Product Description

Rhyme's cousin has been arrested for murder. The evidence clearly shows he did it, but Rhyme agrees to check things out. It turns out that the cousin along with other people has been wrongly convicted because the true killer knows every single detail about the lives of the victims he kills and the men he sets up to take the fall for those crimes. This allows him to get close to the victims under false pretenses, murder or rape, and escape safely. And then he sets up others to take the fall for his crimes, planting incontrovertible evidence Rhyme, Sachs and the rest of the team have to find out who at the huge, ominous data mining company is getting access to this information. Meanwhile the villain--known only by a number to us--realizes he's being pursued and turns his knowledge of data and information into a weapon. Oh, and lest things seem too delicate, he also gets information through good old-fashioned murder and torture too. (20080715)

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82557 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Review
'another corker... precision-engineered to keep the reader turning the pages without a hitch' (Evening Standard )

'One of the great detective teams of contemporary crime fiction come storming back…Deaver never disappoints, and this novel shines' (Mark Timlin in Independent on Sunday )

'spellbinding complexity ' (The Times )

'gripping' (Irish Times )

Praise for Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme novels

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'The best psychological thriller writer around' (The Times )

'The most creative, skilled and intriguing thriller writer in the world . . . [Deaver] has produced a stunning series of bestsellers with unique characterisation, intelligent characters, beguiling plots and double-barrelled and sometimes triple-barrelled solutions.' (Daily Telegraph )

'This is a novel that will chill your blood on the warmest day of any summer holiday. Keep looking over your shoulder...'

(Independent on Sunday )

'Jeffery Deaver is a master at crafting intricate crimes that are solved through guile, tenacity and sheer creative genius. And Lincoln Rhyme is one of a kind.'

(Harlan Coben )

About the Author
Jeffery Deaver was a lawyer before quitting work to become a full-time writer. (20080720)

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Customer Reviews

The Great Lincoln Rhyme Conspiracy Thriller
The latest Lincoln Rhyme novel features the recurring Jeffery Deaver topics of identity theft and the individual's right to privacy. As a one-time lawyer, Jeff has long been concerned with protecting both civil and personal liberty and the growth of intrusive surveillance employed by certain agencies.

'The Broken Window' has yet another unhinged serial killer, and develops into the familiar game of cat and mouse between Rhyme, the brilliant quadriplegic forensic scientist, and a very clever criminal sociopath. This killer is an obsessive collector of all manner of consumer goods - the detritus of everyday life - and has access to personal computer data for the victims he targets.

It begins with Lincoln advising the Metropolitan Police on the apprehension of a global professional killer when he's informed that his cousin Arthur - who he grew up with prior to their falling-out - has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and the case against him seems cast-iron. Naturally, flaws are immediately spotted under the Rhyme microscope and Lincoln realises he's up against a cunning killer who murders at will, then frames innocent parties after stealing their identity. He places the other case on hold and diverts his considerable brainpower to the task of apprehending the guilty party, and thus liberating Arthur.

His investigation leads to a cutting-edge data mining company - Strategic Systems Datacorps (SSD) - who among other things, maintain comprehensive profiles of every American citizen, which they sell to companies targeting a particular demographic. SSD also have a full range of other software programs - both analytical and predictive - which they claim to have developed for the greater good. Only when Rhyme's team get into the company's databases does the full extent of their snooping become apparent.

By page 80 we've already had two pieces of Deaver misdirection (both of which we've seen before - many times!) and I began to fear it would turn into the series of contrived scenarios that have marred two or three of the books in the series.

But no, Jeffery reins these in and supplies a number of satisfying twists near the end. To say that the book is meticulously researched (Jeff has his own team to do this), rigorously constructed and is completely ingenious, is a given. To say that the plot is totally implausible is another! But, his characterisation is, as usual, excellent and a comparatively mellow Lincoln Rhyme is assisted by the usual cast - his personal aide, Thom, the lovely Amelia Sachs, Lon Sellitto, Mel Cooper et al.

The kind of surveillance Jeff writes about here just isn't a reality at present, and this is where the book verges on science fiction. But that's no bad thing. Deaver even cites, and quotes from, two very early SF classics - `Brave New World' and `1984' to emphasize this point and to underline the dangers of a totalitarian society where `They' know everything about you.

As with all the Lincoln Rhyme books the main span of this techno-thriller is compressed into a very short space of time - around three days - and this makes the book more immediate and lends it a real page-turning quality. I would think that few will be completely disappointed with this one and absolutely NO-ONE could ever accuse Jeff of not giving the reader his moneys' worth!

In the book's final few pages it becomes obvious who the subject of the next Rhyme thriller will be - but to say any more would be to give the game away!

This isn't quite top-of-the-range Lincoln Rhyme, but it's pretty good stuff. It's certainly better than last year's fairly boring `The Sleeping Doll', featuring his new investigator Kathryn Dance - who's name-checked several times in here. I can see `The Broken Window being read on a number of long flights this summer...

Excellent
Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series are well known for their depth of factual information, clever plotting, great characters and many twists, and the Broken Window is no exception. Here, Rhyme and Sachs are pitted against a computer expert intent on wreaking havoc and leaving many dead bodies and framing many innocent parties. One of the latter is Arthur Rhyme, cousin of Lincoln, and best friend of his childhood. Through his detention, Lincoln is brought into the case. The complex plot features a data-mining company, the US government, internet rights activists and high level law enforcement. The technical details, as expected, are thoroughly researched and presented in great detail, which gives complexity and interest to the plot; Rhyme's predilection for physical evidence also proves invaluable and the two combine into a fast-paced plot with the trademark Deaver twists and turns. Along the way, there's perhaps more human interest than is sometimes the case in this series; Rhyme often muses on his childhood and his relationship with Arthur, as well as the causes of its breakdown; Sachs, meanwhile, remains heavily involved with Pam, a character who reappeared in The Cold Moon. Rhyme is also involved with the London Metropolitan Police in a case that features the perpetrator from the Cold Moon, and which provides a nicely open ending...

Excellent - read it!

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Fantastic top notch book reminiscent of his earlier novels such as Bone Collector and Coffin Dancer. A book that makes you think and worry that it could happen to you and makes you wonder about how much information is monitored about you for data mining. The killer is very evil and murders one of the main characters that I wont spoil the plot. The book is so full of twists and turns it will leave your head spinning.

Bravo Deaver keep it up and looking forward to the enevitable update to Cold Moon.