The Cold Moon by Jeffrey Deaver

Lincoln Rhyme has finally met his match – The Watchmaker.

Synopsis (taken from Jeffrey Deaver’s Official Website)

Lincoln Rhyme returns in The Cold Moon, a roller coaster of a thriller that pits Lincoln and Amelia Sachs against time itself.

On a freezing December night, with a full moon hovering in the black skies over New York City, two people are brutally murdered—their prolonged deaths marked by eerie calling-cards: moon-faced clocks ticking away the victims' last minutes on earth. More murders are planned, and Rhyme and his team have only hours to stop the icy-cold, brilliant Watchmaker, whose obsession with time drives him to plan his carnage with the precision of a fine timepiece. While the cat-and-mouse search for the killer proceeds, Amelia Sachs must balance her efforts to catch the Watchmaker with her job as lead detective on the first homicide case of her own, in which she unearths shocking revelations from the past that threaten to undermine her very relationship with Lincoln Rhyme.

An unlikely ally appears on the scene in the form of California Bureau of Investigation special agent Kathryn Dance, one of the nation's leading experts in interrogation and kinesics—body language. Despite Lincoln's skepticism about witnesses, and her distrust of physical evidence, the two form a curious alliance in the heart-stopping quest to find the Watchmaker.

The rest of the team is present too—tech-minded Mel Cooper, dogged Lon Sellitto, hip Fred Dellray, and the newest addition: rookie Ron Pulaski.

Deaver's lightning-fast prose keeps the two cases racing along in almost real time, with more plot twists and surprises than in any previous book of his, as we realize that the Watchmaker may not be simply a murderous lunatic, but a far more cunning villain than anyone could guess, and the most terrifying and mesmerizing bad guy to ever come from the mind of Jeffery Deaver.


My views:

If you are not familiar with the character of Lincoln Rhyme, here are a few details about him (taken from my good ol friend Mr. Wiki):

“Lincoln Rhyme is a character in a series of books by Jeffery Deaver. He is a retired criminalist who is a quadriplegic due to an accident during one of the crime scenes he was working on, in an underground subway. However, he can still move his left ring finger and has regained his grasping function in his right hand through NFS. He lives in a New York apartment, which overlooks Central Park. On his window sill there is a nest of peregrine falcons. In the 1999 film adaptation of The Bone Collector, he is portrayed by Denzel Washington.”

Despite Lincoln Rhyme’s disability, he is still a good, if not the best, forensic investigator. That is probably the reason why he is still hired to investigate criminal cases which other investigators deemed to be impossible. As much as I want to hate Rhyme’s pesky attitude, I could not help but feel awed by his coping with his disability. He might be weak physically, but he is a far cry from being an utterly useless person. His indifference might be his way of warning people not to take him lightly or worse feel sorry for him.

The Cold Moon is a chilling super thriller surrounding on a serial killer who is not only leaving a trail of dead bodies, but leaving dead bodies that are clearly brutally murdered that they are found in the most grotesque way possible. The serial killer, calling himself The Watchmaker, leaves behind moonfaced clocks ticking at the scene of his crimes so his victims can die slowly waiting for their lives to end while listening to the tick of the clock. He also has a partner, a sadistic rapist named Vincent, who has a history of abusing women since he was a teenager. This is by far the most ghastly murder cases I have encountered in my reading so far.

In Cold Moon, Amelia Sachs is given the chance to work on her own murder case without direct help from Lincoln Rhyme. This was an issue for Rhyme since he believes Sachs would not be able to handle two cases at the same time. Throughout her investigation she is able to uncover scandals among the police force that shook her beliefs on the force and also her father – whom she always looked up to as an excellent policeman.

A new character is introduced in the name of Kathryn Dance, a kinesics expert. Kinesics (as defined again by Mr. Wiki) is “the interpretation of body language such as facial expressions and gestures — or, more formally, non-verbal behavior related to movement, either of any part of the body or the body as a whole.” So this way of investigation is a whole new thing for Rhyme as he only revolves around the solid evidence. I really enjoyed her techniques and theories; hopefully Jeffrey Deaver will include her on his future books.

There are so many twists and turns in this book. So many different cases, suspects, crimes – old and new, and scandals among the police force that will leave you dizzy yet make you want for more. Jeffrey Deaver never ceases to amaze me. The story has so many twists and turns, it will keep you guessing until the end.

I give this one a five star.

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Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Darkness falls…despair abounds…evil reigns…

Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesméra, land of the elves, for further training in the skills of the Dragon Rider: magic and swordsmanship. Soon he is on the journey of a lifetime, his eyes open to awe-inspiring new places and people, his days filled with fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and nothing is what it seems. Before long, Eragon doesn’t know whom he can trust.

Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle–one that might put Eragon in even graver danger.

Will the king’s dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life. . . .

