The Stone Monkey : A Lincoln Rhyme Novel

Rating:
Summary: Another cracking read from Deaver
Review: Jeffrey Deaver is fast becoming one of my favourite thriller writers, and with good reason. While authors such as James Patterson and Dean Koontz seem to be taking steps backwards in terms of accomplishment with each successive novel, Deaver just keeps getting better and better.

The Stone Monkey tells the story of the Ghost, a notorious human smuggler, and two families who survive his attempt to scuttle the ship carrying them to the US. The Wus and the Changs disappear deep into the Chinatown network in an attempt to escape his inevitable attempts to wipe out the only surviving witnesses.

Enter Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sachs, and a new addition to the team, Sonny Li, a Chinese police officer who also survived the scuttling of the Fuzhou Dragon. Rhyme is locked in a race against time to track down the two families before the Ghost does, but the Ghost seems to always be one step ahead.

Deaver set himself a daunting task writing The Stone Monkey. The intricacies of Chinese culture, and particularly family culture, present him with myriad opportunities to shoot himself in the foot and possibly offend some readers, but the book is obviously meticulously researched and Deaver acquits himself admirably. One does suspect, however, that he doens't entirely agree with the woman's place in a Chinese family unit, and uses a few parts in this book to subtley show this.

All in all, The Stone Monkey is an engaging read and a cracking detective yarn, and is quite likely to ignite an interest in Chinese spiritualism in many readers.

Rating:
Summary: Better than THE BONE COLLECTOR
Review: THE STONE MONKEY is by far the best in Deaver's Lincoln Rhymes series. The main plot line revolves around Lincoln's effort to stop THE Ghost, a notorious Chinese "snakehead" (human smuggler) from killing what's left of two dozen illegal Chinese immigrants. When the coast guard zeroed in on the ship carrying the "undocumenteds," The Ghost had dynamited the ship, killing most everyone on board, except for two families and an undercover cop who manage to make it to shore.
This is the best of the series because of the research Deaver did on Chinese culture, specifically smuggling of human cargo. The book is generously sprinkled with such terms as "ju-jia" or piglets, the derogatory term for the people in the hold of the ship; "Meiguo," Chinese for Beautiful County or America, and "bangshou," the lieutenant who helps The Ghost accomplish his task.
The book is also replete with solid characterization, the best of which is Sonny Li, a Chinese detective disguised as one of the illegals. He clashes with Lincoln by smoking unfiltered Camels at crime scenes and by taking a much more humanistic approach to crime detection, as opposed to Lincoln's emphasis on the evidence. Li's favorite expression is "Ten Judges of Hell" in reference to the Chinese myth that the judges of hell keep a record of everyone who has ever lived, their faults and good points.
I've had problems with Deaver's loosey-goosey approach to plotting in the past; however, in this work, he manages to keep it real for the most part, except for one minor glitch where he has the Ghost switch places with one of the Chinese dissidents. The dissident has police protection, since the Ghost is out to kill all of the survivors, but that doesn't stop Deaver from having him sneak out and get involved in a gun battle or two. Despite this slight quibble, I'd put Deaver right up there with Ed McBain as one of the best at police procedural. It's easy to follow the case as it progresses as Rhymes has his assistant Thom write the clues on a bulletin board. We see these several times throughout the book as Rhymes analyzes new crime scenes. This is a good one; you'll get your money's worth.

Rating:
Summary: clever and well thought out thriller
Review: A shipload of illegal Chinese immigrants sinks off the coast of Long Island. It appears an explosion has occurred which succeeded in destroying not only the ship but killing many of the passengers onboard. One of the survivors is a smuggler of the Chinese into this country. He is a ruthless killer nicknamed "The Ghost" because he has never been caught and always is ahead of the authorities. The Ghost is intent on killing any of the other survivors of the ship. Involved in the manhunt to capture the killer is the quadriplegic police investigator, Lincoln Rhyme, with his assistant, Amelia Sachs. Rhyme has set up a police lab in his apartment and with the help of the officers in his division, is involved in a cat and mouse chase of The Ghost.
Jeffrey Deaver has written another successful thriller starring one of his most memorable creations, Lincoln Rhyme. Much effort and empathy has gone into the subplot of the plight of the illegal Chinese immigrant. In attempting to write a nonstop action thriller, Jeffrey Deaver resorts to certain stock devices such as some of the impossible escapes of the villain. Sometimes Lincoln's assumptions based on the evidence presented to him are a bit of a stretch. This is something that has occurred in the other Lincoln Rhyme novels. However, characters are well thought out and the story is quite clever and entertaining. Overall, a recommended read

Rating:
Summary: The Stone Monkey: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel
Review: With The Stone Monkey, New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver revives his most beloved characters, Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, and has taken his enormous talent to another level. The book abounds with Deaver's famous trademarks: deadlines every few hours, wholly unexpected plot twists, his breakneck pacing, and characters who are heartbreakingly real. This book reminds us once again reminded why People hailed him as the "master of ticking-bomb suspense." Recruited to help the FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service perform the nearly impossible, Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs manage to track down a cargo ship headed for New York City carrying illegal Chinese immigrants, as well as the notorious human smuggler and killer known as Youling, the "Ghost." But when the Ghost's capture goes disastrously wrong, Lincoln and Amelia find themselves in a race against time--to stop the Ghost before he can track down and murder two surviving families who have escaped from the ship and vanished deep into the labyrinthine world of New York City's Chinese community. Over the next harrowing forty-eight hours, the Ghost brilliantly and ruthlessly hunts for the families, while Rhyme, aided by a quirky policeman from mainland China, struggles to find them before they die and Amelia Sachs pursues a very different kind of police work that may have dramatic consequences for her relationship with her partner and lover, Lincoln Rhyme.

