The Burning Wire (9) (Lincoln Rhyme Novel)

Readers (and for that matter moviegoers) familiar with Deaver's earlier work, particularly "The Bone Collector" will be delighted at the return of Lincoln Rhyme. There is simply no other major character in a thriller series like Lincoln Rhyme. A brillant forensic criminologist (who just happens to be a quadriplegic) Rhyme's assembles a crack team of investigators (including Amelia Sachs)to deal with the sabotage of an electricity grid substation, the subsequent lethal explosion and the threat of further, similiar acts of terror. At the same time Lincoln is deeply involved in tracking down an old adversary, an asassin known as the "Watchman".

Deavers main gift as a writer is an ability to show the intricacies of a detailed complex investigation, including a substantial amount of fascinating background information without letting the story pace suffer. The subtleties of characterization are secondary to the action line. In saying this, I do NOT mean to suggest they are simple cardboard figures. I mean the underlying success of this book is the driving urgency of the plot.

Although a long time fan of Lincoln Rhyme another Deaver character, Kathryn Dance, comes in a very close second to him. If you have not already met her I highly recommend the previous two Kathryn Dance books

Lincoln Rhyme and friends are up against a man who manipulates high-voltage electrical power to kill people. All, it appears, in the name of revenge and ecology. But if the truth turns out to be a bit different, the danger is real: electric distribution networks, if attacked, can be very dangerous. The book also contains a great satire of SIGINT -- that is, reading other people's electronic mail and drawing conclusions that are about as far from reality as they can get. Terrifying, page-turning, solution a /big/ surprise, and a satire of "intelligence" -- what's not to like?

Exhilarating! Not always clear well defined paths (somewhat frustrating at times) but clearly eventually defined to make me desire to read more future and past books. Plots tend toward complicated directions with too many twists and turns. I, fortunately, am a master at figuring out most plots but simplicity might be more entertaining and less stressful in a world with to much stress.

As an avid reader of all books containing Lincoln Rhyme, I found this story to be overall fun to read. Learning about electricity and the different ways it was used is quite entertaining. I thought the story moved at a good pace and kept my interest. Having said that, I do agree with the sentiment that Jeffrey Deaver is at a crossroads with the characters and series. Things are becoming very formulaic. I made several correct guesses about story progression which rarely happens with a Deaver novel. I understand that it must be hard keeping the series feeling fresh when your main character is a quadriplegic and is stuck in his house. I am glad Deaver is taking a few years off from writing another Rhyme novel. I think he needs to plan out the series future before he writes again. I remember Deaver hinting at the possible return of the Sach's ex-boyfriend cop that is currently in jail in an interview I read, but I guess it never happened. Hope to see him make an appearance in the books and shake some things up.

In the last couple of years, we've lost Ed McBain, Robert B. Parker, Dick Francis, Stuart Kaminsky, and Donald Westlake, all of whom were some of my old mainstays. With the New York Times best seller list strewn with novelists who hire ghost writers, it's hard to find a good read these days. Thank God for Jeffery Deaver. Every two years we know we're going to get another Lincoln Rhyme. Now if only I could warm up to the Kathryn Dance series.

If for different reasons than one might expect, his current effort, THE BURNING WIRE, is very topical. The electrical grid has been a concern now for years, primarily because hackers can mess with it, causing brown outs if the powers that be are not constantly on the defensive. In this instance, someone is using the grid as a weapon. Rhyme and his crew quickly center on an electrical worker with a terminal disease. They know who he is, but he always seems to be one step ahead of them.

Besides the topical nature of most of the Rhyme novels, Deaver provides a recurring villain who is almost as smart as Rhyme, The Watchmaker. With the help of Commander Luna of the Mexican police, Rhyme thinks he has him cornered in Mexico City. We know the Watchmaker won't go down easy. Deaver borrowed him from Professor Moriarity of the Sherlock Holmes series and the Deaf Man of McBain's 87th Precinct novels. The suspense always ratchets up when the villain is almost as smart or smarter (in the case of the Deaf Man) than the good guys.

Another similarity between Rhyme and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is the boredom and depression that set in when they're not working on a case. In this instance, a woman in a wheelchair who is almost electrocuted by the culprit, provides another outlet for Lincoln.

Like Kaminsky's Porfiry Rostnikov novels, the Rhyme novels include a cast of recurring characters, and it's almost worth the price of the book to see them all again.

I have read all of the Lincoln Rhyme books up to and including "The Skin Collector". I love the series and the characters and because of that, this book is more than okay. Jeffrey Deaver is an exceptional researcher. I am amazed at the amount of time he must spend at this endeavor. But the first half of this book was incredibly boring!! I have learned way more than I ever wanted to know about our power grids and electricity. I think Mr. Deaver just got completely carried away with his own research. Mr. Deaver, we don't want to know that much, please. So because the first half was hard to get through, three stars. But because its a Lincoln Rhyme book, 5 stars. So that you know, the next ones are very good.