Part of Lincoln Rhyme, book 8
First published 2008
Lincoln Rhyme receives shocking news when his cousin Arthur gets arrested for murder. The evidence looks airtight, but Rhyme knows it's too clean, too convenient. He teams up with Amelia Sachs to dig into the circumstances surrounding Arthur's case. Their investigation leads them to Strategic Systems Datacorp, a company that collects and analyzes consumer information on a massive scale. The deeper they probe, the more they uncover a chilling pattern of frame-ups orchestrated by someone known only as "522." This master manipulator uses stolen identities and data mining to destroy innocent lives while covering his own murderous tracks. The case forces Rhyme to confront a tragedy from his teenage years that connects to the present danger. When 522 discovers that Rhyme and Sachs are closing in, he turns his deadly skills against them. The hunters become targets in a game where privacy no longer exists and anyone's life can be weaponized through information.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, enemies-to-lovers
Setting: Strategic Systems Datacorp
414 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: murder, violence