Jeffery Deaver Books

Is Jeffery capable of writing a bad novel?

The research is yet again amazing, he talks to the reader instead of over them, and there are tremendous plot twists that take nothing away from the story.

This story of a Chinese immigrant smuggler is both informative and entertaining. It is impossible not to get sucked into the story and care about the characters, which is the sign that you are reading a novel from a polished author.

Deaver is a tremendous writer and I am always impressed with each one of his novels. This is highly recommended.

The Stone Monkey by Jeffery Deaver is loaded with suspense from first page until the very end you find yourself trying to figure out who the Ghost is, but this is one that can stump the guys who always figure out who done it by the second chapter. Every time you think you've got it figured out, someone gets killed and it all goes in another direction. This one has a medium pace and is easy to put down and pick back up, but the story is interesting and holds your attention. The villain has real depth and his presence whispers through the story keeping you on the lookout for a character that fits his shadowy presence. Like all Deaver's work, an enjoyable read.

JD did a wonderful job writing this book. Ghost is indeed a very unique character. The suspense was incredible.

Jeffery Deaver never ceases to amaze me with his imagination in creating believable yet intriguing plots. STONE MONKEY is no different.

The Ghost is a smuggler with few morals. He has a ship packed full of Chinese immigrants that he blows up less than a mile off of the US coast. Seems he wanted their cash but didn't really want to fulfill his obligations. A few manage to escape only to be hunted by The Ghost. It appears he doesn't want any witnesses. While they are being pounded by a fierce storm, clutching the life raft, he is shooting at them like sitting ducks. Enter Amelia Sachs. She arrives on the beach in time to help save one of the immigrants, while the others elude the authorities and slip away. Amelia and Lincoln, with the help of their pals, try to find these two families before The Ghost can complete his mission and kill them.

A few side plots keep the reader on the edge of his/her seat and make for an enjoyable expedition. Deaver has a gift that brings the reader into the written word - our hearts pound as one family steals a van to make their getaway; we can smell the tea Dr. Sung gives Amelia to help her with her ailments; we jump at every sound outside of the hideout; we cheer for each member of the Wu and Chang families; we become part of the story.

Character development is excellent. We continue our friendship with Amelia Sachs and Lincoln Rhyme. And like any good friend, we continue to wonder what is in their futures. We're introduced to Sonny Li, a Chinese cop who thinks a bit differently than Lincoln and opens him to the possibility of intuition. I do have to say that he was one of my favorite characters from any of these books - Sonny will make the reader chuckle out loud at his antics, and make you sit back and say, "Ahh..." after he explains things as he sees them. Dr. John Sung is another character that is brought to life. He introduces Amelia to the Chinese homeopathic way of life, becomes her friend, and has the reader guessing if his intentions are platonic or something more.

As is Jeffery Deaver's normal style, STONE MONKEY is fast paced and leaves little time to catch your breath between scenes. Deaver is a master at convincing the reader that he/she knows the identity of The Ghost only to have that belief tossed aside and a new individual chosen. Deaver is one of the few who has fooled me in the past, but not with this one. But I just barely figured it out - and cheered at the end when I was right! Yes, score one for me against the master!

When I first saw the title of this book all I could think of was oh no, another saves the century for the ages with one more literary anthology. The Ancient Library at Alexandria could never have contained more papyrus than we have currently available some short story theme involving the century. Though I have fully enjoyed each of the previous collections leisurely reading them over a couple of weeks (which seems like a century when compared to my normal pace), I vowed no more. Than I opened this book just to glimpse at who contributed and soon was hooked again all because Lawrence Block submitted a Batman tale.

Once again the quality is top rate as the thirty-six well-written stories run much of the suspense gamut submitted by a notable cast of writers. The tales include police and legal procedurals as well as the classic private sleuth investigative story among the assortment of other twist and turn tales. None of the stories shortchanges the ensemble, as this is a triumphant aggregation that is worth unhurriedly reading over a couple of weeks.

Harriet Klausner

Certainly Jeffery Deaver should know good mysteries when he sees them, and in his
personal compilation of a century of these great stories, the reader should assume it's just that, a
collection of great stories! And they are! Deaver exercises an ecumenical spirit here, practically
running the gamut of the genre!

