The Kill Room

First let me get this out of the way. Congratulations Mr. Deaver, you learned a new word! You aced your vocab test. Now cut it out with the datamining shit. OMFG! Yeah, we get it you are proud of your technological knowledge (from the previous decade anyway) and want to show it off. But seriously. Enough. And you, editor, why didn’t you catch this verbal tic? Frigging hell. And to put it in the mouths of virtually every character? That’s going a bit far. And not all of them used it correctly either. I guess they just wanted to be “cutting edge”.

Bleah.

Anyway. Aside from the diarrhea of datamining, this is a typical Deaver creation. For anyone who’s never read a Rhyme novel before I have two words for you - SUSPECT EVERYONE.

Even show more though there is a relative dearth of physical evidence for Rhyme to comb through (he bitches about it more than once, and is it just me or was he way more pedantically abrasive than usual?), his way of dealing with what he has is the same. There is a whiteboard and many lists. There is field work, and not all of it done by Sachs or Pulaski (Lon just seems to run from pastry to pastry in this one, doing little else), Rhyme himself gets out and about in his Storm Arrow, which meets a tragic end. Overall it seemed like there was more physical danger for the crew than in other novels. I don’t think it’s really true since every book has Rhyme being threatened and trapped in his chair/bed; unable to fight back and frustrated beyond endurance that he can’t help himself or anyone else. Sachs also has her share of menace and most of it this time is exacerbated by her ever-worsening arthritis.

The two new characters for this tale are ADA Nance Laurel and NIOS chief Shreve Metzger. Both are quirky and initially drawn with extreme negativity. Metzger is the government official overstepping his authority and ordering assassinations. Laurel’s mission is to take him down. Laurel butts heads with Sachs and seems to be deliberately cutting her out of the investigation and hiding her contributions. The use of Smoke to characterize Metzger’s anger problem was pretty good. It made his burden tangible. Metzger saw it as almost an independent entity that would dog him and he could use it for good or ill. Over the course of the book the full scope of their personalities was revealed and not quite was all as it seemed.

There has to be a bad guy or two in the mix. It took a bit for the fact of two killers to come up, but once it did they were on the track. With the physical presence of one making his kill impossible, Rhyme got onto the reality of the Kill Room and the new perspective made the impossible possible. Supporting the evidence is all Rhyme wants and that’s what he gets. Like the second killer, I didn’t see the trap he fell into either, but it was neat. And then his ultimate identity as well as the real target was slick, too. I never see that stuff coming with Deaver and as much as I tell myself to be careful and not assume anything, he always trips me up. Fun stuff. show less

The Kill Room by Jeffrey Deaver is a great mystery/thriller with surprisingly intense suspense and action scenes. I found the characters extremely interesting, particularly the villains who were well-drawn, complex and chilling.

This is my first time reading these characters, and while I’m sure there is much background and history I am lacking, I had no trouble relating to them and picking up on the relationships. The story itself was nicely complex with several twists and turns that keep you paying close attention along with the investigators to follow the clues back to the perpetrators. While the crime is revealed in the opening pages, the full motives behind it, as well as how it was accomplished and the role of each of the villains show more is gradually revealed. Several false starts and dead ends keep you guessing along with the lead characters, Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs.

The book alternates viewpoints between the good guys and the bad guys. This plot device can be overdone, but Deaver uses it well here creating both misdirection and suspense without overdoing it. One of the villains, Jacob Swann, is particularly chilling in a Hannibal Lecter sort of way. He is intelligent and equal parts fascinating and horrifying.

I was truly on the edge of my seat due to the intensity of some of the passages. Very minor quibbles with the overuse of certain terms. It is impressive that this many books into a series, the characters feel so fresh and the storytelling is so crisp. This is a quick read and a book certain to please long-time fans as well as win new ones. Highly recommended. show less

“The little butcher man was hungry and had a taste for some wine.”

A readable book, but my least favorite of the ten Lincoln Rhyme novels so far. Far too much governmental espionage for me! It wasn't bad, it just wasn't a Lincoln Rhyme novel. I like him, and the gang, in New York City, walking the grid and deconstructing the evidence. Not in the Bahamas, chasing government spies and assassins and trying to stop international incidents! Stay home, Lincoln, stay home.

And no, Mr. Deaver, I absolutely do not want to experience the recipes of Jacob Swann. Wtf...

Rhyme's friend and former partner Detective Lon Sellitto appears with a Captain (Special Services Division) and Nance Laurel, an Assistant District Attorney. They have an unusual case. Roberto Moreno, a US citizen and passionate anti-US advocate in Latin America, was murdered by a super sniper in a hotel room in the Bahamas. Two other people in the room were also killed, apparently by flying glass. Laurel has evidence that the assassination was ordered by the head of NIOS, a quasi-federal intelligence gathering agency headquartered in New York City. She believes that Shreve Metzger, a man with known anger-management issues, has gone rogue and ordered the assassination on flimsy intelligence.

Police in the Bahamas seem eager to call it a show more mob hit and close the case. Offending the US, source of many tourist dollars, is not in their interest. They stonewall so effectively that Rhyme, for the first time since the accident that crippled him, decides to travel to the murder scene himself. While he is away, the criminals' mop-up man, a gourmet cook who loves his knives, is busy eliminating witnesses and any possible links to the perpetrators.

The best part of this series is the dynamics between Rhymes and Sachs, both personally and professionally. They are as always intelligent, methodical and three dimensional. I only have good things to say about this book and I highly recommend reading this or any book by Jeffery Deaver. If you are new to reading this author's book I recommend starting with "The Bone Collector" which is also on DVD. show less

Another excellent thriller from the master plotter, this is much my favourite Deaver series because it makes the reader think along with the detective. It is like a fairground ride, it races along, twisting and turning, only for sudden jolts and reverses to distort your senses.
As always, highly recommended!

Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs investigate the killing of a US citizen in the Bahamas at the behest of Assistant New York District Attorney Nance Laurel, who believes this was a hit carried out by a secret government agency. This story has lots of twists (as do most of Deavers' books) and turns, including Rhyme traveling to the Bahamas, Sachs being stalked by a contract killer. As usual, there are eerie villains, and ambiguous motives abound. But when I say "as usual", there is nothing mundane about any of Jeffrey Deaver's books. Just a thoroughly engrossing story and great writing. The end has a major twist involving both Amelia and Lincoln that will undoubtedly affect both of their lives for a long time.

As usual this Lincoln Rhyme book is full of really bad guys with really bad weapons of destruction. And bad things happen all over the place with these weapons. This book adds a new twist with drones used as assassination weapons. The pace is frenetic. The entire action of the book takes place over a three week period. The settings are the streets and residences of New York City and various places in the Bahamas. Lincoln even goes on a field trip that takes him out of Manhattan. I love the way Jeffery Deaver writes a thriller. There is no one out there that can create a sense of urgency like he does in his books. And I love the forensic information that I always get out of a Lincoln Rhyme book. The knife-wielding assassin in this book show more is particularly chilling. Lincoln and his crew are hot on the tail of what appears to be a massive conspiracy coming right from the government. The thing that keeps you turning pages are all the zingers that keep coming out of nowhere as Lincoln tries to catch a killer. show less