The Broken Window

The Broken Window - by Jeffery Deaver

Another Lincoln Rhyme book.  Like most Lincoln Rhyme books, I really enjoyed this one.  I must point out, however, that if you’re new to the series, I strongly recommend that you read these books in the order that they were written.  Unlike many other recurring literary heroes, the saga of Lincoln seems to progress rather nicely from book to book.  No, it’s not essential that you read them sequentially, but I would encourage such a practice.

This book deals with a bad guy that works (or at least seems to) at a high tech, online tracking company.  We’ve all heard the nightmare scenarios before - anything that you do online, can and will be tracked by the government.  Not only do they know what kind of car you drive and where you purchased it, but they also know where you’re driving at any given moment and what radio stations you have preset in your vehicle.  So not only can our baddie kill people in gruesome ways, but he can also create online tracks that easily frame other people quite convincingly.  And, if you’re a police officer that’s getting too close to uncovering clues about this criminal, you might just wake up with a faulty computer implication declaring you a drug addict and forcing you to have your license and weapons confiscated.

Well, it just so happens that one of our framed individuals for a murder is a family member of Lincoln Rhyme.  A family member that was very close to Lincoln years ago, but things have happened to estrange them.  You get the impression that Lincoln is more concerned about solving a case that helping his relation that duped him many years ago.  In a sense, this is a good thing because it allows author Jeffery Deaver to tell more of a story as opposed to sticking with dry facts around the particular case.  Each book, we learn just a bit more about Lincoln’s history and makes us care just a bit more about the old crank.

Other times, however, such diversions can be a bit of a distraction.  The author actually “tidies” up some stuff from the last Lincoln Rhyme book “The Cold Moon”.  I found it unnecessary, and unless you have a pretty good memory, or just finished that particular book, most of the connections are lost.

I must also say that this book was a bit low on the “Wow” factor that has become so prevalent in Jeffery Deaver books.  He’s the master of the plot twist, and the last 100 pages or so in most books can really throw the reader for an enjoyable loop.  That really isn’t present in this book, which left me a bit disappointed.  I still enjoyed the book immensely, however, and I had a hard time putting the book down as the plot continued to thicken.

This is a great addition to a great series.