Customer Reviews

he can do so much better
The writing is great, the suspense is top notch as usual but the story pans out to be rather dull.

A high school student is the target of a hit man. The million dollar questions are: who is the killer? and why is she being targeted? The case takes a strange turn once everyone realises she is researching her family tree and one of her ancestors may have a bearing on history as we know it.
Suddenly Rhyme and co are trying to find out what happened all those decades ago as well as keep young Geneva safe.

You'll be terribly disappointed to find out the conclusion of the case but the road there almost makes it worth it. Plus, there's another Rhyme book coming out soon and you dont want to be left in the dark when certain personal aspects creep in...:)

Read if you are an avid Rhyme/ Deaver fan only....

Discordant Rhyme
Jeffery Deaver is one of those authors whose releases I look forward to and always buy. His invention of paraplegic forensic genius Lincoln Rhyme & his partner/ girlfriend Amelia Sachs are a bright, breezy and very likeable pairing whose investigations are 9 times out of 10 very enjoyable and capable of keeping the reader well entertained right up to the last page.
This one is unfortunately one of the 1 out of 10 that dont quite make the grade.
There is a schoolgirl being hunted by a meticulous hitman whose reasons for wanting her dead are unclear at first. Her story is unravelled slowly but surely and as we learn more of her we learn more of a slave ancestor of hers who may or may not have turned bad and whose own story becomes tied up with the plot.
There's no lack of ideas or of characterization, Deaver has yet to write poorly in these areas, but there is something awry with the pacing of the story. It just moves too slowly and repeats itself too often so that your mind begins to wander and your interest becomes lost.
Truth is there's a good story in here but it would probably have been to make the ancestors story the main plotline as it was the one with the most potential and plot and to have relegated the schoolgirls plight to the lesser story as this was repetitive and ultimately the less interesting of the 2.
Dont get me wrong, a half cooked Deaver story still kicks much of the competition into touch, it's just that he has written better and so in comparison this one looks somewhat undercooked.

Deaver and Rhyme at their Best!
Jeffery Deaver writes another great Lincoln Rhyme novel. This one is about Geneva Settle, a 16 year old black girl who is researching her ancestor, Charles Singleton who lived during the Civil War. He was active in the early Civil Right movement but the newspaper report tells of his arrest for theft. While Geneva is at the Black History Museum looking at the micro fiche tapes, she is attacked by Thompson Boyd. But Geneva is smarter than Boyd. She sets up a mannequin in her place and runs.

In steps Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs to help the police figure out why Geneva is the target of Boyd. Boyd is willing to sacrifice innocents to accomplish what he was hired to do. Who hired him and why? Is he working alone? Why has he become a person who feels nothing?

Another problem arises when Lincoln discovers that Geneva's parents are fictitious and she is living on her own. She is doing very well in school so no one suspects the real situation. Where are her mom and dad?

And, of course, there is always the side of the story where Lincoln's paralysis comes in. This time, he is exercising to attempt to create even a small amount of movement. Does all the hard work bring about what Lincoln hopes for? The twists and turns of this story kept me wanting to listen long into the night.

The reader, Dennis Boutsikaris, is adept at voice inflections and keeps the reader interested by not becoming monotone. He is clear and precise in his pronunciation of the words and does very well when reading the Black English Vernacular.

The Twelfth Card provides historical background on the civil rights movement and how hard life was for the black man. It also tell of what hard work and determination of a teenager can bring about and of Lincoln's constant struggle to gain even a little bit of freedom from the paralysis he suffers.