The Vanished Man – Jeffery Deaver

For the first time in 7 years, I returned to the universe of Lincoln Rhyme, the quadriplegic forensic consultant introduced by Jeffery Deaver in 1997’s The Bone Collector.  The Vanished Man is both the fifth in the series and the fifth entry I’ve read.  In it, Rhyme and his crew deal with an illusionist using magic to kill while leading the police on a wild goose chase in regards to his ultimate endgame.

I’ve always enjoyed Deaver’s work, but never quite enough to pay full price for it.  Other than The Bone Collector, which I read in paperback around the time the movie was released, his other works were either remaindered hard covers, which were bought for about 1/4 the original price, or, in the case of this book, an ebook had as part of Amazon’s daily deal.

Due to the nature of the protagonist, there are many twists and turns in this novel.  One could almost say too many, as they kept coming even after the mystery was wrapped up.  That said, it was entertaining and has got me interested enough to think about picking up more of the series.