"Lincoln Rhyme was once a brilliant criminologist, a genius in the field of forensics--until an accident left him physically and emotionally shattered. But now a diabolical killer is challenging Rhyme to a terrifying and ingenious duel of wits. With police detective Amelia Sachs by his side, Rhyme must follow a labyrinth of clues that reaches back to a dark chapter in New York City's past--and reach further into the darkness of the mind of a madman...

Trying to discover why a Harlem high school student is being targeted for murder, quadriplegic detective Lincoln Rhyme and his protegee, Amelia Sachs, look for answers in the student's term paper about her civil rights activist ancestor.

Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are pitched against a Watchmaker, who plans his carnage with the precision of a timepiece.

A cat-and-mouse game between New York police and a killer, hired to eliminate a trio of witnesses in a trial. He has already killed one and detectives Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic, and Amelia Sachs have to catch him before he kills the other two. By the author of The Bone Collector.

"A woman awakes in the morning to find that someone has picked her apartment's supposedly impregnable door lock and rearranged personal items, even sitting beside her while she slept. The intrusion, the police learn, is a message to the entire city of carnage to come. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are brought in to investigate and soon learn that the sociopathic intruder, who calls himself 'the Locksmith' can break through any lock or security system...

This thriller pits forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs against an unstoppable "invisible" killer. As the fatalities rise and the minutes tick down, they must move beyond the smoke and mirrors to prevent a terrifying act of vengeance that could become the greatest vanishing act of all.