Type of bind: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 416
Printing Date: March 11, 2003
Publishing house: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: March 11, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 828792
Studio: Simon & Schuster
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Product Description:
The New York Times bestselling author of The Stone Monkey is back with a brilliant thriller that pits forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme and his partner, Amelia Sachs, against an unstoppable killer with one final, horrific trick up his sleeve.
The Los Angeles Times calls his novels 'thrill rides between covers.' The New York Times hails them as 'dazzling,' and The Times of London crowns him 'the best psychological thriller writer around.' Now Jeffery Deaver, America's 'master of ticking-bomb suspense' (People) delivers his most electrifying novel yet.
It begins at a prestigious music school in New York City. A killer flees the scene of a homicide and locks himself in a classroom. Within minutes, the police have him surrounded. When a scream rings out, followed by a gunshot, they break down the door. The room is empty.
Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are brought in to help with the high-profile investigation. For the ambitious Sachs, solving the case could earn her a promotion. For the quadriplegic Rhyme, it means relying on his protégée to ferret out a master illusionist they've dubbed 'the conjurer,' who baits them with gruesome murders that become more diabolical with each fresh crime. As the fatalities rise and the minutes tick down, Rhyme and Sachs must move beyond the smoke and mirrors to prevent a terrifying act of vengeance that could become the greatest vanishing act of all.
Amazon.com Review:
Presto! With a conjuror's flourish, the reliable Jeffery Deaver has pulled another winner out of his hat. The Vanished Man brings back Lincoln Rhyme, forensic investigator, and his sidekick Amelia Sachs, ex-model and beat cop, a team featured in four previous books. Their case begins with a murder in which the culprit, cornered in a locked room, seemingly vanishes into thin air. Rhyme soon realizes he's up against a master illusionist--and then acquires a conjuror of his own, a spunky apprentice magician, to advise him. The book is chock-a-block with magic lore and with details of the craft of illusion, which provide a fine complement to the engrossing forensic-science puzzles.
The characters, as usual with Deaver, are little more than cardboard cutouts. Even Rhyme himself, a brilliant quadriplegic and former head of NYPD forensics, seems more a collection of characteristics than a man. But Deaver's cutouts are sturdy and well-constructed, and the book's plotting and pacing--featuring twist upon twist and reversal upon reversal--are nothing short of dazzling, reminiscent of Agatha Christie at her best. Deaver proves himself an accomplished illusionist, misdirecting your attention with one hand while slipping a firecracker down your pants with the other. --Nicholas H. Allison
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Rated by buyers 
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In the Vanished Man, a killer is using every trick in the magicians manual, to murder innocent victims, and to lead the police in one direction then another. Has Lincoln Rhyme meet his match?
At first, I found this book an enjoyable read. However, I felt, there were too many twists and turns, even by this author's standards. Some of the events and 'misdirections' (of which there is many!!) used by the killer seemed highly improbable to me, and had me thinking they were too far fetched, to be credible.
I felt this undermined the storyline, and as the book progressed, I found myself becoming less and less interested in what the final outcome would be. Not a terrible book, but, certainly not the best, from this author.
Rated by buyers -
Just when you think you have it figured out - you don't. Just when you think it's over - it's not!
Rated by buyers -
A musician is brutally murdered in the rehearsal hall of a music school and the culprit, with a bang, a brilliant flash of light and a puff of smoke, vanishes into thin air from inside a locked room with no apparent exits. Within hours, a second victim is virtually sawn in half and the murderer walks away from the gory murder scene escaping the clutches of the police in a brilliant disguise that even Sherlock Holmes would have been proud of. When a bizarre third murder endeavor fails, the coin finally drops. Quadriplegic forensic criminologist, Lincoln Rhyme, and his partner/lover, Amelia Sachs, having assembled the clues and the scant forensic evidence left behind at each scene, realize their target is a master magician who is basing his murder scenarios on historical illusions made famous by the likes of Houdini and Selbit. They've called him "The Conjurer"!
And like the polished illusionists he seeks to portray in his novel, Deaver uses sleight of hand, psychological and physical misdirection, disguises, ventriloquism, escapism and the art of physical illusion to create false trails, blue herrings, cul de sacs, twists and turns and investigative dead ends that will leave you baffled as to not only who's doing the dastardly deeds and what is the murderer's motive but ... believe it or not, you won't even know who the real target is until very close to the end of the novel.
Deaver is a successful thriller writer and, like many of his genre contemporaries, will never be accused of crafting deep characterizations or composing literary fiction. But "The Vanished Man" is thoroughly enjoyable, utterly compelling brain candy that will have you absorbed and turning the pages quickly for hours at a time. In addition, he has fleshed out his story with a thoroughly researched series of engrossing, entertaining, educational and informative essays on the history, psychology and mechanics of the stage performance of illusions and magic.
Absolutely recommended to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.
Paul Weiss
Rated by buyers -
Deaver is good, but I figured out the puzzle of the Vanished Man instantly, so the story was ruined right from the very beginning. Relax, I won't spoil it for you.
But anyone can figure it out. It is not even half as complex as an Arthur Conan Doyle "Sherlock Holmes" adventure. I was so disappointed that such an easy trick as that was used by the author. I wish a more elaborate ruse had been employed instead and the book would have been enjoyable.
Deaver is excellent at prose and dialogue, but the main attraction of his stories are the labyrinthine plots that are SO inventive! Not this time though. Maybe you'll be lucky and won't figure it out on page 10 like I did.
Rated by buyers 
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WOW! This book is absolutely amazing. It has many plots, twists and turns and is just a carefully crafted story . Previous reviewers have said that it is an implausible book, but in my opinion, it is very credible and true to the world of magic. Also, the book exposed me the various elements of magic, things I wouldn't have known if Mr. Deaver hadn't introduced them to me.
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