The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver

I had this book on my TBR pile for AGES! And by AGES, I mean YEARS! Close to 10 years to be precise! It began with a battered and tattered copy my cousin left behind, which was then replaced with a new copy (bought at a super discounted price). And there it sat. I will explain why below.

The Bone Collector is the first book in the Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffery Deaver. In this book a serial killer is on the loose, leaving clues to torment the police into trying to save the next victim before it is too late. There is only one man the city police can turn to: Lincoln Rhyme. A quadriplegic who can move nothing but his little finger - a little.

Someone had told me many years ago that this book was graphic with violence. That was the reason I put off reading it for so many years (who wants to go to bed with that in one's head?). But to be honest, this one was actually quite tame for a forensic crime novel.

I completely fell for the concept behind this. The genius forensic investigator, a quadriplegic. The just-past-rookie patrol woman who he takes as his eyes and legs. He was understandably cranky. She was not a cliche. And talk about an exciting story! It has been a long time since a crime novel grabbed me (I have been finding them boring or 'nothing special' of late) to the point that I stayed awake into the early hours to read. I would sum this book up as gripping, exciting and un-put-downable.

The plot was very intricately done. While I do not think I will be as surprised as I was in future books I read by Deaver, I must admit that I was blind-sided a few times reading this. I did enjoy the fact that there were enough clues for the reader to take a good guess at solving the crime, but it was not one of those where the reader is going to feel certain about their guesses.

I loved the science in this. I have read so many forensic crime novels that I find myself knowing the steps needed. I love having my ego boosted as I announce 'use the fumes from super glue' aloud, only to have the smart detective say it two lines farther down. (I need the ego boost every now and again. Just let me indulge here.) It was situations like that that made me feel that the methods being used in the book were reliable.

I mentioned Amelia Sachs very briefly above (without even the decency to mention her name). I REALLY liked her character. While she was definitely insecure with what she was doing (and who wouldn't be, being thrown into that for the first time), she had enough brains and common sense to make me really like her and find her believable. I think I would have reacted like her had I found myself in that situation (you know, if I wasn't the cop polluting the crime scene with vomit, which is probably far more likely) and that made me identify with her. I like her cool head, her logic, AND (and this is important) her ability to actually listen and take the advice of people who knew more than she did. (Wow, do I get annoyed with characters who don't do that.)

If I had to gripe about one thing, I will say that the very ending had me rolling my eyes with disbelief. I mean, come on! But I will take the unrealistic, unbuyable ending over the more realistic alternative.

I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads. If I were just judging this as a crime novel, I would probably have awarded it 5 stars, but I felt the language, although perfectly adequate and acceptable for the genre, was nothing really worth writing home about. Lovers of crime novels, especially crime novels relying on science, will probably love this one.