Ah, Lincoln Rhyme, one of my favorite fictional characters. Lincoln's no-nonsense approach to forensics and evidence collection keeps me coming back for more. I love that he always tries to keep conjecture and gut feelings out of the process and just let the evidence do the talking. ( )

Ex-Library copy

Crime

“The little butcher man was hungry and had a taste for some wine.”

A readable book, but my least favorite of the ten Lincoln Rhyme novels so far. Far too much governmental espionage for me! It wasn't bad, it just wasn't a Lincoln Rhyme novel. I like him, and the gang, in New York City, walking the grid and deconstructing the evidence. Not in the Bahamas, chasing government spies and assassins and trying to stop international incidents! Stay home, Lincoln, stay home.

And no, Mr. Deaver, I absolutely do not want to experience the recipes of Jacob Swann. Wtf... ( )

I had to take some time out on Sachs and Rhyme doing their forensic thing due to the fact that I was getting really annoyed with the Kathryn Dance series as well as with the endings that came out of nowhere in the Rhyme series.

"The Kill Room" was a good installment, but some of the execution was flawed. I was glad to see that Sach's stand in daughter Pam was not in this one. Unfortunately she was in the next book. I have to say that each chapter trying to end on a mini-cliffhanger got to be a bit too much. I missed Sachs and Rhyme interacting with Dellray and Lon more in this one. Everything felt a little too pat. I am also tired of the constant plot points about Lincoln maybe getting surgery, but then there's a head fake about that. I just need something new in this series to shake it up again for me.

"The Kill Room" has Sachs and Rhyme in unfamiliar waters. Instead of them investigating a crime in New York. They are asked to get involved with a death that occurred in the Bahamas. It appears a U.S. citizen was murdered by a sniper given orders by someone working for a super secret organization that takes orders from the highest level of government.

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Sorry with everything going on in the news right now with our White House and everything else I can't believe anyone in power has the ability to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Back to Sachs/Rhyme. Sachs is reluctant to become involved in this case due to the ADA that brings it to them telling them to find evidence that the deceased was a good guy and the U.S. got it wrong ordering a hit. So she (the ADA) pretty much wants them to roll over anything that paints the deceased in a bad light and potentially get in trouble with people that don't want this story coming to light.

So here's my big problem. Why would the NYPD even be involved with this? It makes zero sense. I think Deaver threw in some bits that didn't make a lot of sense to me. Something like this I can see being prosecuted in the federal courts in DC. But whatever, I guess Deaver wanted to keep the action to New York.

There is very little forensics to work with in this case. Just a lot of interviewing, hemming and hawing and I think I am about tapped out with Rhyme acting like an asshole to his aide Thom and to the no longer a rookie Pulaski.

Why did I give this 4 stars?

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Bah.

Anyway, I just think that this book was interesting, but honestly this book is dealing with witnesses and interviews and it seems more like a Dance book than a Rhyme book.

Sachs and Rhyme work together seamlessly per usual. They remain the bright spot in this book. I sometimes think about "The Empty Chair" and shudder at how bad that book was and am glad that Deaver bounced back to make this series more palatable and believable.

We don't spend much time with other long term characters.

The writing was okay, I honestly didn't follow a lot of it. And the flow was pretty good.

The setting in this one was New York and the Bahamas. I have a hard time believing that the Bahamas would be this blatantly corrupt when a U.S. police officer (Pulaski) and someone of Rhyme's renown was there trying to get evidence. I still don't get why someone from the DA office wasn't involved or didn't try to grease the wheels. The blatant obstruction and then the okay they decided to let Rhyme stay when he magically deduces a murder in another case.

I have to say that all of the happenstances in this book was a bit much.
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