The Coffin Dancer

Detective Lincoln Rhyme, the foremost criminalist in the NYPD, is on the hunt for an elusive murderer, the Coffin Dancer. He's a brilliant hitman who changes his appearance even faster than he adds to his trail of victims, only one of whom has lived long enough to offer a clue: the assassin has an eerie tattoo on his arm of the Grim Reaper waltzing with a woman in front of a casket.

Like his previous bestselling novels A Maiden's Grave and The Bone Collector, Jeffery Deaver's latest psychological thriller combines spine-chilling forensic detail with a turbocharged plot. In The Coffin Dancer, Rhyme, tragically paralyzed from a line-of-duty accident, continues to tutor his beautiful protégé, Detective Amelia Sachs, in the art of criminal hunting. Rhyme is certain he's seen this killer before, and his suspicion of an earlier encounter fuels a bitter taste for vengeance. When the chameleonlike assassin targets three federal witnesses for death, the stakes reach a new high. Rhyme's brainpower and Sachs's legwork are the only tools they have to track the cunning murderer through the subways, parks, and airports of a darkly painted New York City. And they have only forty-eight hours before the Coffin Dancer strikes again.

With The Coffin Dancer, Deaver -- already an internationally bestselling author whose acclaimed novels have been translated into a dozen languages -- uses his trademark plot twists to keep this fast-paced, masterly thriller steamrolling along with breathtaking speed. This is page-turning suspense of the highest order.

The Coffin Dancer is the second of the Rhyme and Sachs series by Jeffery Deaver. It takes place a year after the first book, The Bone Collector. In this book Rhyme needs to find the notorious killer, The coffin dancer, before he kills the witnesses of a federal case.

I enjoyed how fast paced the book was. It had me on the edge of my seat, always wondering what else could happen. I enjoyed re-visiting the old characters, and the newly introduced ones were great. I liked Percey, found her to be a strong person, considering what was happening to her. I loved, loved the developing relationship between Linc and Amelia. Can't wait to see what happens next with them.

I was completely surprised with the twists at the end of the book. Wow. I didn't see those coming. But I loved it!

The Coffin Dancer by Jeffery Deaver (4/5) Mystery Thriller; Published: Simon & Schuster; Series: # 2, Rhyme and Sachs; 2009 100 + Reading Challenge (69);