By now, Jeffery Deaver is quite popular among everyone after his bestseller The Bone Collector was made into a movie. That was way back in 1999. Cut to the present, after a couple of more Lincoln Rhyme novels this one is sure to add a feather in Deaver’s already feathery hat. Lincoln Rhyme (I like the sound of it) and Amelia Sachs, the two principal characters of this book, The Vanished Man, are on the hunt for a killer christened as ’The Conjurer’ by them.
The killer, a master illusionist whose acts of crimes leaves Rhyme and Sachs more confused about his identity than bringing closer to him. The extensive details of crime scenes and Rhyme’s analysis of them coupled with interesting characters make for an interesting read. The basic theme of the book is on magic and theories of magic with references to great acts by real magicians. Though the book is your another cop-catches-killer thriller, what makes it compelling to read is you can never guess what turn this roller coaster of a book is about to take.
At a certain point of time, you will feel (as I felt) desperate to rush to the last few pages to find out what really the killer is upto and get over with it but a word of advice, Don’t do it! The sub plots in the book also make for an interesting read and blend with the main plot swiftly.
To sum it all up in a word, The Vanished Man is awesome bringing you to close the book at uniform intervals and just make your mouth wide open with awe (trust me, I did that quite often). The book is also perfect movie material and I wouldnt be suprised to see Denzel Washington on screen with Angelina Jolie (from Bone Collector) again to take us through the journey into the nerve cells of the criminal’s mind. Go grab a copy before it vanishes off the shelves.