Lincoln Rhyme, who is a depressed quadrapeligic had to retire his work from the force due to his disabilities. But that didn't stop him from using his mind with his co-worker friends to solve this case of a diabolical killer on the run.
This killer was fascinated with his victims bones. He would kill them mailiciously, and keep the bones hidden away. The usual pattern would be to drive a taxicab to the airport, pick up his victims, and then terrorize them before he murdered them.
Lincoln and his friends draw clues from the tiniest pieces of evidence, and put this crazy picture together. The surprising fact is, that this monster has been really close to Lincoln all along- and the ending has a real surprise in store for readers.
The forays into bits of arcane New York history, as well as the sleuthing done almost entirely through the application of forensics and deductive reasoning, make for a very interesting read. While at times it seems that no one could be as uncannily accurate as Rhyme in deciphering the meaning of the physical evidence, this contrivance does serve to move the plot along. With the story line so engrossing and the crime scenes horrific, as well as ingenious, it is the kind of book that is hard to put down, because you simply cannot wait to see what happens. The surprise ending is the icing on the cake.
Assisting Rhyme with his work is Police Officer Sachs who, while not as compelling a character as Rhyme, is essential to the story. It is her character who does the 'heavy lifting' so to speak. Highly intelligent and resourceful, with an innate appreciation of the importance of physical evidence, she inspects and preserves the crime scenes, as well as gathers the physical evidence from which Rhyme ultimately weaves his magic. She also serves as somewhat of a Deus Ex Machina in that she saves the day in more ways than one.
Sachs is a wonderful foil for Rhyme in that she runs hot to his cold. She is driven by her desire to help others, as well as by her own personal demons, while he is ever the calm, cool, collected clinician, whose desire to preserve a crime scene may supercede the milk of human kindness latent within his emotionally atrophied soul. The personal connection that Rhyme ultimately develops with Officer Sachs is one that leaves you hoping that they will be teamed up again in yet another novel.
Description in Spanish: Lincoln Rhyme, uno de los principales criminales forenses del mundo, está paralítico en cuello para abajo, por lo que vive atado a su cama. Cuando planea suicidarse recibe la llamada de un antiguo compañero: enterrada en una vía de tren del West Side neoyorquino se ha encontrado la mano de un hombre que cogió un taxi del que nunca saldría... su conductor era "&el coleccionista de huesos"&.Sólo Rhyme puede descifrar las pistas que va dejando este inteligentísimo psicópata. La oficial de policía Amelia Sachs será sus brazos y sus piernas en una frenética y apasionante carrera para detener el horror. Esta novela inspiró al realizador Phillip Noyce para su película El coleccionista de huesos, protagonizada por Denzel Washington y Angelina Jolie.