The Broken Window

The Broken Window: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel (Lincoln Rhyme) by Jeffery Deaver ~~

In bestseller Deaver's entertaining eighth Lincoln Rhyme novel (after The Cold Moon), Rhyme, a forensic consultant for the NYPD, and his detective partner, Amelia Sachs, take on a psychotic mastermind who uses data mining—the business of the twenty-first century—not only to select and hunt down his victims but also to frame the crimes on complete innocents. Rhyme is reluctantly drawn into a case involving his estranged cousin, Arthur, who's been charged with first-degree murder. But when Rhyme and his crew look into the strange set of circumstances surrounding his cousin's alleged crime, they discover tangential connections to a company that specializes in collecting and analyzing consumer data. Further investigation leads them to some startlingly Orwellian revelations: Big Brother is watching your every move and could be a homicidal maniac. The topical subject matter makes the story line particularly compelling, while longtime fans will relish Deaver's intimate exploration of a tragedy from Rhyme's adolescence.

If you never want to know how easy it is for someone to steal your identity and take over your life - don't read this book. The author did an incredible amount of research on this topic and it shows in the storytelling. However, the whole concept of identity theft, and how simple it is for someone to do, completely freaked me out! It's scary what someone can find out about you and how they can use that information. I thought this was a great addition to the Rhymes/Sachs story. It also finally gives us a glimpse into Lincoln's childhood and some of the things that made him the man he is today.