THE VANISHED MAN by Jeffery Deaver

Jeffery Deaver is the master of the intricate plot. He has shown a genius for reeling in the reader and then taking him/her on a stunning trip through the pages where nothing is as it seems and nothing is as it feels. With his new novel THE VANISHED MAN Deaver hits the acme of circuitous plots. And to make it even better, it is a Lincoln Rhyme novel.

Lincoln Rhyme is the quadriplegic police officer who is a genius at collecting evidence and making it reveal secrets. Amelia Sachs is his protégé/girlfriend who does his legwork for him. These two operate almost as one when they are involved in a case, and when they stumble on a criminal they call "the conjurer" they operate at maximum alertness.

"The conjurer" is a magician/illusionist who is killing individual people as a prelude for some horrendous act, which will result in the deaths of hundreds. He leaves behind some intentional clues and some not so. It is up to Rhyme and Sachs to sift through these and head off his plans for more murders. But at every turn the Conjurer seems to avoid detection by using his illusionist skills. He can virtually disappear into thin air.

Deaver is so gifted a storyteller that the reader is kept constantly in the dark as to who is who and what is going to happen next. There is always one more twist and one more turn, and confusion on top of confusion. Still there is time to build the relationship of Rhyme and Sacks little by little. It comes through in words or glances, which Deaver supplies. Deaver would be the last to claim to write romantic novels but the relationship of Rhyme and Sachs is one of the best love stories in modern writing.

It is hard to describe the plot of THE VANISHED MAN without giving away some surprise element of the plot. Suffice it to say this is a book that will demand you read it, and will demand you continue with it even if your eyes are weary and your brain is tired. It will so pique your interest that you will have to find out the answers to the questions the plot raises - and as quickly as possible.

Jeffery Deaver became known to millions of readers with the film version of THE BONE COLLECTOR, but that is only one of his great books. You owe it to yourself to get them all and begin a marathon race through Deaver-land where there is never a predictable plot or an unworthy hero/heroine. THE VANISHED MAN is Deaver at his best.

THE VANISHED MAN is published by Simon and Schuster. It contains 399 pages and sells for $25.00.

©2003 Jackie K. Cooper