Saturday, July 26, 2014

Stale Book Review #24: The Burning Wire

The Burning Wire by Jeffrey Deaver
Cost: $4.95US 
Page Count: 414

This review has been sitting in my 'Draft' folder for a little while now.  I figure that I might as well go ahead and write the review before every single detail about the book goes right on out of my head.  These things tend to happen.

Anyway, The Burning Wire is yet another in the Lincoln Rhyme series of books by Jeff Deaver.  For those that have never read a Rhyme book here's a little bit of info:  Rhyme was a hotshot forensic detective dude before he got injured and is now a quadriplegic.  He struggles with the condition but his mind is sharp and he still solves crimes with the assistance of Amelia Sachs, a cop and his lover.  Interesting, yes.  But, I am never interested in the romantic aspects of any book.  It just doesn't get to me like it does some people.

An interesting side note:  In the movie adaptation of The Bone Collector (an early Deaver work), Lincoln Ryhme is played by none other than Denzel Washington.  I love Denzel but Rhyme is clearly a white dude in the books.  Read them and you will see.  The casting really threw me off and ruined what could've been a great flick.  Still got love for you Denzel!

In The Burning Wire, a killer is on the loose and Rhyme and his team must catch him using their wits and forensics and such.  Not really a new plot theme, Deaver.  But anyway, the killer is using massive amounts of electricity to kill the victims.  That one IS new and pretty cool.  As is Deaver's style, the reader is led down many wrong paths, is pointed at would-be suspects that turn out to be innocent, and the like.  The Burning Wire doesn't have many surprises.  Until the end.

A side-plot of the novel is Rhyme's tracking, along with Mexican officials, of his arch-nemesis The Watchmaker.  The final showdown and reveal of the killer at the end of the book is what makes the whole thing worth reading.  It's actually kind of cool that Deaver somehow got his main plot and sub-plot to intertwine at the end.  But, I am not giving away book endings and shit.  That ain't my style.

You've gotta read it for yourself.  Or, check out the synopsis on Wikipedia if you're a punk-bitch and don't want to read the book.  If you can't afford it, shoot me an email and I'll send you my copy for free!


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