The Burning Wire: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel    by Jeffery Deaver Order:  USA  Can Simon & Schuster, 2010 (2010) Hardcover, CD, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson The Burning Wire is the ninth in Jeffery Deaver exceptional series starring brilliant, irascible, quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme (a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe). This time, Lincoln and the aides who go where he cannot - NYPD detective Amelia Sachs (now Rhyme's lover), Rookie officer Ron Pulaski, and FBI undercover agent Fred Dellray - seek a meticulous mass murderer who uses electricity as a weapon, while Rhyme also consults on a Mexican hunt for the hired killer known as the Watchmaker. The perp first manipulated the electricity grid and 'shot a five-thousand-degree spark at a Metro bus', incinerating a passenger in a 'shower of molten metal' and shutting down power in the area. As his attacks escalate, demands (that are difficult to impossible to meet) are made of Algonquin Consolidated Power and Light. Despite Homeland Security's meddling with the case (they've picked up chatter on a possible ecoterror group called Justice For), Rhyme's usual thorough forensic work soon identifies a suspect - an Algonquin troubleman who blames his leukemia on his on-the-job exposure to the electromagnetic fields created by transmission lines. Simply a matter of tracking down the suspect? It's never simple in a Deaver thriller. Stress adversely affects Lincoln's health - and ability to perform - at a critical moment. And there's the usual misdirection before the perp's real motivations are revealed from out of left field. The highly recommended Burning Wire delivers everything fans anticipate in a Lincoln Rhyme novel and ends with the criminalist's putting a private plan in motion, one that might mean big changes to his future modus operandi. Don't miss this one! Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews