Customer Reviews

The Broken Window

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been a fan of the Lincoln Rhyme books from day one. The brilliant Detective, who suffered the same type of injury as the late Christopher Reeve, has now gone through some experimental work that has more feeling in his fingers, and body, but is still dependant on his electric wheelchair. His lady, cop Amelia Sachs, is his feet and body as she searches for clues by 'working the grid' of crime scenes and their love for each other transcends a man who cannot walk and a young lady who can try to be part of helping and learning as well as loving this man.

The Broken Window deals with Identity Theft. If you've never been touched by Identity Theft, count yourself lucky - it is a terrible violation and you have to spend a lot of time getting your life back in order. A brilliant villian, slowly takes over the lives of respectible men and women and he plays with them like a spider with a fly in her web. He can take their identities, ruin their credit, discredit professionals so they cannot practise their arts, even drive them to suicide. Oh yes, he also likes to kill them too.

So starts a game of cat and mouse with Rhyme and co. and a brilliant mastermind. What we learn is maybe TMI - too much information about the subject - we are numbers - everything we purchase on the Internet can be accessed and information sold/given to others to contact you to be interested in their products. You get on mailing lists and then get really weird junk mail and you find it all ties back to a purchase you made on the Internet. It sounds like I'm talking about John Twelve Hawks, in the Traveler, but it's Deaver's crafty touch.

He also does not let us forget 2 major projects of his - the continuing saga of The Watchmaker, and he gives us several healthy doses of references to Kathryn Dance, the kinesthics specialist in California that was introduced in a Rhyme book.

The book was as always excellent, dealing with this person tossing, Lincoln's once close cousin into a tailspin accused of murder, and Rhyme's memories of their closeness, and what happened that makes Lincoln continually think - what might have happened if...?

The reason I give it 4 stars is Deaver goes into SOOOOO much information on the subject that it is almost overwhelming. Yes you get the point. But I am not writing a paper on the subject.

It is a fascinating, frightening subject, and again, another fine Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs adventure.

Just keep an eye on your credit rating!

In the newest of the Lincoln Rhyme novels, Jeffery Deaver explores the world of identity fraud and the fact that there are people out there learning things about us that we are unlikely to want them to know. At the same time, he shows the ways in which they are doing this--the security issues which they face, the volume of computer memory required for the task and the precise sorts of information which they seek. Needless to say, this is as creepy as it is contemporary.

There are two villains at work--one at the periphery of the story, a man faced by Rhyme in the past, and one at the center, known to Rhyme and the members of his team as 522 (who recently struck on 5/22). Since he refers to all of them by number as well, this is appropriate.

The focus here is on forensics and computers, with a dash of abnormal psychology. The villain is plausible, nasty, and in for a major confrontation, though not quite the confrontation he might have expected. Amelia is in danger and Linc must rush to her aid in the only ways open to him. The world of the data-mining company is very nicely realized and just as weird, alienating, and plausible as we might fear. This is prime Rhyme, with a driving plot, an excellent ensemble cast, and even the chance to learn more about the private Rhyme, since his cousin Arthur is one of 522's victims. Linc must save everyone--relatives as well as loved ones--in this case. Structurally, the ending is different from what we usually expect in a Deaver novel, but I will save the details lest I spoil it for readers. Highly recommended.

The author tackles a very important contemporary issue in this book, and it was a real page-turner until about halfway through when nothing really new was happening. For one thing, Rhyme is a rather boring character. He's got one emotion: cranky. I can see nothing to attract a beautiful woman like his current partner. He doesn't have an ounce of charm, and we all know a strong woman won't be with a man who is devoid of it. So there's no "chemistry" there whatsoever. The story was fun when it was a true "who-dunnit" but when the author started using clever little ploys to fool us into thinking we had the guy, then it turned out to be someone else, I felt a little cheated and it felt very blah-blah-blah, gimme a break. And then, when the person it really was turned out to be sort of a deus ex machina - from out of nowhere and a dull nowhere at that...I guess I just lost interest and wished the book would end. Also, two side stories could have been really juicy, but they fell short: the one about Pam and her married teacher boyfriend. That came to a dead halt. Then the story about Rhyme's cousin Arthur: I wanted to actually experience the cousins making it up in the end. But then, since Rhyme is such a one-note johnny, I can't imagine how a reunion would have been very rich anyway. Let's put it this way: Deaver could take note of Dave Robicheaux, Matthew Scudder and Easy Rawlins, protagonists with depth, and inner lives heartfelt by the reader.

Rhyme and Sachs follow evidence. However, a clever killer finds out all he needs to know about his victim and his "fall guy" and "plants" conclusive evidence that wrongly convicts the innocent, the latest "murderer" being Arthur Rhyme, Lincoln's estranged cousin.

