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Yet another serial killer is on the loose in New York City. His speciality is the prolonged death of his victims, whom he sets up with a faint hope that they may be able to save themselves. His trademark is a clock that he leaves at the scene. For that reason, the murderer is called "The Watchmaker". As we get to know the villain, it is clear that he is not what he seems and it's almost impossible to really understand what he is up to and why. He is diabolically clever. Lincoln Rhyme is a forensic investigator who is also a quadriplegic and more than able to test his wits against the most devious villain; however, The Watchmaker definitely gives him a run for his money. Amelia Sachs is an NYPD detective who has more at stake than usual in this tale; in addition to assisting with The Watchmaker investigation, she is also serving as the lead detective for the very first time on another homicide case. And that case leads her to a very personal crisis that threatens to jeopardize everything meaningful in her life. There were many elements in this book that worked extremely well. Deaver has refreshed the series through the addition of some fascinating new characters. Among them is Ron Pulaski, first introduced in THE TWELFTH CARD. Pulaski has assumed the role of Sachs' assistant and exhibits a touching naivete while performing the job splendidly. Even more interesting is Kathryn Dance, who is an expert in kinesics, which is the science of reading body language and verbal clues to determine truthfulness. Initially skeptical, even Rhyme has to admit that Kathryn's approach works, in spite of the fact that it doesn't involve the hard science of his forensic speciality. Although very interesting, at times it felt as if Dance was serving the role of a human lie detector. I'm hoping that this character will be called upon in the future, as she added an extra dimension to this popular series. The Watchmaker is a brilliant creation, intelligent, calculating, creative. Unfortunately, in spite of a deft hand at characterization, Deaver has built so many twists and layers into the plot that the book becomes highly implausible. THE COLD MOON is alternately intriguing and frustrating -- intriguing because of the actions of all of the characters on both sides of the law and frustrating because many of the narrative threads are either far-fetched or totally predictable.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, June 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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