teamfreak16's Full Review: Jeffery Deaver - The Stone Monkey: A Lincoln Rhyme...
Yin is seriously out of balance with its Yang.
Kwan Ang is a snakehead, a smuggler of Chinese immigrants into The Beautiful Country—America. Known internationally as “The Ghost,” Ang is also responsible for a multitude of murders. Almost caught in U.S. waters, The Ghost has scuttled his ship and killed most of the migrants and crew. After escaping, Ang begins tracking down and killing the survivors, who’re hiding in the underground of New York City’s Chinatown. It’s up to quadriplegic forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme and his protégé Amelia Sachs to catch The Ghost before he can kill again. Such is the premise of author Jeffery Deaver’s 2002 novel The Stone Monkey.
The snakehead is leaving a trail of bodies in his wake—he kills any potential witnesses as he races authorities to learn the locations of the survivors. Rhyme’s task is next to impossible—The Ghost is one clever, well-connected perp, and the asylum-seeking families are very adept at hiding. All Rhyme’s forensics team can seemingly do is gather evidence that leads them nowhere.
Adding to Rhyme’s frustration is Sonny Li, a peculiar Chinese detective who attempts to teach Rhyme inner balance and harmony in order to help solve the case. Sachs, meanwhile, is spending an inordinate amount of time with one of the few available witnesses, which could affect her relationship with the forensics detective.
The Stone Monkey is one hell of a suspenseful murder mystery with enough forensics work to satisfy most fans of CSI-type shows. Deaver masterfully layers in plot twist upon plot twist—just when you think you’re oh so very clever and have it all figured out, Deaver throws yet another twist into the works. It’s a wild detective ride as the two sides race toward the innocent families.
As he moves the story along, Deaver gives us a crash course in Chinese culture, doling out lessons on things like honoring one’s family—immigrant Sam Chang is prepared to die, if necessary, for the safety and betterment of his family. You’ll also learn the meaning of groovy words like bangshou and guanxi (connections,) and you might just find yourself referring to your boss as loaban or your red-headed friend as hongse after reading The Stone Monkey.
Of course, a story is only as good as its characters, and Deaver’s are up to the task. Rhyme is a forensics genius, interested only in facts and evidence, not Li’s “woo-woo” methods. He’s gruff and sarcastic, sometimes bitter over his wheelchair existence, and almost gets away with hiding the fact that he actually does care for the members of his team.
Sachs, meanwhile, is all business—a highly competent, take no crap policewoman who won’t hesitate to pop a round into a suspect if he makes a wrong move. On the other hand, unlike Rhyme, she’s empathetic to the victims, able to genuinely feel for them whereas her partner is able to remove his feelings from the equation. She’s a welcome breath of fresh air in a literary world full of bimbo’s and babes.
Sonny Li is the comic relief here, a wisecracking detective who’s so dedicated that he’s trailed The Ghost to America to apprehend him. Li relies less on forensics facts and more on balance and harmony to do his job, much to Rhyme’s chagrin. Of course, he ends up teaching the crotchety Rhyme a thing or two about the Chinese way of life.
The Stone Monkey is a gripping whopper of a thriller, a riveting story that should keep most fans of the genre sufficiently entertained.
Shit! He glanced down and saw the wires protruding from under his seat. He lunged for the top of the door with his right hand to keep from putting all his weight on the seat and compressing what he knew was the bomb’s pressure switch. But it was too late. The tips of his long fingers flapped against the open door frame and slipped off. He began to fall sideways onto the seat beneath him. Save your eyes! he thought instinctively, lifting his long hands toward his face.
And if that sounds like your cup of tea, then perhaps The Stone Monkey is for you.
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