The Coffin Dancer

The Coffin Dancer by Jeffrey Deaver

The Coffin Dancer is the sixth book by Jeffrey Deaver that I’ve reviewed within the last year.  Regardless of how much I’ve liked each book, I find myself saying a couple of the same things about each one:  1) he does his homework when preparing for a book, and 2) he knows how to make a spectacular ending.  I can say the exact same thing about this one, one of the best of his that I’ve read so far.

I was prepared for a plot twist near the end this time, so I meticulously kept my antennae up – trying to figure out just how he would try to dupe me this time.   Like a magician that knows the crowd is watching his hands, however, Deaver managed to wow me big time yet again.  I admit it – I was fooled.  This was an incredibly fun, wild ride.

This is one of the Lincoln Rhyme novels.  Lincoln is a quadriplegic criminologist who doesn’t have the luxury of visiting crime scenes because of his condition.  He uses his “partner” Amelia Sachs to do the leg work for him.  Speaking of legs, Amelia is one hotty-totty.  Every guy on the force lusts after her, yet she only has eyes for Lincoln.  The two manage to advance their relationship somewhat in this, the second, adventure.  Not too much, since there’s not much a quadriplegic can do in terms of physical intimacy – especially someone like Lincoln who’s awfully grouchy all the time.

There’s another killer on the loose in this story.  This one, the “Coffin Dancer” (because he has just such a tattoo on his body), is hired to eliminate some potential dangerous witnesses to a murder case.  This is one smart psychopath.  But they usually all are in these books.  Lincoln, however, is just as smart, so the progression of the plot is essentially a battle of wits between the good guy and the bad guy.

If anyone out there reading this is ever considering becoming a hard-core criminal, you may want to read one of these books before you embark on such a profession.  Based on this book, it’s impossible to get away with any crime.  If Lincoln finds, for example, a speck of fabric on a corpse, he’s able to find out where the fabric came from, when it was bought, who sold it to the killer, and where and how the killer will strike next.  All in a remarkably short amount of time.  A bit farfetched I suppose, but that’s what makes these stories as good as they are.

I was also impressed not only with the “twisted” ending, but by the fact that this book seemed to contain three different heart-pounding climaxes within the last few chapters of the book.  One would be enough, but just when we feel things should be winding down, Deaver ups the ante for a few more wild rides.

This one would make an excellent movie.  With all the dreck that Hollywood produces, why not  make something good?  Like this one?