The Coffin Dancer: A Novel (2) (Lincoln Rhyme Novel)

The book happens to be the second book of the Lincoln Rhyme series that I’ve read. I enjoyed the first book so much I immediately purchased the second one after finishing it. “The Coffin Dancer,” started a bit slow, but the pace picked up about a quarter of the way into the book. The book wasn’t what I expected, and that is not a bad thing. It’s much different from the first book and that shows the experience, creativity, and versatility of the author, Jeffery Deaver.

Throughout the book I felt as though I was sitting in a movie theater, or I was actually one of the characters. There were several surprises and sudden plot twist that mentally knocked me off balance. They left me asking myself, “How did he do that?” Jeffery Deaver has proven to be an extremely clever author. He is a master of deception.

There are many scenes in the book that held me in suspense for several pages. The suspense caused my heart to race, and my hairs to stand up. In one scene I had to go to the bathroom badly, but I held it until I finished the chapter. I nearly wet myself.

The story takes place in New York City which is where the main character, Lincoln Rhyme’s office/home is located. The location made the book even better for me. Being a native New Yorker I had a very good mental picture of the scenery. Lincoln Rhymes office/home is just across the street from the famous, historical Central Park.

I didn’t feel sorry for Lincoln Rhyme in this book as I did for him in the first book of the series. There weren’t any tear jerking scenes concerning his situation. Lincoln Rhyme is a quadriplegic. Lincoln Rhyme is a brilliant criminalist, and he is well rounded, but like most men he can’t figure women out. Rhyme didn’t seem to do as much detailed investigations as he did in the first book, but it took nothing away from the book. The investigations that he did was so detailed I’m inclined to believe Jeffery Deaver has a homicide detective helping him with his work.

I fell in love with Rhyme’s partner Amelia Sachs in the first book. Although, I am still in love with Amelia I have reason to believe she has cheated on me in this book. Amelia didn’t seem to be as introverted in this book as she was in the first book. I got to know Amelia a little better in this book; I saw the real Amelia Sachs. She did all the things a typical women that is in love would do. I saw Amelia’s Jealousy and temper tantrums. Amelia is an extraordinary women. She’s a courageous sharp shooter, and she is becoming a good criminalist. Amelia actually solved some of the puzzles in the investigations by herself. I love the way the author revealed how she has developed in time.

The sub characters seemed to be more involved in this story then the first one. Fred Dellray, a federal detective was a character in a plot twist that left me scratching my head. Detective Bell was involved in a suspenseful, nerve racking shoot out with the villain.

There were a few farfetched scenes; I won’t spoil it for you. I’ll just say, “There’s no way it could have happened like that.” At one point the characters were in trouble while on an air plane. In order for me to get a good understanding of the amount of trouble the characters were in I would have had to have had some aviation knowledge, and be quick with arithmetic. I was confused. I had to stop and do the math several times. That took a lot away from the story. At that point I was prepared to give the story three stars.

Near the end of the story when I found out who the villain in the story was I forgot all about the arithmetic, aviation, and farfetched scenes. I sat there in front of my kindle with my jaw slacked, and eye lids wide open in surprise. I had to give the two stars back. Jeffery Deaver is a brilliant author. I just want to shake his hand.

Another well written Lincoln Rhyme novel though I would consider calling it Rhymes/Sachs. Different premise from Bone Collector, very enjoyable. Very happy Deaver does not go over the top technically like Tom Clancy (my opinion on Clancy). Not fond of the late twist though I will refrain from expounding on the late change because others may like it. Looking forward to The Empty Chair

Jefferey Deaver begins THE COFFIN DANCER with an author's note: “To Madelyn Warcholik for keeping my characters true to themselves, for making sure my plots don't move so recklessly they get pulled over for speeding . . .”

