Hi Everyone,

I’m back again so soon and inevitably with absolutely nothing new to report. So I won’t waffle and I’ll jump straight into the review.

Book 📖

The Empty Chair is #3 in the Lincoln Rhyme Series and I was very much looking forward to diving into this. My challenge of getting through this entire series within 12 months isn’t going too well as I have had a tonne more ARCs to read than I had anticipated. I’ll either have to find the time to squeeze in more to catch up, or I’ll spill over into next year.

Description 🔖

Lincoln Rhyme is due to have experimental surgery in North Carolina and Amelia Sachs has travelled with him for moral support. They’re not there long before the local authorities get in touch requesting their help on an urgent case. In the nearby sleepy town of Tanner’s Corner a teenage boy has been murdered and two girls have gone missing. Lincoln agrees to help, but only in the time he has available before his surgery.

The local police already have a firm suspect, but they are unable to locate him. Rhyme uses his vast forensic expertise to help locate the local teenage suspect but for the first time, Sachs doesn’t agree with him and is adamant that they have the wrong guy. Rhyme and Sachs end up working against each other and it becomes a high stake battle between them to prove who is right.

General Thoughts 🤔

When I first started this book I thought I’d somehow downloaded the wrong thing. It was such a different kind of tone to the previous two books that I was really confused. Then it all clicked into place when I realised where Rhyme and Sachs were and what they were doing there. I really enjoyed the change of location for this book. As much as I love the New York location, it was great to mix it up a little.

I myself made a small change for this and listened to the audiobook. It was quite a different experience and I can’t decide if it’s because of the audiobook or because the book is such a change of pace. Instead of hunting out a suspect with a big reveal at the end, this book starts with a prime suspect. Obviously there is much more to it than I was originally lead to believe and I was taken on an emotional rollercoaster through the investigation.

Characters 👬👫👭

I really liked the shift in relationship between Rhyme and Sachs. Although they had their disagreements before, this book really pushes them to the limit. My feelings towards Sachs changed a little because of this. I thought that her decision making was reckless and uninformed. Whilst she went off her gut feel, Rhyme stayed true to form and went solely off evidence. I won’t give any spoilers by including who ends up being right…or maybe it was a blend of the two.

Writing Style ✍️

I fear I’m going to find this section of the review more difficult to write as I progress through the series. Jeffery Deaver is obviously very talented and knows how to keep a reader on edge and hooked. That’s pretty much what I’ll say in every subsequent review unless anything changes.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

I’m still enjoying this series and I really liked the change of pace and location for the third book. There’s a small part of me that is hoping we go back to New York for the fourth, but I’m sure I won’t be disappointed if that’s not the case. #4; The Stone Monkey, coming soon.

😍😍😍😍😩