| The
Steel Kiss by
Jeffery Deaver is a gripping Lincoln Rhyme’s thriller.
The plot feeds right into people’s fears. Although technology
today plays a large role in everyday life, after reading this,
readers will never look on devices the same way. If his goal
is to scare the heck out of readers he succeeded beyond comprehension
with this novel.
The plot begins with New York City detective Amelia Sachs
chasing a suspect through a busy mall. As she is about to
apprehend him an escalator malfunctions with horrendous consequences,
someone is mangled to death. It becomes evident that a person
is hacking into consumer products to kill people, and appears
to enjoy watching the suffering, either physically or emotionally.
Amelia enlists the help of her boyfriend, famous forensic
scientist Lincoln Rhyme to assist in solving the crime. They
must race against the clock to catch the perpetrator before
he hacks into more appliances and the victim count becomes
greater.
The author commented, “I do like to create a world where
the killers appear somewhat sympathetic and are complicated
characters that have interesting elements; yet are despicable.
I chose to show the terror of these consumer products, such
as microwaves, baby monitors, and escalators. Who is at fault,
the consumer or manufacturer? For example, if someone misuses
a car there are consequences. That is different from someone
hacking into the control system of a car to cause an accident.
I thought about all this and realized how wonderful and what
a great way to terrify readers.”
There are many sub-plots in this book. Fans of this series
will wonder where the Sachs/Rhyme relationship is headed.
Her ex-boyfriend, Nick Carelli has been released from prison
and he asks Amelia for help in clearing his name. Another
sub-plot involves Officer Ron Pulaski who goes undercover
in an attempt to prove Lincoln was not responsible for someone’s
murder. This allows Deaver to present readers with a new fascinating
character, Juliette Archer, an intern, who is also a quadriplegic.
She is vibrant and uses her knowledge of riddles to lighten
the mood while everyone attempts to solve the crime. An example
of one of her riddles, “Two sons and two fathers go
fishing. Each one catches a fish. They return from the trip
with only three fish. How can that be?”
Deaver told blackfive.net, “I put in the riddles to
give Juliette some quirkiness. I decided to give Lincoln someone
he can help and mentor. She is quite charming, interesting,
and self-confident. The reason I made Lincoln a quadriplegic
is to have a character that only has their intellect as a
weapon, having Sherlock Holmes skills. This became the book
the Bone Collector. Lincoln had to use his mind and
intuitive skills, because as a quadriplegic he had no other
resources. I had no idea he would be so popular. At first,
he was paralyzed from the shoulders down, but after some surgeries
he regained certain movements of his right arm and fingers.”
The Steel Kiss, as with all Deaver stories has the
reader holding their breath as they turn the pages. There
are many twists and turns that are so clever it will have
people going in one direction only to realize they made a
wrong turn. Anyone who wants a creepy, riveting, and action
packed story should read this one.
Reviews
of other titles in the
Lincoln Rhyme series
The
Bone Collector #1
The
Empty Chair #3
Kill
Room #10
The
Steel Kiss #12
The
Burial Hour #13
The
Cutting Edge #14 (includes Kathryn Dance)
Kathryn
Dance Series
Solitude
Creek #4
|
