Helpful Score: 2
I usually enjoy the Lincoln Rhyme series and this installment was no exception however, having been the victim of (a fairly mild case of) identity theft this one really hit home. If you've been educated at all in the basics of identity theft you'll see the truth behind the basic premise and if you have a working knowledge (even a rudimentary one) of data mining it'll scare the crap out of you.
I saw that another review mentioned data mining off of the internet but Deaver really presents the information well and makes a point of showing that it is most certainly *not* an internet exclusive danger and, in fact, that our personal information is every bit as vulnerable offline.
So bottom line for this book: you get a quick and dirty education on privacy issues and vulnerabilities in our time presented in an entertaining and engrossing story format (no dry lectures here) with somewhat of a surprise ending- I'm pretty good at figuring out who the bad guy is but I never figured this one out until he told us when, of course, I immediately kicked myself for not putting it together. Very well done and I'm looking forward to the next book.
I saw that another review mentioned data mining off of the internet but Deaver really presents the information well and makes a point of showing that it is most certainly *not* an internet exclusive danger and, in fact, that our personal information is every bit as vulnerable offline.
So bottom line for this book: you get a quick and dirty education on privacy issues and vulnerabilities in our time presented in an entertaining and engrossing story format (no dry lectures here) with somewhat of a surprise ending- I'm pretty good at figuring out who the bad guy is but I never figured this one out until he told us when, of course, I immediately kicked myself for not putting it together. Very well done and I'm looking forward to the next book.
Very good book, but not recommended reading for the paranoid or conspiracy theorist. It made me want to start paying cash for everything. Jeffrey Deaver displayed his usual excellence, with lots of twists and turns. The only problem is that I have to wait a year for the next one!
Helpful Score: 2
I couldn't get into this book this time, it has too much technical stuff in it and kind of hard to keep up with, it got to be too complicated and too much description of everything.
Helpful Score: 2
I loved this book. It had so many twists and turns. I thought I had it figured out several times - but was wrong! I tried to put it down several times but couldn't leave it very long.
I highly recommend this book. You'll enjoy it.
I highly recommend this book. You'll enjoy it.
Helpful Score: 2
Deaver does his homework. In The Broken Window, he tells enough about data mining - the collection of intimate details about individuals' lives by big corporations, who then pass this information on to advertisers, politicians ... and sometimes criminals - to make a normal person paranoid! An original plot that will make you think next time you commit personal data to paper or computer. A good read!
Helpful Score: 1
Plenty of twists and turns. Really scary look at what is happening in this information age. Great read as usual.
Crystal S. (crystal-short) reviewed The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme, Bk 8) on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Another great Lincoln Rhyme novel. This one had me guessing wrong all the way to the end. Data mining, or identity theft sets the scene for Rhyme to help his own cousin out of a hard spot and allows the reader to have a glimpse of what life was like for Rhyme growing up. This book was hard to put down, except for a chapter where it told about a data file by identifying everything in the file. Skip over this chapter and you will be happy with the book.
Helpful Score: 1
A page turner! This book makes you wonder how private your life really is...
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book and my husband, who doesn't read, finished it in less than a week.
Helpful Score: 1
An engaging and intense book. Deaver is a true artist and can capture your attention and keep you on the egde of your seat.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a great thriller, one you wont want to put down. yes Deaver can get a bit preachy with his ideals at times, but it is an interesting premise that delves into the computer age, and how so much information is available, and in the wrong hands it can be bad news...
Jennifer W. (GeniusJen) reviewed The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme, Bk 8) on + 5322 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Another good Lincoln Rhyme read, although I wasn't as impressed with it as some of the former titles.
I will say, though, Mr. Deaver did his research on identity theft, and knowing how easy it is for people to find out a whole lot about you on the Internet is eye-opening, to say the least.
Fans of the series will want to pick this one up, just to stay up-to-date.
I will say, though, Mr. Deaver did his research on identity theft, and knowing how easy it is for people to find out a whole lot about you on the Internet is eye-opening, to say the least.
Fans of the series will want to pick this one up, just to stay up-to-date.
Marilyn O. (marnie38reads) reviewed The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme, Bk 8) on + 8 more book reviews
Not Deavers best. Dry and even boring in some places.
Connie A. (jazzysmom) -
Very suspensefull deep read. You think you have a private life--guess again--you don't-- and that is reality! This was a very good read in that it held your interest to the end and also told you anyone can find out anything they want about you. Kinda spooky. Good murder and I love the Lincoln Rhyme series. Always twists and turns and figuring out what next is to come. You don't have to read the series in order to enjoy.
A fan of horror stories ? This is the fictional account of a diabolical computer genius with access to all the important data bases of government and big business.
He uses the information for his private obsessions of manipulating peoples lives and covering up rapes and murders he commits.
Fascinating thriller both for Deaver's edge of your seat writing and for the realistic possability of things like this happening.
He uses the information for his private obsessions of manipulating peoples lives and covering up rapes and murders he commits.
Fascinating thriller both for Deaver's edge of your seat writing and for the realistic possability of things like this happening.
I am a fan of Deaver and this one is pretty good. Kind of scary too when you find out all the ways "they" can get info about you and use it.
Still reading it so don't know if it has a good ending or not.
Still reading it so don't know if it has a good ending or not.
Joan W. (justreadingabook) reviewed The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme, Bk 8) on + 1711 more book reviews
Absolutely loved this book, took off from the first page and kept that pace till the very end. So much information about what can happen to you if someone in the information world has a drudge against you. Scary to think that this can and probably does happen. Makes you wonder, think and re-think everytime you swipe your card. Excellent read!!
