The Broken Window
by Jeffery Deaver
Hodder, HK$74
There are many reasons to read Jeffery Deaver. In seven books he has built one of the best crime serials on bookshelves anywhere. His heroes, Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, may have silly names, but they are likeable, original (Rhyme is quadriplegic) and clever. Deaver's plots are sharp, readable and satisfying. And in The Broken Window all these factors are present. Our serial killer is a techno-god who hacks into people's computers before he hacks into people's heads. He is just as adept at setting up potential perpetrators. Until, that is, he makes the mistake of choosing Rhyme's cousin Arthur. And yet, Deaver has also committed one of the great crimes in modern literary history: he dedicates his latest novel (are you near a bathroom?) 'To a dear friend, the written word'. Groan. What was he thinking? An author capable of comparing his latest mystery to Fermat's theorem, now this? He sounds like those 'luvvie' actors who call William Shakespeare 'Bill'. Luckily, this cheesiness is quickly superseded by Deaver's 21st-century take on the serial-killer genre. I suggest you read the book but skip the dedication.
