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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What. A. Ride!
The intricacies of this story absolutely had me on the edge of my seat. I scrambled every last second in my day to read it as quickly as I could because I just could not wait to find out what was happening.
Like "The Bone Collector", the hunt for the killer was gripping and full of twists and turns but it was the relationship between Sachs and Rhyme that left me wanting to delve deeper into the story.
I was pulled away a little by all the detailed flight information but not enough to drop it down from a 5* review and I can see why it was necessary for the story.
Having read the first two books in under a week, I've already got "The Empty Chair" lined up because I am well and truly committed to Rhyme and his team.
The intricacies of this story absolutely had me on the edge of my seat. I scrambled every last second in my day to read it as quickly as I could because I just could not wait to find out what was happening.
Like "The Bone Collector", the hunt for the killer was gripping and full of twists and turns but it was the relationship between Sachs and Rhyme that left me wanting to delve deeper into the story.
I was pulled away a little by all the detailed flight information but not enough to drop it down from a 5* review and I can see why it was necessary for the story.
Having read the first two books in under a week, I've already got "The Empty Chair" lined up because I am well and truly committed to Rhyme and his team.
Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are paired together again to uncover the identify of the mysterious Coffin Dancer. The Coffin Dancer is a hit man with a knack for getting the job done, leaving no evidence behind and for being about three steps ahead of the police. Enter Lincoln Rhyme. Lincoln has dealt with the Coffin Dancer in the past and lost, now it is time to turn the tide.[return][return]The story is action packed and keeps you guessing throughout and my only complaint is the love interest that is brewing between the main characters. In my opinion the story can do without the romance. In my mind Rhyme and Sachs have more a father/daughter or teacher/student relationship and the budding romance feels a tad incestuous.[return][return]Jeffrey Deaver once again delivers a police thriller/mystery with an ending that is sure to delight.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
5 STARS!
As I was cleaning up my bookshelf the other day, I came across The Coffin Dancer and a few other books in the Lincoln Rhyme series.
I thought, "Why haven't I gotten back to this series?!"
After reading this book, I have no damn idea why I haven't gotten back to it sooner!
The Coffin Dancer was fantastic from beginning to end. It was face paced, intense and the forensics in this book were in depth.
Jeffery Deaver has really gotten to the nuts and bolts of the forensics in this book and series.
If you’re not a fan of details like this, it might not blow you away like it did for me. I've always been a science nerd and this was a great experience for me!
I honestly felt like I was in an action packed movie, eating popcorn and just blowing through the pages.
Deaver also has a great ability to pull you into the case along with the characters! You like or hate them. It's amazing how detailed and personal his characterization is for Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sachs and all the other secondary characters in this series. They each have a voice and different personality. It's fantastic.
The Coffin Dancer starts off with a plane exploding in the air.
A professional killer, known as the Coffin Dancer has been hired to take out three witnesses. Lincoln Rhyme and his forensic crew must figure out who he is before the next witness gets killed.
The killer is so cunning and smart that you have no idea who it is until the last pages are turned.
This was a fantastic book and will keep you guessing constantly. I never felt like the book was too long or if there was unnecessary filler.
The Coffin Dancer was a ticking-time bomb of a thriller and I'm glad I finally cleaned out my book case to get back to this series!
As I was cleaning up my bookshelf the other day, I came across The Coffin Dancer and a few other books in the Lincoln Rhyme series.
I thought, "Why haven't I gotten back to this series?!"
After reading this book, I have no damn idea why I haven't gotten back to it sooner!
The Coffin Dancer was fantastic from beginning to end. It was face paced, intense and the forensics in this book were in depth.
Jeffery Deaver has really gotten to the nuts and bolts of the forensics in this book and series.
If you’re not a fan of details like this, it might not blow you away like it did for me. I've always been a science nerd and this was a great experience for me!
I honestly felt like I was in an action packed movie, eating popcorn and just blowing through the pages.
Deaver also has a great ability to pull you into the case along with the characters! You like or hate them. It's amazing how detailed and personal his characterization is for Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sachs and all the other secondary characters in this series. They each have a voice and different personality. It's fantastic.
The Coffin Dancer starts off with a plane exploding in the air.
A professional killer, known as the Coffin Dancer has been hired to take out three witnesses. Lincoln Rhyme and his forensic crew must figure out who he is before the next witness gets killed.
The killer is so cunning and smart that you have no idea who it is until the last pages are turned.
This was a fantastic book and will keep you guessing constantly. I never felt like the book was too long or if there was unnecessary filler.