It goes without staying that short stories generally don't carry the impact that novels do on
the same subject (not to patronize short stories, of course, as they are great in their own "write").
With the exception of some personal favorites of mine, such as P.D. James and Ellis Peters, which
he omits, Deaver's wide assortment of writers is a real treasure! For students of the history of the
suspense story, Deaver shows off Anna Katherine Green's story (Ms Green is often considered to
have written the first American suspense novel) to provide a historical perspective, and then
continues on down the time line. Such luminaries as Ellery Queen, John D. MacDonald, Ruth
Rendell, Mickey Spillane, Ed McBain, Sara Paretsky, and Robert Barnard light up these pages.
Indeed, a nice collection to keep around. Fun reading, too! (...)

This was the first of Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series books. It was also the first time I read any books by this author, and definitely enjoyed the book!

Lincoln Rhyme, who is a depressed quadrapeligic had to retire his work from the force due to his disabilities. But that didn't stop him from using his mind with his co-worker friends to solve this case of a diabolical killer on the run.

This killer was fascinated with his victims bones. He would kill them mailiciously, and keep the bones hidden away. The usual pattern would be to drive a taxicab to the airport, pick up his victims, and then terrorize them before he murdered them.

Lincoln and his friends draw clues from the tiniest pieces of evidence, and put this crazy picture together. The surprising fact is, that this monster has been really close to Lincoln all along- and the ending has a real surprise in store for readers.

This is an especially suspenseful thriller made more so by the personal angst of the main character, Lincoln Rhyme. A quadriplegic, forensic ex-detective for the New York City Police Department, Rhyme is brought out of retirement by the police department to assist them in the apprehension of an apparently psychopathic killer who is loose on the streets of New York.

The forays into bits of arcane New York history, as well as the sleuthing done almost entirely through the application of forensics and deductive reasoning, make for a very interesting read. While at times it seems that no one could be as uncannily accurate as Rhyme in deciphering the meaning of the physical evidence, this contrivance does serve to move the plot along. With the story line so engrossing and the crime scenes horrific, as well as ingenious, it is the kind of book that is hard to put down, because you simply cannot wait to see what happens. The surprise ending is the icing on the cake.

Assisting Rhyme with his work is Police Officer Sachs who, while not as compelling a character as Rhyme, is essential to the story. It is her character who does the 'heavy lifting' so to speak. Highly intelligent and resourceful, with an innate appreciation of the importance of physical evidence, she inspects and preserves the crime scenes, as well as gathers the physical evidence from which Rhyme ultimately weaves his magic. She also serves as somewhat of a Deus Ex Machina in that she saves the day in more ways than one.

Sachs is a wonderful foil for Rhyme in that she runs hot to his cold. She is driven by her desire to help others, as well as by her own personal demons, while he is ever the calm, cool, collected clinician, whose desire to preserve a crime scene may supercede the milk of human kindness latent within his emotionally atrophied soul. The personal connection that Rhyme ultimately develops with Officer Sachs is one that leaves you hoping that they will be teamed up again in yet another novel.

I received this book as a present & couldn't put it down -- soulful, fascinating stories, all loosely wrapped around music, ranging from jazz clubs to John Lennon & Johnny Cash meeting to an old man dropping dead while dancing ecstatically, claiming "I was the best dancer! I was the best dancer!"

I love the bios in the back with each writer explaining their tastes in music & what they listen to when they write.

Absolutely loved this book from Jeff Deaver. He has an ability to lure readers into his words, then make segues which are not obvious. This was one of his earlier novels, before the Lincoln Rhyme series began. While I those are my favorites, I recommend that readers who like the Rhyme novels also read this one, if nothing else for a different view of what Jeff writes.

This is an especially suspenseful thriller made more so by the personal angst of the main character, Lincoln Rhyme. A quadriplegic, forensic ex-detective for the New York City Police Department, Rhyme is brought out of retirement by the police department to assist them in the apprehension of an apparently psychopathic killer who is loose on the streets of New York.

The forays into bits of arcane New York history, as well as the sleuthing done almost entirely through the application of forensics and deductive reasoning, make for a very interesting read. While at times it seems that no one could be as uncannily accurate as Rhyme in deciphering the meaning of the physical evidence, this contrivance does serve to move the plot along. With the story line so engrossing and the crime scenes horrific, as well as ingenious, it is the kind of book that is hard to put down, because you simply cannot wait to see what happens. The surprise ending is the icing on the cake.

