a high-caliber rifle, anti-American activist Roberto Moreno falls dead in his Bahamas retreat, along with his guard and a reporter who was interviewing him. Nance Laurel, the New York assistant district attorney who's convinced that the assassinations were the work of an undercover government agency, invites quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and his NYPD lover, Amelia Sachs, to investigate. As usual, the case poses special challenges. The murder scene, presumably awash in forensic evidence, is over a thousand miles from Rhyme's wheelchair, and the Bahamian police aren't eager to share their information. The sinister National Intelligence and Operations Service has already issued orders to liquidate its next target in only a week. NIOS hireling Jacob Swann and another unnamed killer are methodically eliminating evidence and witnesses before they can tell their stories. Even when Rhyme improbably decides to fly to the Bahamas and into a far more generic sort of adventure than his usual--getting stonewalled by uncooperative cops, getting waylaid by hired killers, getting suntanned--the rewards are slim, for he finds crime-scene tape gone from the room where Moreno and the others died; it is being cleaned and painted as he watches (a nice touch). And of course, Deaver, who can't resist any opportunity for ingenuity (XO, 2012, etc.), keeps mixing fastballs, curveballs and change-ups. Even though there are so few suspects, and the guilty parties are so obvious, veteran readers won't trust a single fact until it's been triple-checked, and maybe not even then. Deaver's sleight of hand, so effective on the homefront, carries less weight in a world of international counterterrorism in which it's a given that everybody's trying to kill or discredit everybody else. It's still magic, but it's harder to care when everyone is a magician.

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May 15, 2013

Lincoln Rhyme and partner Amelia Sachs investigate a controversial, politically charged case involving the assassination in the Bahamas of a U.S. citizen at the behest of the director of the National Intelligence and Operations Service (NIOS). Although Moreno, a New York City resident, long harbored hatred for the U.S. exploitation of the Central and South American economies, Nance Laurel, the New York assistant district attorney, will not permit the U.S. government to abuse, ignore, and avoid the law; hence, the extensive search for witnesses. However, NIOS director Shreve Metzger learns of the investigation and, in turn, orders his assassin, Jacob Swann, to systematically minimize and/or eliminate anyone aware of his Special Task Order. Using his unique and deadly knife-wielding skills, Swann willingly assumes his task--turning the search into a cold-blooded battle of revenge. Readers may wonder: Who will become Swann's next victim? VERDICT Particularly in this 11th Lincoln Rhyme thriller (after The Burning Wire), fans will appreciate Deaver's customary detailing of each plot sequence, thereby heightening their anticipation of the upcoming clincher. Thriller aficionados will be lining up for this one. [See Prepub Alert, 12/14/12.]--Jerry P. Miller, Cambridge, MA

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013
Lincoln Rhyme, the world-famous criminalist, finds himself in a tricky situation. A New York City assistant district attorney brings him a fascinating case: a man has been murdered, and, according to the prosecutor, the hit was masterminded by the National Intelligence and Operations Service (a sort of fictional version of the NSA). But here's the problem: the victim was assassinated in the Bahamas. To solve the case, Rhyme, a quadriplegic, must find a way to investigate a crime scene a thousand miles away. Deaver takes both Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, his partner, out of their comfort zones (Amelia stays behind in New York, overseeing the local investigation, but without Rhyme's reassuring presence and intellectual inspiration). We see Rhyme and Sachs from a different perspective, more vulnerable than they usually are. Fans of Deaver's tightly plotted thrillers will expect a few right-angle plot twists, and they won't be disappointed: the author leads us down one path, allows us to make certain assumptions, and then yanks us hard in another directionand then does the same thing again, and yet again. Another well-crafted, unpredictable novel from a master of the genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)