The Coffin Dancer was a ticking-time bomb of a thriller and I'm glad I finally cleaned out my book case to get back to this series!
I have read the first book, it was really good.
This one was not as good as first book. It was particularly noticeable that story sometimes drags. It wasn’t until the very end of the book where things started to heat up and get interesting. One time read kinda book.
This one was not as good as first book. It was particularly noticeable that story sometimes drags. It wasn’t until the very end of the book where things started to heat up and get interesting. One time read kinda book.
★ ★ ★ 1/2
I’ve heard several movie aficionados say some version of: “I’m glad I saw it but I have no need to ever see it again.” I had similar thoughts as I was finishing The Coffin Dancer. There is a lot of bad in this novel. There is also a lot of good. I’m not sure if it’s for better or worse but most of the bad came first.
This novel is the sequel to the acclaimed The Bone Collector, which introduced paraplegic forensic genius Lincoln Rhyme and his protégé, NYPD officer Amelia Sachs. This is where we run into the first problem. Having met these interesting characters, we eagerly return for more and what do we get? They are plopped into a room with a bunch of other people and they say or do nothing of interest. We learn absolutely nothing new about them as they are drowned out by numbers and reduced to mouthpieces needed to introduce the parameters of the new case. In fact, for the first quarter or so of the book, the most interesting character is the target of the assassin for whom the novel is named.
Having just lost her husband to an airplane explosion--a flight on which she was supposed to be the pilot--Percey Clay must now be protected by Rhyme and his team. Which brings us to the second problem. We follow the man who killed her husband, share his thoughts, and as often as not this “professional” escapes capture by pure luck. He is clever; but not brilliant. He should be no match for Lincoln Rhyme.
A lot of these issues stem from Deaver’s apparent love of interspacing plot twists throughout his books. There’s nothing wrong with this--except when those plot twist are transparently obvious. Such as:
Spoiler
It doesn’t take long to figure out that the killer we are following is not the Coffin Dancer. And once “Jodie,” initially introduced as an innocent homeless person, is allowed to stick around, it becomes obvious he’s the Coffin Dancer in disguise. And then there is this mysterious woman who Rhymes loved between his wife’s departure and his accident; what experienced reader doesn’t realize that she was one of the aforementioned earlier victims of the Dancer?There are also problems with the portrayal of Amelia Sachs. Mistakes that were allowable in The Bone Collector when she was new to the job are unacceptable a year later. She blunders into a situation ahead of SWAT because she was frustrated with their orders to wait. And she loses her weapon not once but twice. It borders on incompetence. And then there is her ridiculous jealousy of Percey Clay regarding Rhyme, something that could easily be settled by just saying something--anything!--by either of them; as befitting two people who work together closely and presumably like and respect each other.
But I said there were good things too and, yes, Amelia is allowed to shine. Her oft-mentioned intelligence is eventually displayed. And she has a crisis of confidence that doesn’t reflect on her competence. Her struggle to overcome it is well worth following. But the best parts of this novel surface when Deaver settles down to simple, basic storytelling. There is an extremely suspenseful airplane ride. And all the action sequences read great, particularly the final one. Not coincidentally, it’s where we see Amelia at her best.
And Percey Clay is not the only new character of interest. The man assigned to protect her is equally as compelling. Even the killer is appropriately twisted. As the reader becomes more engaged with these characters, the plot twists become more than mere sleight-of-hand.
Not that I begrudge Deaver his plot twists, particularly as it seems to be the part of the process he enjoys most. And in all honesty, because some of the bigger ones didn’t work, it’s easy to forget that most of them do. The moves and countermoves once the killer finds the safe house are without question engrossing. And the final out-the-door twist--which is the trickiest to pull off--is absolutely fair. If not set up properly it can appear as if the author is posturing, essentially calling attention to how brilliant he is. Deaver absolutely knows how to layer in what he’ll need later. It’s when he fails to disguise it properly, when the reader sees ahead of the curve, that’s when it begins to detract from his accomplishments.
So the quote above turns out not to be completely true. I can safely say I’ll never reread the whole book; but if I ever find the book in my hand at a moment where I have the free time, there are two scenes--two of the scenes referenced above--that I would reread. And that’s encouragement enough to see where the series goes.
This was an excellent book. I normally have an issue with guessing the killer so early on that it ruins the rest but that did not happen here. The plot is brilliant, the writing is fantastic and the forensics, while obviously sensationalised, are realistic enough not to pull you out of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes