Rating: 
Summary: Review of The Coffin Dancer
Review: If you enjoy reading mystery books The Coffin Dancer by Jeffery Deaver is defiantly one which you cannot pass up. This book is an exciting follow up of Deaver's first book The Bone Collector. The Coffin Dancer is very suspenseful and is hard to put down once you begin to read it. This book demonstrates the state of mind that the killer, The Coffin Dancer, is in as he carries out a job to eliminate three key witnesses to a murder before they appear in court.
The characters in this book are extremely developed and I was able to picture them in my head perfectly. This book always left me wondering what was going to happen next, and wondering if the detectives were going to be able to successfully protect the chosen victims.
This is a book that a reader is really able to get into, and will not want to put down. Reading this book makes me interested in reading some of Deaver's other novels. I recommend The Coffin Dancer to anybody who loves exciting, mystery novels.
Rating:
Summary: Definite page turner!
Review: Lincoln Ryhme is back at it again. And how!There are some really clever twists and turns in this book. I found it to be an immensely enjoyable page turner. The Coffin Dancer is a hit man who is known only by that name and he is killing a few specific people with knowledge of the man who hired him. My father tells me that the plot device of Ryhme being a quadraplegic is nothing new - that Nero Wolfe had others doing his work for him years ago. Maybe so, but having not read Wolfe books, this plot device is new to me. I've read several Ryhme books by Deaver and I'd have to say that this was my favorite. Check it out!
Rating: 
Summary: Dance If You Must
Review: A fair read but not as good as "The Bone Collector." Rhyme doesn't have as much to do in this one except get all mushy for Amelia Sachs. The hitman angle wasn't really a fitting crime situation for a criminalist to sink his teeth into. I will still read "The Empty Chair" (the third Lincoln Rhyme novel) because Rhyme is such an interesting character. I hope he has more to do in that one than in "The Coffin Dancer." This one just plodded along.
Rating: 
Summary: Superman (good) vs. Superman (bad)
Review: This novel is an example how a good idea, a well worked out plot can be partly destroyed by the wrong choice of characters. It is really disturbing to find two completely unrealistic characters - superman (good) and superman (bad) - in a realistic setting. Both supermen never make mistakes, well, not really. But they move in a world that is quite normal, and this makes part of the action improbable or simply unrealistic. The placement of the second bomb cannot be realistic; a highly sophisticated device like this cannot be organized and placed within a couple of hours. But superman (bad) can do it - easily. The constantly deceiving tactics of superman (bad) cannot be predicted or even guessed at. There are always several - realistic - possibilities thinkable. But superman (good) finds the right one - easily. And how can somebody murder eight US Marshals within minutes - sometimes noisily - without the people staying in the same house noticing anything? The author should have given the novel a fantasy setting and written about witchcraft and telepathy, but this story is not believable as it is. I admit, it is never boring, but because of the flaws I described it always a bit annoying.
Rating:
Summary: Truly gripping, intense mystery....
Review: Another great Lincoln Rhyme novel by Deaver! The hunter and the hunted...... The Coffin Dancer is a hired killer whose only goal is to seek out, find and kill. His motto is "delegate....isolate....eliinate" and he has done this with the perfection of the slightly mad for an inestimable amount of time. No one really knows just how many he has killed or how many more he will kill if he is not stopped. However, Rhyme and his assistant Amelia Sachs are also the hunters...tracking him down one miniscule clue at a time. No fingerprints, no DNA...no slip-up by this master of death, "there are so many ways to die" he says. And truly he does the Danse Macabre on the coffins of those he so brutally and unemotionally slays. The comingling of ideas- the brilliance of this man who cannot move- this paraplegic who uses his mind to overcome the deadness of his body with his genius ...all of these things make Lincoln someone to be admired and pitied at the same time. But you cheer for him that that light goes on his head as he again outwits the killers' moves.And you share his frustration and sorrows as he tries to drown himself in his liquor. All Deaver's characters blend and weave together like the wind in the willows. Pick this one up and you will have one very enjoyable, thilling read!
Rating:
Summary: Deaver has a new fan!!
Review: Actually, I had just read Devil's Teardrop before reading Coffin Dancer. But I still consider myself a new fan. Since many people here have discussed the plot, I'm not going to. Deaver puts a fasinating spin on crime solving, with Lincoln Rhyme's forensic skills. Sometimes I find that the deductions and conclusions drawn from a piece of sand or a small piece of latex a bit out there. However it does make for interesting story telling, and for all I now, may be very possible among forensic scientists. Both of the Deaver books I've read have truly suprise endings, which I love, and suspect is part of his formula. The action is mostly non-stop. The characters are fairly interesting. And the suspense grows as the story moves on. The only reason I didn't give The Coffin Dancer 5 stars is, that at times, the pace dragged on a bit. Otherwise, I'd say it is a highly recommended read. Next stop...The Empty Chair.
Rating:
Summary: First time reader
Review: This is the first novel by Jeffery Deaver that I have read. I decided to pick it up after seeing the Bone Collector (I wish I'd have read THAT before seeing to movie!) I finished it an hour ago & am now looking for more of Deaver's books to order. It is impressive, clever & fascinating. It keeps you guessing all the way until the last 50 or so pages. Very unexpected ending. I love the real feel of Deaver's portrayal of Lincoln Rhyme & the strength the character displays against his handicap. Although there are a few times when he shows frustration with himself for not being the able-bodied person he once was, the way he seems to have honed his mind into a razor-sharp weapon is inspiring. The charachter of Amelia Sachs is also a great addition. I like the way she never lets Rhyme get away with openly feeling sorry for himself & in return, he is teaching her to perfect her skills in forensics. They make a great team & I look forward to starting the next book, The Empty Chair, in the Lincoln Rhyme series. I love the two charachters & hope there will be more books in the series.
Rating:
Summary: A page turner with some unbelievable twists and turns
Review: All in all the coffin dancer is an excellent book, suspenseful, exciting and at parts a bit scary. The relationships in the book are well developed, especially between Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia. However, I have to remark that I read The Devil's Teardrop just before I read the Coffin Dancer, which seemed to follow a similar plot line, especially with the ending. In spite of this, I was still surprised by the ending and thoroughly enjoyed this book, but i have decided never to read two Jeffery Deaver books back to back now.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! it's great!
Review: Frankly speaking, reding the first half part, I thought it was boring..because the attacks and failures to catch the killer were repeated.. But I don't know how fast I read the rest part...subsuing the breath, I empathied with the people desperate to catch the coffin dancer.. and revelation and shocking reversal! Wow! It's greater than Bone Collector (though I watched it as movie..but had better read the book). Jeffery Deaver is an admirable writer to write this book.. But as for the rating, I saved one star..hoping more fascinating book..
Rating:
Summary: Really just about OK.
Review: Let's be clear about one thing. It is a page-turner and it does have plot twists that are real doozies. That being said, the forensics parts are really weak. Oooh he has a gas chromatograph! Wheee! As the late Professor Richard Feynmann said, "if you just know the name of something, you know nothing about it". That's the impression I got here - Mr Deaver knows the names of things, but not how to use them. The deductions of Rhymes are often outrageous - with so many possible alternatives, he can always pick the right one. The equipment at Rhymes' disposal give way too rapid analyses and results. But of course, such things are needed if you only have 48 hours to the Grand Jury. Dah-dah-dah-daaah! The relationship between Rhymes and Sachs is I think quite well handled. The "relationship" between Rhymes and Ms Trilling is frankly ludicrous.
| 