Rating:
Summary: The REAL "CSI New York"
Review: "The Stone Monkey" is another of Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme novels, and as usual it combines the intracies of crime scene investigation with cliffhanger-a-minute plot twists and turns, as well as the author's exacting research into his topic. You'll quickly realize that nothing is at it seems--you know surprises are coming, and maybe you'll try to anticipate the author's deviousness. And since the author lays the clues right out for you, it can be done (but not easily), so when the secret is revealed it's usually a forehead-slapping moment, when you realize you should indeed have seen it coming.

This time out, the quadriplegic Rhyme and his "walk-the-grid" colleague, Amelia Sachs (as spectacularly neurotic as ever) are involved with the underworld of illegal Chinese immigration. They have to fight not only the perpetrators, but possibly a mole among the various organizations--NYPD, FBI, INS, Coast Guard, U.S. State Department, the Chinese government--involved in the case. Since the book is part of a series, you know the good guys will win, but how? That's where the thrills are.

Notes and asides: on p. 282 the term NYFD is mentioned. Sorry. It's NYPD but FDNY. Mr. Deaver, familiar as he is with things NYC, must know that. Somewhere in Outsourceiana (Indiana? Idaho? Iowa? India?) is a copyeditor who thinks "wow! I saved Jeffery Deaver from an obvious error." Err, no.

Rating:
Summary: Not Anywhere Near His Best
Review: Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, along with INS, are in hot pursuit of the criminal mastermind and international fugitive known only as the Ghost...with the trail leading off Orient Point, Long island and a Chinese cargo ship carrying refugees and human slaves. But as the Coast Guard moves in to arrest, the ship is destroyed in a suspicious explosion and the Ghost once again escapes the law and flees into New York's Chinatown. He's determined to silence forever any survivors who could reveal his identity. Now Lincoln and Amelia embark on a desperate search, uncovering clues along the way that will either lead to success-or certain death. The book is OK, but the outcomes were predicitable and the answers came to Lincoln too easily. Seems like he had access to every bit of information in the world. He didn't have to work hard enough to get the answers
Someone should tell Mr. Deaver that there are 26 characters in the English alphabet, not 25. I found that rather odd, coming from a writer.

Rating:
Summary: When does the movie come out?
Review: So far my favorite Lincoln Rhyme novel. No re-hash-nopsis here but please pick this up if you would like to be entertained. Not only well researched, exciting, and entertaining but also transports the reader to Rhymes world.
Found editing questionables - same as Bone Collector - but will not blame author. They are few and the author has his heart well in the right place. Thouroughly enjoyable!!!

Rating:
Summary: Does not yield the best of Deaver
Review: I would say this book can be enjoyed or not depending on the reader

If you are a new Deaver reader and to this crime genre then you will be jolted by his tricks and turns but if you are an experienced Deaver reader seeking to drink the best juice of his brains as you did in past experiences I can tell you that this story was written employing old gimmicks that will not satisfy your expectations, because you can infer beforehand what card is under his sleeve

In respect of the story, illegal Chinese alien smuggling into the U.S, in my opinion exhibits some research about Chinese culture but poor recollection of INS procedures. The alien movements from the first time they set foot on US soil with no knowledge and not language look not plausible due to both time span and events. Well, miracles can happen !!!

The ending is poor too, our hero Lincoln Rhyme comes reeling off the whole truth hidden behind the tale in a very confusing way, vomiting one fact after the other in many layers and in few pages, all of a sudden, as to definitely nail down the bad guy. Well, miracles can happen !!!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Although this is my first Deaver read, it was indeed and excellent outing. I was familiar with the characters from the movie, Bone Collector, but at the time was not aware that they were literary creations. I'll read any other Deaver novel I can find based on this superlative introduction! (If only James Patterson would follow his example and resume writing like he still needs the money.)

Rating:
Summary: The Lincoln Rhyme Sagas Continue....Worthwhile Read
Review: Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are back in this spine-chilling novel. A famed criminologist paralyzed from the neck down, Lincoln compensates for his disability with his brains-and the arms and legs of his beautiful Ameila Sachs, who "walka the grid" for him.

Now in this story, Lincoln and Amelia manage to track down a cargo ship headed for New York City and carrying two dozen illegal Chinese immigrants, as well as the notorious human smuggler known as the "ghost." But when the ghost's capture goes all wrong, Lincoln and Amelia find themselves in a race against time; to stop the Ghost before he can track down and murder the two surviving families who have escaped from the ship and vanished deep into the world of New York City's Chinatown.

I found the book interesting and worhwhile reading.