Customer Reviews

The Stone Monkey (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Simply put, Jeffery Deaver is one of the best suspense novelist writing today. No other author can match his plot twists or attention to intricate detail. Best of all, he seems to be improving with each novel he writes, particularly with his Lincoln Rhyme series of books. The Stone Monkey is no exception.

The Stone Monkey is the fourth book in the Lincoln Rhyme - Amelia Sachs series (the others are, in order, The Bone Collector, The Coffin Dancer, and the Empty Chair). Rhyme is a quadriplegic and a famous forensic scientist. His partner, Sachs, is a redhead who acts as Rhyme's legs, 'walking the grid' at crime scenes. Together, they make a formidable crime fighting team.

The Stone Monkey picks up with the Coast Guard closing in on a ship filled with illegal immigrants trying to enter the US. Rhyme has found the ship and the police are trying to apprehend the notorious human smuggler known as the ghost. After blowing up the ship and killing most of the passengers, the Ghost escapes. Rhyme must find him before he kills the two familes that survived.

From this point, the plot rides like a roller coaster. The trademark Deaver twist are present and nothing is as it seems. The characters are well developed and interesting. Sonny Li makes a great addition to the team and provides some comedic relief. As readers have come to expect from Deaver, the ending is great as well.

Highly recommended to fans of Jeffery Deaver, James Patterson, John Sandford, and anyone else looking for a suspenseful thriller.

THE STONE MONKEY is by far the best in Deaver's Lincoln Rhymes series. The main plot line revolves around Lincoln's effort to stop THE Ghost, a notorious Chinese "snakehead" (human smuggler) from killing what's left of two dozen illegal Chinese immigrants. When the coast guard zeroed in on the ship carrying the "undocumenteds," The Ghost had dynamited the ship, killing most everyone on board, except for two families and an undercover cop who manage to make it to shore.
This is the best of the series because of the research Deaver did on Chinese culture, specifically smuggling of human cargo. The book is generously sprinkled with such terms as "ju-jia" or piglets, the derogatory term for the people in the hold of the ship; "Meiguo," Chinese for Beautiful County or America, and "bangshou," the lieutenant who helps The Ghost accomplish his task.
The book is also replete with solid characterization, the best of which is Sonny Li, a Chinese detective disguised as one of the illegals. He clashes with Lincoln by smoking unfiltered Camels at crime scenes and by taking a much more humanistic approach to crime detection, as opposed to Lincoln's emphasis on the evidence. Li's favorite expression is "Ten Judges of Hell" in reference to the Chinese myth that the judges of hell keep a record of everyone who has ever lived, their faults and good points.
I've had problems with Deaver's loosey-goosey approach to plotting in the past; however, in this work, he manages to keep it real for the most part, except for one minor glitch where he has the Ghost switch places with one of the Chinese dissidents. The dissident has police protection, since the Ghost is out to kill all of the survivors, but that doesn't stop Deaver from having him sneak out and get involved in a gun battle or two. Despite this slight quibble, I'd put Deaver right up there with Ed McBain as one of the best at police procedural. It's easy to follow the case as it progresses as Rhymes has his assistant Thom write the clues on a bulletin board. We see these several times throughout the book as Rhymes analyzes new crime scenes. This is a good one; you'll get your money's worth.

After I read the Bone Collector a few summers ago, I tore into everything else that Jeffery Deaver had produced. If you are just getting to know Deaver through the Lincoln Rhyme novels, some of his best fiction still awaits you. Praying for Sleep, A Maiden's Grave, The Devil's Teardrop, and many other equally devious books are in your future if you so desire. The Stone Monkey is an excellent detective story filled with intriguing forensic details and engaging characters. It also contains the Jeffery Deaver trademark twists and turns in the plot that will keep you guessing. If there is any weakness to Deaver's style it is that ALL his books have a major plot twist in them and so his fans are no longer surprised when the big knockout punch comes. Even knowing that about Deaver, as I read this book, I made my predictions and smugly assumed that I knew how this one was going to turn out...and while I did see one major event coming, I was certainly fooled by the big twist. If you loved the first three Lincoln Rhyme books you will not be disappointed. If you've only read the Lincoln Rhyme books, delve deeper into the other books of the Deaver library...there are plenty of twists lurking in their pages too.

The movie "The Bone Collector" started me reading Deaver and his characters of Rhyme and Sachs got me hooked, so I read the other 2 in the Rhyme series. I could not put "The Stone Monkey" down once I started reading. It is really that good, and as usual, suspenseful. I agree with another reviewer that the relationship between Rhyme and Sachs should be explored more fully, but no complaints about this book; I only wish I hadn't read it so fast.

I haven't read a Lincoln Rhyme book since Bone Collector and I now see what I have missed. Stone Monkey was a great addition to the series, again featuring Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sachs and some great new characters, particularly Chinese cop, Sonny Li.

