The Empty Chair

May 1, 2000
Lincoln Rhyme, the gruff quadriplegic detective and forensic expert of Bone Collector fame, strays far from his Manhattan base to a spooky North Carolina backwater in this engrossing and outlandish tale about the hunt for evil. The hick town is called Tanner's Corner, where Rhyme--in North Carolina for experimental surgery--has been called by the local sheriff to oversee the search for a kidnapper and his victims. The kidnapper is 16-year-old Garrett Hanlon, a local youth of ill repute whose obsession with bugs has earned him the nickname "The Insect Boy." His captives are Mary Beth McConnell, who Hanlon has stalked for months, and local nurse Lydia Johansson, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A marathon chase ensues across North Carolina's perilous swampland by sheriff deputies and Rhyme's assistant and lover, Amelia Sachs. Rhyme, a former New York City cop whose on-the-job injury several years earlier left him with movement in only one finger, directs the search from his wheelchair at sheriff headquarters. As he examines forensic evidence from the crime scenes and points along the search route, Rhyme grows increasingly suspicious about which players are the good guys and which are masking their evil intentions. The story grows heavy in the middle, but eventually takes several of Deaver's trademark twists, cleverly camouflaged for maximum effect. The characters surrounding Rhyme in his third adventure are colorful, back-country cutouts who serve their purpose well. In the end, it's all a bit hard to swallow--particularly the ultimate revelations about Tanner's Corner and its strange inhabitants--but for thrills and surprises, Deaver is still aces. Agent, Deborah Schneider. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild and Mystery Guild main selections; Doubleday Book Club super release; Reader's Digest Condensed Books selection.

December 1, 2000
YA-The author combines wonderful examples of the powers of forensic detection along with plenty of bad guys and girls, plot twists, murder, mayhem, and environmental crime. Rhyme, who may be known to those who saw the movie The Bone Collector, based on Deaver's book (Viking, 1997), travels to North Carolina for an experimental surgical treatment with his aid Thom and prot g e/soul-mate Amelia Sachs. Soon after their arrival, the sheriff from a nearby town calls upon him. It happens that he is desperate to locate two kidnapped young women. The kidnapper is believed to be a 16-year-old orphan who is suspected of involvement in three deaths, two through attacks by stinging insects. Through chemical analysis of the dirt from the scene, Rhyme is able to learn much about the kidnapper and his travels. However, there are other sinister signs here-like the absence of children among the town's populace. The book is fast moving with lots of surprises. The story offers an additional inducement to recommend it-that of a candid look at a quadriplegic's life. The foray into environmental poisoning by a profit-driven company is timely, and the surprise ending will leave readers impatient to read the next installment of Rhyme's adventures.-Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2000
Lincoln Rhyme (The Bone Collector) is back in Deaver's outstanding new thriller. Lincoln and his partner, Amelia Sachs, are in North Carolina to visit a hospital where a new experimental surgery technique might allow the paralyzed Lincoln partial use of his body. But something is going on in this town, and the authorities ask for his expertise. Two local girls have been kidnapped, and while the police know the culprit, they have no idea where the kidnapper has taken them. Lincoln is a fish out of water here, and it will take his complete forensic knowledge to find the two girls. As the case progresses, he will be forced to match wits with Amelia, severely testing their relationship. Although the novel takes a little longer than usual to get going compared with Deaver's previous books, when the suspense starts, the pages fly. Deaver does a wonderful job of strengthening the characters of Lincoln and especially Amelia, who is the heart of this novel. While not as good as the other Lincoln Rhyme novels, this is still terrific, and people should be grabbing it off the shelves. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/00.]--Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2000
This new Lincoln Rhyme mystery is as intricate, well written, and enormously satisfying as its predecessors. Rhyme, a criminalist, is a quadriplegic, directing crime-scene investigations from his wheelchair; his associate, Amelia Sachs, the fashion model turned cop who "walks the grid" while Rhyme watches, is at least as tough, smart, and independent as Rhyme himself. This time the pair looks into an apparent case of kidnapping and murder that keeps getting more complicated. Deaver, a former attorney, supplies enough forensic detail for the most demanding readers, but he also creates characters who feel like real people (his dialogue is so realistic that we don't read it so much as hear it). But what really sets Deaver's novels apart from most of his competitors' is his ability to pile plot twists on top of plot twists until readers are frantically flipping pages, trying to get to the end of the maze before Deaver is ready to lead them there. It's a futile gesture, of course; Deaver is the master of the plot twist, and readers will only drive themselves crazy trying to outguess him. Better just to enjoy the ride. A magnificent thriller. ((Reviewed March 1, 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2000
Wheelchair-bound criminalist Lincoln Rhyme is back, here investigating the kidnapping of two girls.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.