Book info

• Title The Empty Chair
• Author Jeffery Deaver
• Year 2000
• Genre Thriller

Sick of his debilitating injuries, Lincoln Rhyme has travelled to a world-famous spinal cord injuries center in North Carolina for some risky, experimental surgery. It may make him a tiny bit better; it may kill him. But before he has a chance to undergo the operation, the local police department draft Rhyme and his partner Amelia into a shocking new case. Using their forensic skills the pair desperately try to track down two women kidnapped by a psychotic young man known locally as the Insect Boy. After a cat-and-mouse game through the abandoned swamps of North Carolina, Lincoln and Amelia finally manage to find him - except suddenly Amelia, convinced of his innocence, breaks the boy out of jail. And it's left to Lincoln to find them both, while Amelia uses all the skills her mentor and lover has taught her to evade him.

Thoughts

The third of Lincoln Rhyme’s adventures takes place away from home, in a story that feels like when your favourite TV show moves to a different location for a special episode. It feels uncomfortable from the start, and there are bits of it that I don’t totally get on board with - I feel like Amelia was acting out of character for a good portion of the book, and there were so many twists towards the end I couldn’t quite keep up with who was who.

Nevertheless, these books never disappoint. I think I’ve read it before but I couldn’t remember any of the plot. You really get a good sense of characters, even brand new ones, from their descriptions of course but mostly from their dialogue - what is said, and crucially what is not said.

A really good page turner anyway, and a good break from the normal New York terrors (albeit a little early in the series). Recommended if you’re a Rhyme and Sachs fan.

Rating: 3 / 5