Steel Kiss

by Jeffery Deaver
482 pgs  (Lincoln Rhyme series #12)

We live in a time when many of the items we buy and use can be accessed and controlled remotely. Through an app on our phone, we can control the lights, temperature, locks, and a variety of other systems in our homes. Our appliances come with microchips that enable technicians and repair agents to diagnose problems and control them without ever setting foot in our home. Even our cars can be started, unlocked, and to a degree, driven without us having to be near them. We are quickly getting to the point where everything we buy will include technology of this kind.

In Deaver’s latest book The Steel Kiss, Deaver creates a killer capable of hacking into any of these systems and taking them over. He then uses them to target those who have upset him or who consequently try to stop him. And as the body count begins to climb, and as people are killed by their ovens, cars, microwaves, and cars, it’s up to Lincoln Rhyme and his team to find out who he is and stop him.

There’s nothing special about this installment to the Lincoln Rhyme series. It’s what you expect to get from Deaver. He does a good job of keeping you on your toes, lulling you into the false sense that you know what is going to happen next, and then throwing in one of his trademark plot twists. But after reading enough of them, I’m starting to feel like the surprises are no longer surprises. I know they’re approaching, I just don’t know exactly what they’re going to be. Still for a fan of the series, it’s a worthwhile read. 

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