Killer "522" is brilliant. He has Amelia, Lon Selitto and Ron Pulaski all fighting for their careers and their family. He picks apart the team, one at a time. "522" knows everything about them; including how to hurt them, and their family. Endless virtual data leads to a real killer, who knows how to turn the pressure on those who are hunting him.

Like every Rhyme/Sachs book, this book also contains subplots; including one clever nemesis who escaped Rhyme, but continues to taunt him. Hopefully, there will be sequel and a final confrontation.

You will not be able to put this book down.

"1984" and "Brave New World" gave us a brief glimpse of the world they feared we were creating but "The Broken Window" takes it over the top. Every reader will shiver as they come to grips with the realization of just how much the state likely knows about their life.

In "The Broken Window", Jeffrey Deaver has pitted Lincoln Rhyme, his famous paraplegic forensic consultant, against his most elusive foe to date - "Unsub 522", a deeply disturbed obsessive-compulsive hoarder, an ingenious data-miner, a psychopathic serial killer and "the man who knows everything". The chilling theme of this novel is data - information, storage and retrieval, tracking, privacy, identity and just who has access to what. Unsub 522 is an ingenious master of the dreaded crime of the 21st century - identity theft! He steals data, reconstructs people's lives, destroys some information, rearranges the rest and is even capable of planting legitimate evidence framing an unsuspecting victim for his own brutal serial murders. Arthur Rhyme, Lincoln's estranged cousin, is one of these victims. When he is arrested, his wife pleads with Lincoln to investigate. She and Lincoln both know that, despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Arthur is not the killer that the police suspect him to be.

If you have ever experienced a frisson of paranoia about who is looking over your shoulder, you might want to think twice about reading "The Broken Window". If you insist on reading Deaver's novel despite my warning, your little shiver will blossom into a full blown fear that will sit in the pit of your stomach and keep you awake at nights wondering who is looking into the metaphorical windows of your life.

In short, "The Broken Window" is a first rate thriller with a gut-wrenching theme. But Deaver has also gone above and beyond the call of duty as an author and has brought his protagonists into the real world with a characterization and history that almost brought tears to my eyes. We learn the story of Lincoln Rhyme's father and his brilliant uncle. We discover why he hasn't spoken to his cousin for years. And have you ever wondered about the idea of a paraplegic having sex? In an absolutely fabulous sidebar that doesn't have the slightest scintilla of prurient voyeurism about it, Deaver explains how a paraplegic is capable of a loving relationship that includes a fully functional sexual relationship.

Highly recommended and then some!

Paul Weiss

I look forward to Lincoln Rhyme novels, so I was happy when my number finally came up at the library for Jeffrey Deaver's The Broken Window. As a technology geek, I *really* got into this story line. I'll grant that there was some level of "literary licence" taken in the plot, but it's still an unsettling look at what's going on with data mining and personal privacy.

Rhyme, the quadriplegic genius who takes forensic crime science to a new level, gets involved in a new case that's personal. His cousin Arthur is accused of a murder that he swears he didn't commit. The evidence begs to differ, however. Everything at the crime scene and in Arthur's personal life points in exacting detail to his involvement. There's some bad blood between Rhyme and his cousin, and he's not all too keen on getting involved in what appears to be an open-and-shut case. But he softens a bit and decides to ask a couple of questions. What he finds is that the evidence is *too* perfect... almost as if everything was staged to the nth degree. He's also able to find a few other murder cases that share the same "perfectness", despite the protests of the accused. The investigation leads to a data mining company, Strategic Systems Datacorp, who has a seemingly infinite amount of information on nearly everyone in the US. But their operation is shrouded in secrecy, and too many people seem to be deathly afraid of crossing swords with them. If someone at the company had detailed information about what the victims and accused bought, where they went, and what they did, they *could* create perfect crimes. Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs have to determine who at the company had means and motive. But if the hunted has all of Rhyme's information, just who is the hunted and who is the hunter?

I liked this on a couple of different levels. From pure story and plot, I had a hard time putting down the book. The identity of the killer stays nebulous for a large part of the book, so the suspense stays at a pretty high level. The other facet of the story is the whole issue of data mining and personal privacy. If all the information that's collected about you is gathered in a single place, your life literally becomes an open book. Not only do they know everything about you, but they can start to predict what you might and might not do with surprising accuracy. I think you can draw the inference to today's society. While it's true (I hope) that an actual Strategic Systems Datacorp doesn't exist, it's no longer outside the realm of possibility. This is a very good thriller with some interesting concepts to mull over.

