Book info

• Title The Twelfth Card
• Author Jeffery Deaver
• Year 2005
• Genre Thriller

Sixteen-year-old Geneva Settle is running from death. She may only be a bright high school student researching a paper on one of her ancestors, but someone sees her as a threat. Someone who will stop at nothing to prevent her from digging up the past. Someone on a mission to kill. Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs are called to the case. They may have tracked down some of the world's most brilliant criminals, but this particular hunt is posing more questions than answers. Where will their prey strike next? What is the historic secret he's so desperate to protect? And how can anyone catch a killer who leaves no trace? To find the answers, Sachs is going to have to search a crime scene that's over 140 years old and attempt to uncover a secret that that may strike at the very heart of the United States constitution...

Thoughts

I’m working my way through the Lincoln Rhyme thrillers, some of which I’ve read before and some of which are new. This one I came to fresh and what I’m astounded by is how each presents a new set of challenges for the crime scene crew in Lincoln’s townhouse. Part of the draw to come back to the series is to find out what’s happening in Lincoln’s personal life - both romantic and health-wise - but I’m impressed that the crimes are never formulaic.

Some of Rhyme’s criminalist processes are repeated: how best to walk the grid, the principals of evidence transfer, and so on. But each book has a unique and horrific crime to deal with. I enjoyed this one for delving into the history books, for dealing with a cold case, and for having fewer twists and turns and more layers upon layers instead.

I also really liked the Geneva character, flawed of course, but truly heroic and determined despite a difficult start in life. Great stuff.

Rating: 4 / 5