The Midnight Lock: A riveting new Lincoln Rhyme thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Goodbye Man

Totally satisfied

Some books in this series are good, some not so good. I'd put this among the former, there's a return if the wry humour of Lincoln Rhyme, missing in the previous title, along with high-tech forensics, and even a nod to the non-PC community, a sizeable demographic not being represented on the net or in the media, but now and then given voice in novels about those whose views aren't ours. Also there is what we call in the UK a "phantom bricklayer", one who gets up to random mischief for its own sake. Deaver's work is always entertaining and cutting edge, so well written it puts almost all other authors to shame. Why can't they all write like this?

As always, Jeffery Deaver has delivered a fantastic read. I couldn’t put it down & loved all the twists, right up to the last page!

I am quite disappointed by The Midnight Lock, the latest Lincoln Rhyme story. Besides being rather long, the plot struck me as being overly contrived. The story unfolds from two different points of view, switching between that of the investigators and the criminals. In addition, there are multiple storylines to keep track of and I kept wondering if they were going to intersect or remain separate throughout the novel. Added to this. there are plenty of references to past cases and characters who appeared in previous Lincoln Rhyme stories, but if you have not read all the stories (as is the case with me) then this didn't help my understanding of the relevance of mentioning them. Furthermore, some sections are very heavy on detail; terrific if you are really interested in locks and locking mechanisms (and how to overcome them) or the minutiae of forensic examinations of dust particles, dead flies etc.. There are a lot of characters in this story but depth of characterisation is minimal which resulted in my not warming or relating, to any of them.However, while I was disappointed by this novel (probably because my expectations were so high based on having read the early Lincoln Rhyme stories and the amazing number of 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon for this one), I have to say there is one scene in particular which is really outstanding: that relating to the rescue of an individual from a burning building. One other plot development caught my imagination, namely that relating to Lincoln Rhyme's contract (no spoilers here, but if you read the story you'll know what I am referring to) ... but sadly this opportunity wasn't really developed as it didn't make any material difference to the plot and had me wondering why it had been included.So while, based on the number of positive reviews, this story has clearly appealed to many fans of the Lincoln Rhyme stories (and probably others new to these stories), I am sorry to say that on this occasion, I am not one of them.

Excellent read

Deaver is sort of hyper: evil mastermind villains driven by absurd manias, OTT violence and plot twists, good guys with knowledge and skills levels that would make Doc Savage blush. And this is a Lincoln Rhyme novel, so it's as mad as Deaver gets. On the plus side, he writes very, very well (which mitigates the OTT quality), he DOES do good plot twists (lots of them) and the whole things moves at a fair lick, with plenty of story instead of detectives examining their own psyche. This one has a villain obsessed with locks, which of course turns out to be only half the story. Seriously, if you like Deaver generally - that is, you can cast aside ideas of plausibility - then you'll like this.

I've always been a huge fan of the Lincoln rhyme series and once again I was not left disappointed. It was fast paced and full of twists that kept me going right until the end. It introduced new characters and there was three main storylines that were greatly woven together. I do however find that his earlier ones in the series seem more in depth with the analytical forensics and I used to like it when you could physically see the 'evidence' written on the the whiteboards which gave it more depth. But overall a cracking read and i anticipate the next one with much interest.

Another riveting and solid story featuring Lincoln Rhyme and cohorts. Many twists and turns and an interesting lock and key criminal. Jeffrey Deaver doesn't disappoint!