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After dragging myself through this one, I just didn't feel like it was worth it, especially when I got through the silly trial scene where Amelia is facing murder charges. It desperately needed to lose some weight and have the pacing tightened up. should have stayed in the Big Apple. What starts as an interesting story turns into an overly long and drawn out premise with an overly convenient ending. This was one of those books that just kept going and going for no real reason. Rhyme and Co.
This book turned me on to mysteries and opened up a whole new reading world to me. Excellent.
This particular story takes place in a small North Carolina town, where Lincoln Rhyme happens to be at the time, arriving for an important surgery. The mystery keeps coming, as is customary with Deaver.
Probably because of the insect theme, this Deaver book was not one of my favorites, but it's a good one nonetheless, and it will keep you entertained on the road.[.]. The multiple ending thing gets a bit monotonous at times, although it also trains the reader to suspect everyone and everything from the start, since in Deaver's world even the most trustworthy character may turn out to be the main villain of the piece.
Once the obvious suspect is caught and jailed, the book is only halfway through, and the plot twists on, keeping the listeners in happy suspense.Overall, the Empty Chair is a Deaver classic, easy to follow but hard to predict, with a plot twist on every corner. Another interesting technique mentioned in the book is the "empty chair" method of psycho analysis, from which the book takes its name.
An earlier masterpiece of the author I am becoming very familiar with. Predictably, agreeing to help out the local police on a murder/kidnapping case for a day turns into an all out manhunt during which Rhyme and his lover and partner Amelia Sachs have to evaluate their priorities in life and in their jobs.
The book goes down easy, and would be particularly interesting to the insect lovers, as insects take a center stage as the initial suspect's obsession.
Sachs thinks there is more to what's going on than they've been told, so she lets Garrett go under the condition he will lead her to the two women. Sachs talks Rhyme into looking into the case and the two begin their unique investigating: Rhyme examining the forensic evidence in a lab with Sachs doing the legwork. Rhyme, frustrated with the physical limitations he is forced to endure, seeks a way to become whole again while Sachs secretly wants him to remain a quadriplegic, fearing he will not want her once he is mobile. His first day there, Rhyme is visited by Jim Bell, sheriff of Paquenoke County, where two women have been kidnapped and a young man killed by 16-year-old Garrett Hanlon, nicknamed the Insect Boy because of his interest in bugs. The mystery of Garrett and his reason for kidnapping the women is well-done, as is the suspense as Sachs and Garrett are pursued. They eventually track Garrett through forensics and he is arrested but refuses to reveal the whereabouts of the two women.
As with each book in the series, the forensics investigation is fascinating. Quadriplegic, criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, accompanied by his lover, investigator Amelia Sachs and his assistant Thom, is in Avery, North Carolina, where he hopes to undergo experimental surgery to aid with spinal cord regeneration. Garrett's on the run and Bell wants Rhyme to help find him before he kills the two women he kidnapped. Now Sachs is in a world of trouble with the law and Rhyme's trying to trace her whereabouts, fearing she will be shot either by Garrett or law enforcement.Rhyme and Sachs are two very likable characters who mesh well together.
This is book #3 in the series. It enables you to get to know and appreciate the characters so much more as they grow & develop throughout the books. Although each novel in the "Lincoln Rhyme Series" stands alone, you will probably want to start with the first book in the series, titled "The Bone Collector". His writing style changes completely with the "Lincoln Rhyme" books and if you like mystery & suspense, you will LOVE these. Jeffery Deaver is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE AUTHORS. He has so many twists & turns in his books, you never know what to expect next. If you've read some of Deaver's earlier books/series, namely, the "The Rune Series" or the "The John Pellam Series", and did not enjoy them, please do not judge ALL of his books by those.
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