A clever tightly plotted thriller which is full of surprises - I really wasn't expecting the final twist in the Coffin Dancer's identity, one which felt very plausible within the world of the book. In creating Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs Deaver has come up with two compelling characters whose attraction and weaknesses drive the plot and their mutual affection and who also make the forensics accessible to the reader. ( )

A bomb used to murder a federal witness convinces criminologist Lincoln Rhyme that the Coffin Dancer has returned to New York. Rhyme would like nothing more than to arrest the Coffin Dancer, who murdered several of his team members years before. But the Coffin Dancer is a master of disguise and always seems to stay one step ahead of the police. The two remaining targeted federal witnesses are taken into protective custody but the killer manages to infiltrate their safe houses each time the witnesses are moved. Amelia Sachs conducts a physical investigation while Rhyme, a quadriplegic, investigates from his own lab, both working against a forty-eight hour time frame.

This second book in the Lincoln Rhyme mystery series confirms this is a series that will be around for awhile. Deaver offers his reader a thrilling mystery packed with forensic science. Rhyme and Sachs are a winning combination and Deaver delves a little deeper into their personas and attraction to one another. A page turner that will hold the reader vested throughout. ( )

The Coffin Dancer is a famous hit man that Lincoln Rhyme has wanted for a long time. The Coffin Dancer is so named due to a tattoo of a woman dancing with death in front of a coffin (the dance with death). It seems that Phillip Hansen, a multimillionaire, who made his money from weapon sales, was involved in the murder of two army privates and the hijacking of a truckload of small arms. Hansen is a pilot and 3 people (a couple and their friend) see him one night putting duffle bags on his small plane and coming back without the duffle bags. The police think they can be key witnesses against Hansen but Hansen hires a hit man, the Coffin Dancer, to kill the witnesses. The husband, Edward Carney, is killed at the beginning of the novel by a bomb on his jet. The wife, Percey, and their friend, Brit, are taken into protective custody. Lincoln Rhyme and his associates are on the case and the twists and turns begin.

It's a good novel, except there is too much unnecessary language. And you will be surprised with the ending. Deaver pulls a last rabbit out of a hat on the last pages! ( )

Wonderful book. I can't get enough of Rhyme and his cases.

Back Cover Blurb:
Percey Clay, one of America's foremost pilots and the uncompromising owner of a struggling charter flight service, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now she's the target of the Coffin Dancer.
Brilliant quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme knows the killer only too well. He's a man who's raised murder to a form of high art; whose deadliest weapons aren't guns or knives but his uncanny knowledge of human nature.
Using his astonishing forensic knowledge and his unique insight into the criminal mind, Rhyme must combat both the hitman's amoral genius and Percey's headstrong determination if he is to save her - and keep himself alive. ( )

Excellent, particularly if you are a fan of somewhat twisted forensic mysteries. Both main characters are unique and brilliantly written. Contains language and violence. ( )