July Read/5

Title: The Skin Collector

Author: Deaver, Jeffery

Call Number: F

Number of Pages: 434

ISBN: 9781455517138

Book Description (from the flap of inside jacket):

            In his classic thriller, The Bone Collector, Jeffery Deaver introduced readers to Lincoln Rhyme-the nation’s most renowned investigator and forensic detective.

            Now, a new killer is on the loose: a criminal inspired by the Bone Collector. And Rhyme must untangle the twisted web of clues before the killer targets more victims-or rhyme himself.

            The killer’s methods are terrifying. He stalks the basements and underground passageways of New York City. He tattoos his victims’ flesh with cryptic messages, using a tattoo gun loaded with poison, resulting in an agonizing, painful death.

            When a connection is made to the Bone Collector-the serial killer who terrorized New York more than a decade ago-Lincoln rhyme and Amelia Sachs are immediately drawn into the case.

            Rhyme, Sachs, and the NYPD must race against time to answer the many questions the investigation uncovers: Whom will the killer attack next? What is the message behind the victims’ tattoos? Does the killer’s own inkling-a fanged centipede sporting a woman’s face-hold any significance? And what is his ultimate mission?

            As time runs out, Rhyme discovers that the past has returned to haunt him in the most troubling way imaginable…

My Read:

            This is another good read of the Lincoln Rhyme series: the eleventh in the series featuring Lincoln Rhyme-a retired captain who became quadriplegic at a crime scene collecting evidence. The fascinating part about Lincoln Rhyme is his ability to predict and anticipate the killer’s next target based on the evidence gathered from the crime scene.

            In The Skin Collector, there were scenes that gave readers clues on who the killer might be. For instance, why a helping tattoo artist became target when the only people knew about his existence and assistance was the forensic teams and Lincoln’s living-in aide? The only one person who came to visit Lincoln on the day the artist came to visit was Seth. Seth was the boyfriend of Pam who was rescued by Lincoln and Sachs years ago when Pam was a small girl. If readers paid enough attention with query mind and followed their own instinct then the answer of the possible killer was not too far-fetched.

            The part I found familiar in any thriller’s book is the abusive past in a killer’s childhood. And I found one in The Skin Collector. This finding intrigues me and it introduces me to the fields of true crimes, human behavior, psychology, psychiatry, and human brain.

            In The Skin Collector, the killer used poison to torture and murdered his victims. Almost all of the poison came from plants except one from fugu fish; all poisons came from the nature. This use of poison reminds me of another renowned British author-Agatha Christie.

            Relationships are important to human. In The Skin Collector the relationship between Amelia Sachs and Lincoln Rhyme is a cool one to me. Deprived of physical contacts and limited body interaction, their love and care for each other are reserved and so of science with coolness. It is another kind of romance indeed.

Reference: Lincoln Rhyme series

1. The Bone Collector (1997)
2. The Coffin Dancer (1998)
3. The Empty Chair (2000)
4. The Stone Monkey (2002)
5. The Vanished Man (2003)
6. The Twelfth Card (2005)
7. The Cold Moon (2006) (includes a brief appearance by Kathryn Dance
8. Broken Window (2008)
9. The Burning Wire (2010)
10. The Kill Room (2013)
11. The Skin Collector (2014)