The Empty Chair by Jeffery Deaver

In The Empty Chair, Jeffery Deaver's third Rhyme outing--after 1997's The Bone Collector and 1998's The Coffin Dancer--Rhyme travels to North Carolina to undergo an experimental surgical procedure and is, a jot too coincidentally, met at the door by a local sheriff, the cousin of an NYPD colleague, bearing one murder, two kidnappings, and a timely plea for help. It seems that 16-year-old Garrett Hanlon, a bug-obsessed orphan known locally as the Insect Boy, has kidnapped and probably raped two women, and bludgeoned to death a would-be hero who tried to stop one of the abductions.

Rhyme sets up shop, Amelia leads the local constabulary (easily recognized by their out-of-joint noses) into the field, and, after some Holmesian brain work and a good deal of exciting cat-and-mousing, the duo leads the cops to their prey. And just as you're idly wondering why the case is coming to an end in the middle of the book, Amelia breaks the boy out of jail and goes on the lam. Equally convinced of the boy's guilt and the danger he poses to Amelia, Rhyme has no choice but to aid the police in apprehending the woman he loves--no easy task, as she's the one human being who truly knows the methods of Lincoln Rhyme.

Rhyme's specialty combines the minute scientific analysis of physical evidence gathered from crime scenes and his arcane knowledge of, it would seem, every organic and inorganic substance on earth. Deaver combines engaging narration, believable characters, and his trademark ability to repeatedly pull the rug out from under the reader's feet. Lincoln Rhyme's back all right, and the smart money's betting that his run has just begun. --Michael Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Reader Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Simply Too Much, June 3, 2003 Reviewer: starreise from Boston I'm a new fan of the Lincoln Rhyme series and started with The Stone Monkey -- a terrific book which had me at the book store within 24 hours to pick up the other Rhyme novels. I have to say that The Empty Chair is not very good -- nowhere near the calibre of The Bone Collector or Coffin Dancer. There are simply too many plot twists and the basic premise of the novel (town becomes toxic waste dump) has been done to death. This part of the plot can be figured out in the first 100 pages. The interaction between Sachs & Rhyme is still good - even Thom gets to be involved a little more - but the story is simply over the top in terms of who the villains actually are and how the heroes save the day. The reader is also expected to believe that charges against Amelia for manslaughter are dropped because the victim was dirty? Implausible to say the least. Also, the author's technique of having a "personal crisis" in the relationship between Sachs & Rhyme end one chapter and then begin the next chapter with the villain's actions is getting a little tired. The author should have more faith that his work is intriguing enough to get the reader to actually want to finish the book without resorting to gimmicks and chapter-ending cliffhangers. This book is a disappointment and clearly the weakest in the series...not bad enough to ruin the entire series, however. I'll still read the Rhyme novels -- overall, the series is very, very good!