*summary taken from the official site of the Inheritance Cycle


My views:

I just finished reading Eldest – book 2 of the Inheritance Cycle and I enjoyed it as much as book 1 - Eragon. I won’t make this review a spoiler, so I would leave it to you to find out what happens next. It’s great that Paolini started the book with a prologue summarizing the important events of the previous book. Christopher Paolini shaped the events in the second book in a way that would make you want (need?) to read the next book.

Eldest follows the adventures of Eragon and Saphira as they train with the elves at Ellesmera where Eragon is to heal, learn magic, and train to become a real Rider. Eragon is much stronger and wiser this time, and he is not as arrogant as he was on Eragon. But the cockiness is still there though, it makes you love and hate him at the same time. I love how Paolini showed the readers the gradual transformation of both Eragon and Saphira during their training. The bond between them can be so touching at times.

Eragon’s growing interest in Arya is also pointed out. However, as I expected, no romance has flourished, yet. I think it would be more cliché if Paolini delved into this further.

There are several details unveiled for some characters – Arya’s true identity and her life story, the history of dragons and how the Riders came to be, Eragon's true parentage, and some very pleasant and unpleasant(?) surprises that would make the stories more interesting.

I can sense a bit of influence from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings on Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle. Avid fans of Tolkien might scrutinize the Inheritance Cycle as an imitation of Lord of the Rings while some might just get into the groove for this one (as I have). The only addition here is the detailed subject of dragons. So this is more like a Dragonheart and Lord of the Rings rolled into one.

Eldest is longer, suspenseful, and has a touch of romance here and there. I think Eldest could have been several pages shorter, if Paolini cut back some of the lengthy description of events that are of no importance to the story at all. But all in all, it’s still a good read. I’m giving this one 4 stars.

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The Mummy by Anne Rice

"Robbers of the Dead. Look away from this tomb lest you wake its occupant, whose wrath cannot be contained.
Ramses the Damned is my name.”

Spoiler warning for those who haven’t read the book yet.

The Mummy or Ramses the Damned is a stand-alone novel. It took place during the early twentieth century. An archeologist and also a shipping magnate, Lawrence Stratford, discovers a tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh. He found some notes on the tomb claiming that the mummy is indeed Ramses II. Before Lawrence Stratford can investigate this claim, he was found dead by his nephew, Henry, inside the tomb. People believed he was a victim of the curse found on the tomb’s door.

The mummy and all the other items found on the tomb – some of them are believed to be jars of poison – are then sent to his daughter, Julie, back in London to be temporarily displayed in the Stratford house before they are taken to the British Museum.

Under Julie’s care the mummy awakens and the two seem to be instantly attracted to each other. Ramses, with superhuman intelligence, quickly learns the English language. He then hides behind the image of Dr. Reginald Ramsey, an Egyptologist. Julie brought Ramses to a museum and recognizes an unidentified mummy as his old love Cleopatra.

The plot thickens as Ramses tries to bring Cleopatra back to life by pouring the elixir to the dead body only to find out that the revived Cleopatra is a raging monster with superhuman strength and uncontrollable hunger left wandering on the streets of Egypt.

The story goes on as the protagonists try to find and destroy Cleopatra while a series of dead bodies have been found. In an attempt to escape Ramses, Cleopatra “dies” when a car she was driving was hit by a train, creating a fiery explosion. Cleopatra, without the others' knowledge, survived the crash, and awakens under the care of a British doctor in Sudan. She vows to find Ramses again someday for revenge.


My views:


I’m an avid fan of Anne Rice. As you all know I have a penchant for suspense and thrillers so naturally I would be drawn to the works of this author. I have always been interested in Egyptology, and finding a novel about mummies written by Anne Rice really got my interest. Like all the other of Rice’s books, The Mummy is a combination of horror and romance. The story deals more on the immortality and the emotional turmoil that goes with living forever. As with most of Anne Rice’s novels, the story has a bit of sexual flair on it. She is able to combine the erotic and the scary without going to the extremes in either direction.

I like how Rice portrayed Ramses. He is like the perfect man and yet so flawed in many ways that he seem to be human when the irony is, he is not. I’m a bit disappointed with the “heroine” Julie Stratford as she was basically just a weepy female. I expected a lot more from her. I enjoyed the wiles of the new Cleopatra though. A beguiling seductress with the strength of ten men – she is like an extreme version of the original Cleopatra.

The only thing that I’m disappointed in is the way Cleopatra “died”. Rice should have chosen another way – a more sensational way – in which an immortal can be somehow destroyed. It appears so lame that an immortal can be killed by an explosion caused by collision of a train.

All in all, I like the way Rice wrote this one where the events are not predictable. Also, it is not part of any series, thus making it easy for anyone who has never read any of Rice's literature before. I think the book is left open for a sequel but so far none has been forthcoming. I would really like to know what would happen to the other characters like Elliot, Alex, and Cleopatra, the most. If you’re an Anne Rice fan, this book is definitely a must read.

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