Sandra (mycatscanread) -
This book was recommended to me by a man while I was waiting to get my oil changed in my car. He went on and on about this book, so I read it. Jeffery Deaver is a favorite author, anyway, and although fairly technical, I did enjoy the book. It's a bit scary what data mining can do, and makes one wonder just how easy it is to steal identities and find out any kind of information about anyone.
The Broken Window isn't my favorite Lincoln Rhyme mystery, but I wasn't disappointed.
The Broken Window isn't my favorite Lincoln Rhyme mystery, but I wasn't disappointed.
Tammy P. (bookluver-in-sc) reviewed The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme, Bk 8) on + 229 more book reviews
Another good Lincoln Rhyme novel. Deaver is one of my favorites.
"1984" and "Brave New World" gave us a brief glimpse of the world they feared we were creating but "The Broken Window" takes it over the top. Every reader will shiver as they come to grips with the realization of just how much the state likely knows about their life.
In "The Broken Window", Jeffrey Deaver has pitted Lincoln Rhyme, his famous paraplegic forensic consultant, against his most elusive foe to date - "Unsub 522", a deeply disturbed obsessive-compulsive hoarder, an ingenious data-miner, a psychopathic serial killer and "the man who knows everything". The chilling theme of this novel is data - information, storage and retrieval, tracking, privacy, identity and just who has access to what. Unsub 522 is an ingenious master of the dreaded crime of the 21st century - identity theft! He steals data, reconstructs people's lives, destroys some information, rearranges the rest and is even capable of planting legitimate evidence framing an unsuspecting victim for his own brutal serial murders. Arthur Rhyme, Lincoln's estranged cousin, is one of these victims. When he is arrested, his wife pleads with Lincoln to investigate. She and Lincoln both know that, despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Arthur is not the killer that the police suspect him to be.
If you have ever experienced a frisson of paranoia about who is looking over your shoulder, you might want to think twice about reading "The Broken Window". If you insist on reading Deaver's novel despite my warning, your little shiver will blossom into a full blown fear that will sit in the pit of your stomach and keep you awake at nights wondering who is looking into the metaphorical windows of your life.
In short, "The Broken Window" is a first rate thriller with a gut-wrenching theme. But Deaver has also gone above and beyond the call of duty as an author and has brought his protagonists into the real world with a characterization and history that almost brought tears to my eyes. We learn the story of Lincoln Rhyme's father and his brilliant uncle. We discover why he hasn't spoken to his cousin for years. And have you ever wondered about the idea of a paraplegic having sex? In an absolutely fabulous sidebar that doesn't have the slightest scintilla of prurient voyeurism about it, Deaver explains how a paraplegic is capable of a loving relationship that includes a fully functional sexual relationship.
In "The Broken Window", Jeffrey Deaver has pitted Lincoln Rhyme, his famous paraplegic forensic consultant, against his most elusive foe to date - "Unsub 522", a deeply disturbed obsessive-compulsive hoarder, an ingenious data-miner, a psychopathic serial killer and "the man who knows everything". The chilling theme of this novel is data - information, storage and retrieval, tracking, privacy, identity and just who has access to what. Unsub 522 is an ingenious master of the dreaded crime of the 21st century - identity theft! He steals data, reconstructs people's lives, destroys some information, rearranges the rest and is even capable of planting legitimate evidence framing an unsuspecting victim for his own brutal serial murders. Arthur Rhyme, Lincoln's estranged cousin, is one of these victims. When he is arrested, his wife pleads with Lincoln to investigate. She and Lincoln both know that, despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Arthur is not the killer that the police suspect him to be.
If you have ever experienced a frisson of paranoia about who is looking over your shoulder, you might want to think twice about reading "The Broken Window". If you insist on reading Deaver's novel despite my warning, your little shiver will blossom into a full blown fear that will sit in the pit of your stomach and keep you awake at nights wondering who is looking into the metaphorical windows of your life.
In short, "The Broken Window" is a first rate thriller with a gut-wrenching theme. But Deaver has also gone above and beyond the call of duty as an author and has brought his protagonists into the real world with a characterization and history that almost brought tears to my eyes. We learn the story of Lincoln Rhyme's father and his brilliant uncle. We discover why he hasn't spoken to his cousin for years. And have you ever wondered about the idea of a paraplegic having sex? In an absolutely fabulous sidebar that doesn't have the slightest scintilla of prurient voyeurism about it, Deaver explains how a paraplegic is capable of a loving relationship that includes a fully functional sexual relationship.
Extremely intriguing as well as a new look into the Internet world; great read.
wow this was so much fun. lots of interests for nerds and crime readers
great book to warn of identity theft and the issues off too much knowledge in one place. not for those who see a conspiracy around every corner as this could just add to their paranoia.
Deaver is as great as always.
Good. But not his best work. It isn't as engaging as Deaver ususally is.
Loved this story. Great suspense, twists that surprised even me (an avid suspense reader).
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme, Bk 8) on + 1439 more book reviews
Possibly Deaver's most frightening book. When Lincoln Rhyme's cousin is accused of murder, the criminologist and his team begin an investigation to clear his name, and stumble into the frightening Big Brother world of computer data-mining. As they attempt to identify and capture The Bad Guy, Deaver lays down a sub-strata of fact about just how much data is out there on the average citizen, and how easily it can be mis-used to destroy someone's life.
Just when you think you know who the bad guy is, Bang, your wrong.
Typical Lincoln Rhyme Series, great reading, keeps you guessing
right to the last pages.
Typical Lincoln Rhyme Series, great reading, keeps you guessing
right to the last pages.
Nice read.c