The scene is set off Long Island on a Chinese ship carrying illegal aliens who come to the U.S. to avoid persecution in China. When the human smuggler, the Ghost, sees that the ship is to be intercepted by the Coast Guard, he blows it up. Thus begins a cat-and-mouse tale of intrigue, following the trail of the escaped Chinese aliens, the Ghost determined to track them down and kill them, and Lincoln Rhyme, FBI, INS, and NYPD, looking to find the Ghost before he kills the Chinese.

Good forensic investigation of trace evidence at the crime scenes, including one nifty search of the submerged ship, produces some near dramatic near-misses and face-offs. The plot twists and red herrings really surprised me and turned the plot in new directions that I would not have suspected. Deaver also uses the tool of letting the reader know some pertinent info before the police so you are almost shouting at them to look at the new evidence to catch the Ghost.

I really liked the new character, a chinese cop named Sonny Li. He describes himself as "one good f--- cop, I'm saying". His Tao philosophy and insights at first annoy Rhyme and Sachs but when some of his guesses prove right, they begin to pay attention. Li also provides some insights to Rhyme who is considering some risky surgery that might give him more movement in his hand. I also enjoyed the discussion of Chinese medicine and Feng Shui, the art of designing to provide good luck.

Many stories either start slow, plod in the middle or drag on in the ending. This plot took off at a breakneck pace and never slowed down. Highly recommended.

The fourth thriller featuring NYPD criminologist Lincoln Rhyme is the best one yet. Deaver has finally crafted a fascinating, twisted plot that is worthy of his compelling creation.

"The Stone Monkey" is a fascinating thriller, rich in its intricate details and insightful portrayal of Chinese culture and the life of Chinese-Americans.

Deaver has continued to develop his main characters since they were introduced in "The Bone Collector" (1996), and they have emerged as more-rounded and interesting.

The author has also turned out the best plot so far in this series, with just the right mix of tense action, suspense, and -- his trademark -- fascinating forensic investigation.

This ranks as his best book so far.

Reviewed by David Montgomery, MysteryInkOnline.com

I am a big fan of Jeffrey Deaver, and especially his Lincoln Rhyme series. The newest entry in the series is another fast paced thriller, but far less involving than his previous books. I am not sure if I am getting tired of Rhyme's domineering manner, or the relationship between Lincoln and Amelia, but some spark was missing from the book in regards to their relationship. On the other hand the introduction of the Chinese police officer Sonny Li was a great addition, and he virtually steals the book whenever his character is around.

The story of a group of illegal Chinese immigrants who are hunted down by the smuggler who brought them to this country was
very interesting, and I learned a lot about a subject I never gave much thought to. The villainous Ghost almost seems indestructible, however I figured out his identity long before the revelation in the book, so it was not much of a shock to me. There seemed to be far fewer of Deaver's trademark twists and turns here, and I never had that edge of my seat feeling until the last forty or so pages of the book. Overall a pretty good thriller, but those of us who love Deaver probably expect more, because he is so good at what he does. Still an average book from this author is much better than most books of this genre out there.

Yet another excellent work by Deaver. Having the saavy, irascible Lincoln Rhyme back in action is like seeing an old friend again. Deaver seems to be at his best with Lincoln - and this new novel ranks among his most compelling, but also with the most heart (e.g. chapter 29). Our usual cast of characters is back, and although I agree that I would've liked more development on the relationship between Amelia and Lincoln, I was not disappointed. The plot is masterful, and the addition of Sonny Li will tug at the heartstrings and funny bones of all faithful Deaver followers. Simply a must-read. Thank you Jeffery.

Jeffrey Deaver is fast becoming one of my favourite thriller writers, and with good reason. While authors such as James Patterson and Dean Koontz seem to be taking steps backwards in terms of accomplishment with each successive novel, Deaver just keeps getting better and better.

The Stone Monkey tells the story of the Ghost, a notorious human smuggler, and two families who survive his attempt to scuttle the ship carrying them to the US. The Wus and the Changs disappear deep into the Chinatown network in an attempt to escape his inevitable attempts to wipe out the only surviving witnesses.

Enter Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sachs, and a new addition to the team, Sonny Li, a Chinese police officer who also survived the scuttling of the Fuzhou Dragon. Rhyme is locked in a race against time to track down the two families before the Ghost does, but the Ghost seems to always be one step ahead.

Deaver set himself a daunting task writing The Stone Monkey. The intricacies of Chinese culture, and particularly family culture, present him with myriad opportunities to shoot himself in the foot and possibly offend some readers, but the book is obviously meticulously researched and Deaver acquits himself admirably. One does suspect, however, that he doens't entirely agree with the woman's place in a Chinese family unit, and uses a few parts in this book to subtley show this.

All in all, The Stone Monkey is an engaging read and a cracking detective yarn, and is quite likely to ignite an interest in Chinese spiritualism in many readers.

As usual Deaver takes a subject and covers it thoroughly. This story is about illegal Chinese aliens. You think you have the story figured out and than he throws in one of his curves and you have to try to figure the story out all over again. My friends and I wish he would put more in the story about the personal side of Lincoln and Amelia's relationship.