Veteran New York Times bestselling novelist Jeffery Deaver rights the ship with The Cutting Edge (after a slight stumble with last year’s The Burial Hour), a twisting thriller that pits Lincoln Rhyme up against a dangerous killer.
A brutal triple homicide rocks Manhattan’s Diamond District after a deranged killer follows an engaged couple into a jewelry store before executing them both in cold blood. Initially, police believe the crime was a robbery, but that theory doesn’t sit right with Lincoln Rhyme and his partner turned lover Amelia Sachs, who take on the high-profile case.
Among the biggest red flags, Rhyme notes that after the killer murdered the couple and then savagely tortured the store’s owner, they left behind millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds. Clearly, those actions don’t fit the MO of someone looking to knock off the diamond shop, leading Lincoln to reanalyze things and come up with a new theory. Both he and Sachs believe that the happy couple was the real target, not the diamonds, and begin working a number of angles to find the killer.
As the case gains media attention, the murderer, dubbed “The Promiser,” keeps killing — attacking joyous couples in their happiest moments. With the city on edge and officials demanding answers, the clock is ticking for Lincoln and Sachs (who are joined by series regular NYPD Detective Lon Sellitto) to find the anti-cupid before any more blood is spilled. But for a killer who is smart and careful in his attacks, the investigating duo has precious little to go on, until a sudden, uncharacteristic mistake by The Promiser blows the door wide open. . .
Whereas some readers took issue with the political undertones in Deaver’s last novel, the author stays fairly neutral here, focusing entirely on the story itself. The payoff is huge, as Deaver keeps the plot moving along quickly while still building plenty of suspense as his characters race to stop the love-killing madman haunting the streets of Manhattan. The end result is a top-five book in Deaver’s impressive career, as Lincoln Rhyme proves that even after fourteen novels, he’s still got plenty of gas left in the tank.
Book Details
Author: Jeffery Deaver
Series: Lincoln Rhyme #14
Pages: 448 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1455536423
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: April 10, 2018
Book Spy Rating: 7.5/10
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.