When wheelchair-bound criminologist Lincoln Rhyme is asked by the North Carolina police to help out with two local kidnapping cases, he has no idea that the kidnapper will come between him and everything he holds dear, especially his protTgTe and love, Amelia Sachs. 200,000 first printing. It's not easy being NYPD detective Lincoln Rhyme, the world's foremost criminalist. First of all, he's a quadriplegic. Secondly, he's forever being second-guessed and mother-henned by his ex-model-turned-cop protégé, Amelia Sachs, and his personal aide, Thom. And thirdly, it seems that he can't motor his wheelchair around a corner without bumping into one crazed psycho-killer after another. In The Empty Chair , Jeffery Deaver's third Rhyme outing--after 1997's The Bone Collector and 1998's The Coffin Dancer --Rhyme travels to North Carolina to undergo an experimental surgical procedure and is, a jot too coincidentally, met at the door by a local sheriff, the cousin of an NYPD colleague, bearing one murder, two kidnappings, and a timely plea for help. It seems that 16-year-old Garrett Hanlon, a bug-obsessed orphan known locally as the Insect Boy, has kidnapped and probably raped two women, and bludgeoned to death a would-be hero who tried to stop one of the abductions. Rhyme sets up shop, Amelia leads the local constabulary (easily recognized by their out-of-joint noses) into the field, and, after some Holmesian brain work and a good deal of exciting cat-and-mousing, the duo leads the cops to their prey. And just as you're idly wondering why the case is coming to an end in the middle of the book, Amelia breaks the boy out of jail and goes on the lam. Equally convinced of the boy's guilt and the danger he poses to Amelia, Rhyme has no choice but to aid the police in apprehending the woman he loves--no easy task, as she's the one human being who truly knows the methods of Lincoln Rhyme. Rhyme's specialty combines the minute scientific analysis of physical evidence gathered from crime scenes and his arcane knowledge of, it would seem, every organic and inorganic substance on earth. Deaver combines engaging narration, believable characters, and his trademark ability to repeatedly pull the rug out from under the reader's feet. Lincoln Rhyme's back all right, and the smart money's betting that his run has just begun. --Michael Hudson YA-The author combines wonderful examples of the powers of forensic detection along with plenty of bad guys and girls, plot twists, murder, mayhem, and environmental crime. Rhyme, who may be known to those who saw the movie The Bone Collector, based on Deaver's book (Viking, 1997), travels to North Carolina for an experimental surgical treatment with his aid Thom and prot?g?e/soul-mate Amelia Sachs. Soon after their arrival, the sheriff from a nearby town calls upon him. It happens that he is desperate to locate two kidnapped young women. The kidnapper is believed to be a 16-year-old orphan who is suspected of involvement in three deaths, two through attacks by stinging insects. Through chemical analysis of the dirt from the scene, Rhyme is able to learn much about the kidnapper and his travels. However, there are other sinister signs here-like the absence of children among the town's populace. The book is fast moving with lots of surprises. The story offers an additional inducement to recommend it-that of a candid look at a quadriplegic's life. The foray into environmental poisoning by a profit-driven company is timely, and the surprise ending will leave readers impatient to read the next installment of Rhyme's adventures. Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Lincoln Rhyme (The Bone Collector) is back in Deaver's outstanding new thriller. Lincoln and his partner, Amelia Sachs, are in North Carolina to visit a hospital where a new experimental surgery technique might allow the paralyzed Lincoln partial use of his body. But something is going on in this town, and the authorities ask for his expertise. Two local girls have been kidnapped, and while the police know the culprit, they have no idea where the kidnapper has taken them. Lincoln is a fish out of water here, and it will take his complete forensic knowledge to find the two girls. As the case progresses, he will be forced to match wits with Amelia, severely testing their relationship. Although the novel takes a little longer than usual to get going compared with Deaver's previous books, when the suspense starts, the pages fly. Deaver does a wonderful job of strengthening the characters of Lincoln and especially Amelia, who is the heart of this novel. While not as good as the other Lincoln Rhyme novels, this is still terrific, and people should be grabbing it off the shelves. ---Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. This new Lincoln Rhyme mystery is as intricate, well written, and enormously satisfying as its predecessors. Rhyme, a criminalist,