About the Author

Jeffery Deaver is the #1 international bestselling author of more than forty novels, three collections of short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into 25 languages. His first novel featuring Lincoln Rhyme, The Bone Collector, was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, and a hit television series on NBC. He's received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world, including Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers and the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers' Association in the United Kingdom. In 2014, he was the recipient of three lifetime achievement awards. A former journalist, folksinger, and attorney, he was born outside of Chicago and has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University.

Reviews

"Booklist" Intense and heart-stopping...leaves readers gasping at the stunning climax.

"Kirkus Reviews" Fair warning to newcomers: Author Deaver is just as cunning and deceptive as his killer; don't assume he's run out of tricks until you've run out of pages.

"Library Journal" Quick to the punch, "The Coffin Dancer" is diabolically packed with the good stuff: coverups, mystery, action.

"People" Deaver is a master of ticking-bomb suspense.

"People" Deaver...is a master of ticking-bomb suspense... Rhyme, now a forensic consultant, is more relentless than ever. Especially when, as in his chilling new case, he has a personal score to settle.

"Publishers Weekly" Revelations and reversals punctuate this thriller like a string of firecrackers....Superb plotting and brisk, no-nonsense prose.

"San Jose Mercury News" This is as good as it gets....The Lincoln Rhyme series is simply outstanding.

"St. Petersburg Times" Readers who like "insider information" on police and FBI lingo will enjoy details Deaver adds to the dialogue.

"USA Today" Deaver revs up the already supercharged tension by cramming all of the action in "The Coffin Dancer" into forty-eight hours.

Deaver has come a long way since his Rune novels (Manhattan Is My Beat; Death of a Blue Movie Star), and the measure of his growth as a writer is on display in this taut sequel to the bestselling The Bone Collector, starring quadriplegic forensic specialist Lincoln Rhyme. Rhyme is called in to track down a contract killer, known as the Coffin Dancer, who has been hired to eliminate three witnesses in the upcoming federal trial of Philip Hansen. The trial is set to begin just 48 hours from the novel's (literally) explosive beginning. Rhyme and his beautiful assistant, detective Amelia Sachs, have just that much time to ID the Dancer and keep him from murdering the remaining witnesses. Yet Rhyme has personal reasons to track the Dancer, which come out in just one of the revelations and reversals that punctuate this thriller like a string of firecrackers. The pace, energized by Deaver's precise attention, never flags; and if the romantic angle is a little obvious (Rhyme's seeming concern for one of the Dancer's female targets sparks Amelia's jealousy), Deaver manages to renovate many of the hoariest conventions of the ticking-clock-serial-murder subgenre. Another original renovation is his Nero Wolfe-ish Rhyme‘a detective who lives the life of the mind by necessity, not choice, and who thinks of everything but can't even pick up a phone without help. Trust Deaver's superb plotting and brisk, no-nonsense prose to spin fresh gold from tired straw. Literary Guild main selection; Doubleday Book Club featured alternate; Reader's Digest Condensed Book Club. (Aug.)

"Booklist" Intense and heart-stopping...leaves readers gasping at the stunning climax.
"Kirkus Reviews" Fair warning to newcomers: Author Deaver is just as cunning and deceptive as his killer; don't assume he's run out of tricks until you've run out of pages.
"Library Journal" Quick to the punch, "The Coffin Dancer" is diabolically packed with the good stuff: coverups, mystery, action.
"People" Deaver is a master of ticking-bomb suspense.
"People" Deaver...is a master of ticking-bomb suspense... Rhyme, now a forensic consultant, is more relentless than ever. Especially when, as in his chilling new case, he has a personal score to settle.
"Publishers Weekly" Revelations and reversals punctuate this thriller like a string of firecrackers....Superb plotting and brisk, no-nonsense prose.
"San Jose Mercury News" This is as good as it gets....The Lincoln Rhyme series is simply outstanding.
"St. Petersburg Times" Readers who like "insider information" on police and FBI lingo will enjoy details Deaver adds to the dialogue.
"USA Today" Deaver revs up the already supercharged tension by cramming all of the action in "The Coffin Dancer" into forty-eight hours.