THE COFFIN DANCER
By Jeffery Deaver
Simon & Schuster, $25
There are certain characters that readers welcome back with open arms, and Lincoln Rhyme is high on the list. First introduced in Jeffery Deaver’s dazzling best-seller “The Bone Collector,” the quadriplegic forensic expert for the New York police earned glowing reviews and now returns in a tale that is every bit as gripping.
The setup is straight and simple: Three pilots from a charter-flight company–Edward Carney; his wife, Percey; and Brit Hale–have inadvertently witnessed a ruthless arms dealer selling weapons illegally. Before they can testify in court, Edward is blown up while flying his plane. Percey and Brit are put into protective custody, and Rhyme is called in to help stop the killer, known to the police only as the Coffin Dancer because of a distinctive tattoo on his upper arm.
Rhyme’s search for the killer is also fueled by the fact that five years earlier, two of his own technicians were killed by a bomb that the Coffin Dancer had placed at a crime scene. Helping Rhyme is a beautiful police officer, Amelia Sachs, who is nearly as passionate about forensic science as Rhyme is, and who also harbors a bit of a crush towards her mentor.
What ensues is an inventive, taut cat-and-mouse game between Rhyme and the killer, who possesses a chameleon-like ability to blend into any environment he enters. Reading this one is a little like watching a chess match in which the captured pieces actually fall to the board and bleed. An impressive follow-up.
BODY LANGUAGE
By James W. Hall
St. Martin’s, $24.95
The opening pages of James W. Hall’s latest thriller almost turn the rest of the book into one long anticlimax. As it begins, 11-year-old Alexandra Rafferty is aiming a .38 Smith & Wesson through the window of her parents’ bedroom. A few minutes later, she walks over to her neighbor’s house and proceeds to empty the gun into the boy who raped her several days earlier. Alexandra’s father, a local cop, is the first to arrive on the scene and he arranges it to look as if the young man committed suicide. “This didn’t happen, Alex” he tells his daughter. “This simply didn’t occur.”
Fifteen years later, Alexandra’s life is gradually falling apart. Her beloved father is sinking into dementia; her husband, Stan, works as an armored-car driver with dreams of scamming his employer; and she is working overtime for the Miami Police Department as a photographer of murder scenes, particularly those left by a character called the Bloody Rapist. After Stan steals $2 million and Alex finds the money in the home of his lover, Stan threatens to blow the whistle on Alex and her father for the childhood killing. In the meantime, two con artists have figured out what Stan has pulled off, and they are also on the trail of the money and Alex.
As always, Hall stuffs his plot with enough grotesque characters and local color to keep readers well-entertained. More problematic, however, is his juggling of storylines. The Bloody Rapist never comes across as a credible threat to Alex, and that ultimately diminishes some of the book’s punch.
THE POLICY
By Patrick Lynch
Dutton, $24.95
A thriller set in a life-insurance company? A heroine who is an actuary? These are unlikely elements for a suspense novel, but in the hands of Patrick Lynch, the whole thing comes together as precisely as a corporate balance sheet.
The story centers on ProvLife, a Boston insurance company planning to expand into the field of health-care coverage. But strange things are beginning to happen in the numbers department. Alex Tynan, an actuary for the firm, has discovered that certain statistics for the company’s new venture have been falsified. In the meantime, a ProvLife executive is electrocuted in a freak accident, and Alex finds out from the dead man’s lover that he has become enormously rich in the last few years for no apparent reason. Once she learns that the same is true of other company executives, Alex begins to believe that something sinister is taking place underneath the staid surface of ProvLife.
Engaging and cerebral, “The Policy” doesn’t provide a lot of furious thrills, but instead builds a sense of unease and anxiety that is ultimately effective.
A PERFECT CRIME
By Peter Abrahams
Ballantine, $24.95
Adultery turns to murder in this thriller that should definitely not turn up on Hillary Clinton’s reading list.
Francie Cullingwood is a rising star in the Boston art world who is having an affair with radio psychologist Ned Demarco. Their fling goes smoothly until Francie’s husband, Roger, discovers the secret and decides to have his wife killed. And who better to hire than Whitey Truax, a convict on parole who was convicted of raping and murdering the wife of the police chief. Roger’s plan–the perfect crime of the title–is to get rid of Whitey as soon as he has done the job on Francie.
A liberal update of the film “Dial M for Murder,” this one confirms Peter Abrahams’ talent–as displayed in “The Fan”–for turning a single character’s obsession and revenge into a peg onto which to hang a plot. It contains tight, seamless storytelling that begs to be turned into a screenplay.
DEAD OF NIGHT
By Alex Abella
Simon & Schuster, $23
In 1991, Alex Abella created a splash with his debut novel, “The Killing of the Saints,” a taut tale of murder that centered on the religious world of Santeria. In this follow-up, he brings back Cuban-American lawyer and part-time private investigator Charlie Morell to hunt for Ricardo Diaz, a Santeria sorcerer who murders his victims in order to possess their souls.
First to get knocked off is an elderly priest and close friend of Morell’s. Written in the priest’s blood at the murder site is a message claiming that Morell is going to be the next victim. Improbably, Morell is hired by the best friend of his recently deceased mother to track down Diaz, who is extremely fond of ritual torture, most of which is graphically described throughout the book.
Eight years is a long time to wait for a sequel, and “Dead of Night” is not nearly as sleek or compelling as the original. But the book has its virtues, not the least of which is Morell’s reflections on being a Cuban-American. Not for all tastes, especially given some grossout passages, but still worth a look.