In "The Broken Window," Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, as usual, are on the trail of a serial killer. This time it's the unsub known as 522 (for May 22 the date he committed the crime that drew Lincoln's attention to him)--a man expert at id theft. Rhyme sets aside the case he's been working on when his cousin is framed for murder in order to take this one. He quickly discovers that the killer has used data files to frame at least three other people, and the chase begins. Soon, we meet the killer himself--who speaks of his victims as "sixteens" (you'll learn why, of course), and crimes as transactions.

You'll also be introduced to the rather spooktastic world of a data mining company--and maybe you'll share that frisson of claustrophobia Amelia does when she visits the area where the data are stored. And: characters from past novels turn up to once again make your acquaintance.

Mr. Deaver opts for more of a whodunit than he has in the past--there are plenty of suspects, plus the usual surprises. And we learn more about Lincoln's origins; in a couple of places he reminisces about his cousin. As always, all the loose ends are tied up; as always, not before there's one final surprise. Rhymeistas should be well pleased.

Notes and asides: Those of "a certain age" will really feel ancient when they see that the author has found it necessary to explain who Joe Friday was; you'll probably skim over the material on pages 509-522 in order to get on with the tale, but when you've finished, the suggestion here is to go back and reread those pages.

When Lincoln Rhymes reluctantly agrees to drop an important case to pursue the solution to his cousin's recent murder charge, he enters the world of identity theft and data mining. For the first time, he faces an uncommonly evil adversary who "knows everything", which is exceptionally frustrating for a person like Rhymes.

I, like many other reviewers, have read all of this series and found this one to be a super page-turner. I frequently neglected my computer or watching the Olympics to get back to my book. I remember as I read that I bet Deaver put a lot of work into his books, so be sure to watch the 3-min. video that Amazon includes after the PW review - it's amazing!

While most of us worry about identity theft, I also remember thinking, go ahead and try to quantify me (data mining companies), I just don't think I'm quantifiable. But I don't think I ever want a dossier on me as large as the one on Amelia Sachs no matter how correct or incorrect. Is this for real? Perhaps fiction based on future truth.

Well said, Mr. Deaver. At any rate, knowledge is power in anyone's book!

In arguably one of the better Rhyme novel in the series, Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs take on a serial killer for the new millennium -- one who uses information to a chilling degree.

Dever takes identity fraud to an unnerving level with the creation of '522'. The '522' killer, who masterfully uses the overwhelming amount of information that corporation, governments, etc, have gathered about us (which Dever lists, spins and repeats on a scale that is both redundant and frighteningly Orwellian), to destroy peoples lives...literally.

Caught in the alarming web is Lincoln's distantly cousin Arthur, a suspect in a '522' murder. While weaving through a diverse cast of characters and suspects, and laying out a brilliantly plotted maze that suspense fully keeps us glued and guessing due to the killer's clever misleading tactics. Deaver also reveals a huge chapter into Lincoln's past and continues chronicling The Watchmaker, yet another fine touch by the author.

I only fear Rhyme may be losing a bit of his annoying snappiness as his contentment in his relationship with Sachs grows. Still, an extremely minor grumble considering this is by far one of the best thrillers of the year.

We're nearly all the way through the complete booklist of Jeffery Deaver, and generally enjoy his writing. He is best known for his forensic investigator Lincoln Rhyme (with sidekick/girlfriend Amelia Sachs) series, made all the more famous by the Bone Collector (the first in the set), made into a movie with Denzel Washington as the leading man.

"Window" is a representative story, and about as formulaic as the rest. A serial killer is knocking off victims, and lo and behold Rhyme's cousin Arthur is arrested in an open and shut case for the latest murder. When it seems the forensic evidence left behind is almost too conclusive, the police team suspects a frame. Similar murders reinvestigated point to the same perpetrator, and the hunt is on. Meanwhile, workers at a "data mining" company, a firm that specializes in assembling personal details and transactions about just about everybody on earth, are suspects and play a heavy role in the plot. To some extent, the whole book is an excuse to reveal Deaver's outlook on the growing lack of privacy and risks of identity theft and loss of "freedom" in the internet age.

We didn't find this novel particularly electrifying, as evidenced by the couple of weeks (about ten days over our norm!) it took to wade through it. The pages and pages devoted to the information processing stuff got tiresome - in this era of the "Patriot" Act and Facebook and Google excesses, this is hardly earth shattering news (even in 2008). While the plot was clever enough, the cops themselves becoming targets is nothing new for Deaver - so the whole thing just left us a little bit bored. In our estimation, "Broken Window", not even a particularly apt title, is thus just a rather average Deaver outing.