Assisting Rhyme with his work is Police Officer Sachs who, while not as compelling a character as Rhyme, is essential to the story. It is her character who does the 'heavy lifting' so to speak. Highly intelligent and resourceful, with an innate appreciation of the importance of physical evidence, she inspects and preserves the crime scenes, as well as gathers the physical evidence from which Rhyme ultimately weaves his magic. She also serves as somewhat of a Deus Ex Machina in that she saves the day in more ways than one.

Sachs is a wonderful foil for Rhyme in that she runs hot to his cold. She is driven by her desire to help others, as well as by her own personal demons, while he is ever the calm, cool, collected clinician, whose desire to preserve a crime scene may supercede the milk of human kindness latent within his emotionally atrophied soul. The personal connection that Rhyme ultimately develops with Officer Sachs is one that leaves you hoping that they will be teamed up again in yet another novel.

This is an especially suspenseful thriller made more so by the personal angst of the main character, Lincoln Rhyme. A quadriplegic, forensic ex-detective for the New York City Police Department, Rhyme is brought out of retirement by the police department to assist them in the apprehension of an apparently psychopathic killer who is loose on the streets of New York.

The forays into bits of arcane New York history, as well as the sleuthing done almost entirely through the application of forensics and deductive reasoning, make for a very interesting read. While at times it seems that no one could be as uncannily accurate as Rhyme in deciphering the meaning of the physical evidence, this contrivance does serve to move the plot along. With the story line so engrossing and the crime scenes horrific, as well as ingenious, it is the kind of book that is hard to put down, because you simply cannot wait to see what happens. The surprise ending is the icing on the cake.

Assisting Rhyme with his work is Police Officer Sachs who, while not as compelling a character as Rhyme, is essential to the story. It is her character who does the 'heavy lifting' so to speak. Highly intelligent and resourceful, with an innate appreciation of the importance of physical evidence, she inspects and preserves the crime scenes, as well as gathers the physical evidence from which Rhyme ultimately weaves his magic. She also serves as somewhat of a Deus Ex Machina in that she saves the day in more ways than one.

Sachs is a wonderful foil for Rhyme in that she runs hot to his cold. She is driven by her desire to help others, as well as by her own personal demons, while he is ever the calm, cool, collected clinician, whose desire to preserve a crime scene may supercede the milk of human kindness latent within his emotionally atrophied soul. The personal connection that Rhyme ultimately develops with Officer Sachs is one that leaves you hoping that they will be teamed up again in yet another novel.

This is an especially suspenseful thriller made more so by the personal angst of the main character, Lincoln Rhyme. A quadriplegic, forensic ex-detective for the New York City Police Department, Rhyme is brought out of retirement by the police department to assist them in the apprehension of an apparently psychopathic killer who is loose on the streets of New York.

The forays into bits of arcane New York history, as well as the sleuthing done almost entirely through the application of forensics and deductive reasoning, make for a very interesting read. While at times it seems that no one could be as uncannily accurate as Rhyme in deciphering the meaning of the physical evidence, this contrivance does serve to move the plot along. With the story line so engrossing and the crime scenes horrific, as well as ingenious, it is the kind of book that is hard to put down, because you simply cannot wait to see what happens. The surprise ending is the icing on the cake.

Assisting Rhyme with his work is Police Officer Sachs who, while not as compelling a character as Rhyme, is essential to the story. It is her character who does the 'heavy lifting' so to speak. Highly intelligent and resourceful, with an innate appreciation of the importance of physical evidence, she inspects and preserves the crime scenes, as well as gathers the physical evidence from which Rhyme ultimately weaves his magic. She also serves as somewhat of a Deus Ex Machina in that she saves the day in more ways than one.

Sachs is a wonderful foil for Rhyme in that she runs hot to his cold. She is driven by her desire to help others, as well as by her own personal demons, while he is ever the calm, cool, collected clinician, whose desire to preserve a crime scene may supercede the milk of human kindness latent within his emotionally atrophied soul. The personal connection that Rhyme ultimately develops with Officer Sachs is one that leaves you hoping that they will be teamed up again in yet another novel.

If you want a book that you can not put down, this is the book for you. It makes you want to read just one more chapter before putting it down. I am so hooked on Jeffery Deaver. His books are the best you'll ever read.

We have always enjoyed Jeffery Deaver and I think we have read all the Lincoln Rhyme novels. I wish they would come out even faster. I would recommend this book to all Deaver fans and to anyone looking for a new mystery writer to follow.