Make no mistake, Deaver is still one of my favorite authors, despite his wild twists. I wasn't aware THE COFFIN DANCER existed until Amazon recommended it. I thought I somehow missed it as the publication date read 2015, but it was actually written in 1998, according to the paper back I read. I started reading Deaver after I saw the movie, THE BONE COLLECTOR with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie in the title roles, and I've been looking forward to the next Lincoln Rhyme ever since. There are at least a dozen in the series, if not more. Almost forgot; Lincoln Rhyme is a paraplegic who overcomes his handicap time and time again.

But if Madelyn Warcholik is an editor, she should be fired. There are two characters, who happen to be villains, that are too much alike, and they are involved in an unbelievable twist toward the end of the book that almost ruined the whole novel for me. There's just no suspension of disbelief. Authors can usually handle this sort of hang-up by planting a believable event or characteristic earlier in the book. Deaver does it by explaining why the characters are so similar. I have three letters taped to my computer: RUE, resist the urge to explain. You can do it by doing the above or hinting that things just might not be the way they seem.

The plot is similar to other Rhyme novels. There's a criminal mastermind who's been hired to kill three witnesses who all happen to be pilots. They saw a man load three duffel bags into a plane and take off when the airport was closed. This man was under an FBI indictment. The criminal mastermind is a hit man who solves the problem by planting a bomb on the plane of one of the witnesses. Two of them remain, the wife and one of the other pilots. They are in financial trouble, but they have a contract to deliver medical transplants in a very short timeframe. So the clock is ticking.

Lincoln and the hit man set up the ticking clock when the wife is determined to make a delivery when she should be hidden away in a safe house. The hit man also seems to have paranormal foresight as he repeatedly figures out where the witnesses are hidden. He's also a dead shot and he uses explosive charges in the bullets. Amelia Sachs, Lincoln's detective partner, is so scared during one gun battle that she doesn't dare return fire, and she can't forgive herself for what happens next.

Okay, so despite my misgivings regarding two of the characters, would I recommend THE COFFIN DANCER? Hell yes. Deaver uses extensive research to show how Lincoln Rhymes uses forensics to match wits with these masterminds. That research will bother some people as it slows down the pace, but when you learn something from a mystery novel, I think you're ahead in the ballgame. I'm actually surprised Denzel and Angelina haven't done another Lincoln Rhyme movie.

When I finished the book my first thought was the killer's abilities and actions were not believable. But I could accept them because it made an intricate and complicated puzzle for Lincoln to figure out. The killer was able to do too many things, too frequently, and get away too easily every time. And he always seemed to have full knowledge of everything the authorities were thinking and doing - so you need to suspend disbelief.

There's a twist at the end which was both good and bad. The bad: it felt like a trick on the reader. It would have been better if some of it was developed earlier in the story, so the reader could see "how" it worked, instead of being "told" at the end. I have a big blank area in my mind not knowing any details about it. But the good: there is a surprise at the end - something so intricate that only Lincoln can figure it out. No clues are given to the reader prior to then.

I preferred the first book The Bone Collector (TBC). One of the reasons was the development of the interesting relationship between Amelia and Lincoln in TBC. Their relationship is on hold/not changing in this second book. Instead we see some flaws in Amelia. She was jealous of Lincoln's relationships with others. She had a chip on her shoulder - walking off in a huff. One time she stupidly went after someone alone and was almost killed. There were other cops nearby she could have taken with her. When the main character is smart, I don't like seeing them do stupid things.

Part of the story was a lot of chemical and technical analysis of particles collected from places. That is Lincoln's special talent, but it didn't wow me or surprise me. By the middle of the book I was losing interest, but I was curious enough to keep reading.

I would have liked one part shortened - the too-much-technical-talk when a pilot is flying a plane.

I loved one scene. Lincoln felt guilt and self pity because he had to rely on machines (as a quadriplegic). Percey a pilot responded by saying her life is in the hands of machines when she flies. One little thing goes wrong and she dies.

DATA: Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 390 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual content: none. Setting: current day mostly Manhattan area, New York. Copyright: 1998. Genre: crime suspense thriller, quadriplegic.