The empty chair

LINCOLN RHYME IS BACK. From the bestselling author of The Bone Collector and The Devil's Teardrop comes this spine-chilling new thriller that pits renowned criminalist Lincoln Rhyme against the ultimate opponent - Amelia Sachs, his own brilliant protégée.A quadriplegic since a beam crushed his spinal cord years ago, Rhyme is desperate to improve his condition and goes to the University og North Carolina Medical Center for high-risk experimental surgery. But he and Sachs have hardly settled in when the local authorities come calling. In a twenty-four-hour period, the sleepy Southern outpost of Tanner's Corner has seen a local teen murdered and two young women abducted. And Rhyme and Sachs are the best chance to find the girls alive.The prime suspect is a teenaged truant known as the Insect Boy, so nicknamed for his diturbing obsession with bugs. Rhyme agrees to find the boy while awaiting his operation. Rhyme's unsurpassed analytical skills and stellar forensic experience, combined with Sachs's exceptional detective legwork, soon snare the perp. But even Rhyme can't anticipate that Sachs will disagree with his crime analysis and that her vehemence will put her in the swampland, harbouring the very suspect whom Rhyme considers a ruthless killer. So ensues Rhyme's great challenge - facing the criminalist whom he has taught everything he knows in a battle of wits, forensics, and intuition. And in this adversary, Rhyme also faces his best friend and soulmate.With the intricate forensic detail, breathtaking speed, and masterful plot twists that are signature Deaver, The Empty Chair is page-turning suspense of the highest order, destined to continue Jeffrey Deaver's bestselling track record and thrill his legions of fans worldwide. JEFFREY DEAVER is a New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels, including The Coffin Dancer, The Bone Collector - now a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington - and, most recently, The Devil's Teardrop. He lives in Virginia