The Skin Collector is a thriller written by the prolific and popular Jeffery Deaver and features the quadriplegic criminalist, Lincoln Rhyme. The audiobook is read by Edoardo Ballerini.
This time, Rhyme and his partner, Amelia Sachs, have a couple of investigations going. While Rhyme is somewhat morose over the death of a very worthy and dangerous adversary, another killer is on the loose. This particular unsub likes to tattoo his victims with a good dose of poison mixed into the ink. There seems to be a connection to another killer known as the Bone Collector, the case that brought Rhyme and Sachs together. As Rhyme and his team dig a little deeper, there seems to be a more complicated motive than just some depraved lunatic getting his kicks. In fact, a more lethal conspiracy seems to be in the making, and Rhyme and Sachs find that this killer may have infiltrated their haven and targeting those clostest to them.
Ballerini does a decent job presenting this story, but it’s not a plot that I found all that memorable. There were too many callbacks to previous cases. I confess that I have not read many books in this series, so I was a little handicapped when it came to recalling or understanding everything that led to this particular novel.
Deaver seems to be a little overly fond of providing somewhat outlandish monikers to his killers. Rhyme starts off this one reflecting over his mental duels with someone known as the Watchmaker, who had recently been reported deceased.
Anyway, Rhyme is just brilliant and curmudgeonly enough to stay interesting overall. Deavber had some pretty good and macabre twists. He is another writer where I can understand why he is such a following, but I doubt that I will be a consistent fan. I may not return to his works in a hurry, but I will likely find my way back to his catalog eventually.
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