The Vanished Man (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel) | Jeffery Deaver

The Vanished Man (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel) | Jeffery Deaver | And now, revered audience! Presto!

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The Vanished Man (...

	The Vanished Man (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel) Jeffery Deaver Pocket, 2004 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 146 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Forensic expert Lincoln Rhyme and his protégée Amelia Sachs are called in to work the high-profile investigation of a killer who seemingly disappeared into thin air just as the police closed in. As the homicidal illusionist baits them with grisly murders that grow more diabolical with each victim, Rhyme and Sachs must go behind the smoke and mirrors to prevent a horrific act of vengeance that could become the greatest vanishing act of all....

A wonderful and superb thriller

WOW! This book is absolutely amazing. It has many plots, twists and turns and is just a carefully crafted story . Previous reviewers have said that it is an implausible book, but in my opinion, it is very credible and true to the world of magic. Also, the book exposed me the various elements of magic, things I wouldn't have known if Mr. Deaver hadn't introduced them to me.

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And now, revered audience! Presto!

A musician is brutally murdered in the rehearsal hall of a music school and the culprit, with a bang, a brilliant flash of light and a puff of smoke, vanishes into thin air from inside a locked room with no apparent exits. Within hours, a second victim is virtually sawn in half and the murderer walks away from the gory murder scene escaping the clutches of the police in a brilliant disguise that even Sherlock Holmes would have been proud of. When a bizarre third murder attempt fails, the coin finally drops. Quadriplegic forensic criminologist, Lincoln Rhyme, and his partner/lover, Amelia Sachs, having assembled the clues and the scant forensic evidence left behind at each scene, realize their target is a master magician who is basing his murder scenarios on historical illusions made famous by the likes of Houdini and Selbit. They've called him "The Conjurer"!

And like the polished illusionists he seeks to portray in his novel, Deaver uses sleight of hand, psychological and physical misdirection, disguises, ventriloquism, escapism and the art of physical illusion to create false trails, red herrings, cul de sacs, twists and turns and investigative dead ends that will leave you baffled as to not only who's doing the dastardly deeds and what is the murderer's motive but ... believe it or not, you won't even know who the real target is until very close to the end of the novel.

Deaver is a successful thriller writer and, like many of his genre contemporaries, will never be accused of crafting deep characterizations or composing literary fiction. But "The Vanished Man" is thoroughly enjoyable, utterly compelling brain candy that will have you absorbed and turning the pages quickly for hours at a time. In addition, he has fleshed out his story with a thoroughly researched series of engrossing, entertaining, educational and informative essays on the history, psychology and mechanics of the stage performance of illusions and magic.

Absolutely recommended to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

Paul Weiss

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Entertaining

Just when you think you have it figured out - you don't. Just when you think it's over - it's not!

A Twist Too Far?

In the Vanished Man, a killer is using every trick in the magicians manual, to murder innocent victims, and to lead the police in one direction then another. Has Lincoln Rhyme meet his match?

At first, I found this book an enjoyable read. However, I felt, there were too many twists and turns, even by this author's standards. Some of the events and 'misdirections' (of which there is many!!) used by the killer seemed highly improbable to me, and had me thinking they were too far fetched, to be credible.

I felt this undermined the storyline, and as the book progressed, I found myself becoming less and less interested in what the final outcome would be. Not a terrible book, but, certainly not the best, from this author.

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Deaver is good, but I figured out the puzzle instantly.

Deaver is good, but I figured out the puzzle of the Vanished Man instantly, so the story was ruined right from the very beginning. Relax, I won't spoil it for you.

But anyone can figure it out. It is not even half as complex as an Arthur Conan Doyle "Sherlock Holmes" adventure. I was so disappointed that such an easy trick as that was used by the author. I wish a more elaborate ruse had been employed instead and the book would have been enjoyable.

Deaver is excellent at prose and dialogue, but the main attraction of his stories are the labyrinthine plots that are SO inventive! Not this time though. Maybe you'll be lucky and won't figure it out on page 10 like I did.

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