Best Seller Books: The Burning Wire: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel Review

I have read all of Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books and have long felt that the duo of Rhyme and Sachs is one of the best in crime fiction.Having said that up front, I have to admit this was not one of my favorites.The author's infamous attention to detail and his trademark methods of ratcheting up the suspense were still there, and there were parts of this book that I really enjoyed.One of the big attractions of this series for me has always been the relationship between Rhyme and Sachs and their interactions with each other.This was pretty much gone from this book.These characters experience no change or growth; Sachs was a ghost flitting through the book just going wherever Rhyme pointed.Rhyme has more interaction with Thom, his caregiver than he does with Sachs and that interaction was always virtually identical to what we have seen in previous books.How many times do we have to argue about whiskey?There are a couple of efforts to advance the personal aspect of the story, but they seem token attempts at best and are only there to set up a teaser ending.

It's a common problem in series fiction that authors often spend too much time writing for readers that aren't familiar with the characters.I can see their reasoning, but it doesn't make things any less frustrating.I swear some of the dialogue in this book (in the beginning at least) is taken word for word from some of the previous books.The author spends alot of time going over things that followers of the series will already know.I'm not talking just about characters, I'm also talking about forensic basics I'd already learned from Lincoln Rhyme before!I don't remember this being such an issue with earlier Rhyme books, but maybe that's just my selective memory.

All of the information about electricity was certainly interesting.I learned quite a bit, however I sometimes felt that I was being lectured to by the characters.While I am a fan of learning, I am a bigger fan of a good strong narrative.The lectures and the narrative did not fit well together.Some of the dialogue here just did not work and had me shaking my head in disbelief.I wanted the characters to quit explaining things to me and talk to each other.

One thing that I felt was missing through most of this story was the presence of a truly creepy villain.A lot of the "drama" felt overwrought and manufactured; although on the flipside there were a couple of memorable moments at the end that I won't spoil here.I can't speak to the ending much except to say I was rather disappointed in the neat little package.Everything got tied up with a pretty little bow, but there is a teaser at the end that is sure to keep Rhyme fans coming back for the next one. I'm just not sure if I'll be back for the next one or not.It barely gets a three star from me just because I have loved this series for such a long time.Proceed at your own risk!

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