About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

THE BURNING WIRE
by Jeffery Deaver
Hodder & Stoughton, July 2010
432 pages
18.99 GBP
ISBN: 0340937289


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

New York is under attack in a particularly ingenious and deadly manner. Someone is using electricity as a weapon. A horrific attack on a bus leaves one person dead and it was only by pure chance that the death toll wasn't considerably higher. It soon becomes obvious that the perpetrator is intending to use the same methods to kill again. The murderer's demands are simple: use less electricity and return to a simpler life. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs embark on a desperate race against time to stop the blackmailer before he harnesses the power of the city's electricity grid to kill again. At the same time, in Mexico, Rhyme's old adversary, the Watchmaker, is under surveillance and Rhyme is helping to orchestrate the attempts to capture him.

Deaver's books are always clever and complex and this one is no exception. I found the details of how electricity is generated and distributed to be wholly engrossing and never felt I became bogged down in detail, although I can also see how others might not react in quite the same way, but for me it complemented – rather than detracted from – my enjoyment of the story.

The partnership of Rhyme and Sachs continues on both a professional and personal level and Deaver brings back the usual cast of law enforcement officers as supporting characters. As ever, Rhyme has to struggle against his physical disability, which at times comes closer than usual to derailing his attempts to find the perpetrator.

I've sometimes found Deaver's book heavy on detail and rather slow but, although I still don't see the point of the running evidence charts, this one rattled along at a decent pace and the revelations, when they came, managed to take me by surprise. And as a bonus I know now an awful lot more about electricity than I did before! If there was a down side, I'd say that the sub-plot involving the Watchmaker didn't contribute much to the story overall, but that's a minor niggle in an otherwise extremely enjoyable book.

§ Linda Wilson is a writer, and retired solicitor, with an interest in archaeology and cave art, who now divides her time between England and France.

Reviewed by Linda Wilson, November 2010

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]