海角大神

Lincoln Rhyme knows better than most how important it is to have a job that motivates. Rhyme, a quadriplegic former police detective, offers his blunt perspective on that notion as he watches his girlfriend, New York homicide detective Amelia Sachs, recoil in the face of a three-month suspension.

鈥淲orking is what we鈥檙e made for 鈥� dogs, horses, humans,鈥� Rhyme muses. 鈥淭ake that away and we鈥檙e diminished, sometimes irreversibly.鈥�

Rhyme鈥檚 philosophy surfaces as part of The Steel Kiss, Jeffery Deaver鈥檚 latest twisty thriller and the 12th starring Rhyme.

Deaver embodies his fictional detective鈥檚 observation. At 65, he has written 37 novels, three collections of short stories, and dabbled in everything from folk music to an audio-only drama.

And he has no plans for slowing down any time soon. At least two more novels are in the pipeline as Deaver juggles two best-selling series: the Rhyme mysteries, which tend to be forensic and scientific, and books featuring California interrogation and body-language expert Kathryn Dance.

Along with occasional stand-alone books, Deaver has edited and contributed to several anthologies. In 2011, he published 鈥淐arte Blanche,鈥� a contemporary James Bond novel commissioned by the estate of Bond creator Ian Fleming.

Readers familiar with Deaver鈥檚 work will delight in 鈥淭he Steel Kiss,鈥� which features not only Rhyme and Sachs but recurring characters such as young detective Ron Pulaski, tech expert Mel Cooper, and hardened police vet Lon Sellitto. As ever, Rhyme is clipped, impatient, and grammatically precise.

A typical exchange: A detective tells Rhyme, after a sweep for a suspect, 鈥渘obody matching his descrip was seen.鈥� Rhyme鈥檚 response: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not a word. 鈥楧escrip.鈥� There鈥檚 鈥榥ondescript鈥� and there鈥檚 鈥榙escription.鈥� But there鈥檚 no 鈥榙escrip.鈥欌��

After being told 鈥渄escrip鈥� is 鈥渃ommon usage on the street,鈥� Rhyme snaps, 鈥淪o is methamphetamine. That鈥檚 no reason to embrace it.鈥�

Deaver, as ever, does a nice job of making his novel accessible and entertaining for first-time readers, carefully providing enough context to share the tics and personalities involved without being overbearing.

Rhyme and Sachs, as detectives, make a formidable team. Because of his condition, Rhyme is the antithesis of derring-do. His mind isn鈥檛 just his most formidable weapon; it鈥檚 his only one.

Sachs is smart and intuitive and, crucially, still in the field, able to collect evidence and bring it back for analysis with Rhyme. (In the series, Rhyme鈥檚 reputation for solving complex crimes has made him an in-demand consultant to the NYPD.) She鈥檚 also a surefire shot and rip-roaring driver, speeding through the crowded streets of New York City in what Deaver describes as a blood-red Torino.

鈥淭he Steel Kiss鈥� throws yet another complicated series of seemingly random murders at Rhyme and Sachs 鈥� and with a suitably wicked twist: Someone has managed to take control of so-called smart appliances and machinery, turning escalators and microwaves into deadly objects.

Machines turning on their creators, for many of us, remains an irresistible nightmare, popping up in science fiction, horror and other genres.

The things-behaving-badly case emerges as Rhyme and Sachs, who are also romantically linked, find their relationship strained. An unexpectedly gifted intern, also wheelchair-bound, brings a new face to Rhyme鈥檚 crew, too.

Lest any of this sound drawn-out, let it be known that Deaver remains committed to his storytelling ethos, as defined in an essay he wrote for The Wall Street Journal in 2012: 鈥淭he most breathtaking prose and brilliantly drawn characters are wasted if the plot meanders and digresses.鈥�

During a recent interview, the novelist, who lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., spoke to me about keeping readers guessing and one-upping previous plots. Deaver had just returned from the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden, where he has become a regular as a breeder and trainer of show dogs.

On his love of training dogs: For one thing, it really takes my mind away from the writing of the sick and twisted books (laughs).

On the idea of turning everyday appliances into remote-controlled weapons: First of all, the kind of book I write is one that moves really fast. I don鈥檛 write long, psychological dramas. I want things to move.

And part of that is finding scenarios that will put people on the edge of their seats.

Like in 鈥淭he Bone Collector鈥� [the first Rhyme novel, published in 1997 and later made into a movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie]. This serial kidnapper was looking for situations where most readers would find themselves: on elevators, in restrooms and so on.

When I practiced law [before becoming a full-time writer], I did a little research, I wrote a law review article and it involved some cases of product liability. I thought, well, that鈥檚 kind of creepy. We don鈥檛 think anything of [these objects], they鈥檙e innocuous. I thought, OK, I鈥檒l warp these as weapons, also the consumer issues, are we too greedy, do the companies have a moral obligation to look out for us?

So I thought that would be a wonderfully creepy way to get a book that races along. Are we going to find that Lincoln and Amelia can stop the killer or not?

On going back and forth between series characters: For me, it doesn鈥檛 really matter; I鈥檓 just excited that I get to write books for a living. How exciting is that?

The reason I change from one to another is that the Lincoln books tend to be a little more scientific in nature and the Kathryn books tend to be more psychological.

Now, the Lincoln books, the bad guys have sick and twisted psychological elements to them, but Kathryn is more of people cop. She鈥檚 person-on-person. The individual who would be more inclined to use, say, the electric grid, like in 鈥淭he Burning Wire,鈥� that鈥檚 more scientific and forensic in nature, so I give those sorts of stories to Lincoln Rhyme.

And the others I would give to Kathryn Dance. The template for both is very similar: they鈥檙e fast-paced, there鈥檚 some esoteric information 鈥� in 鈥淴O鈥� it was music-industry stalking, in 鈥淭he Kill Room鈥� it was about government assassination 鈥� that鈥檚 how it breaks down. In the Kathryn books, I don鈥檛 have to work so hard on the technical information. It鈥檚 more of a question of what鈥檚 best for the readers.

On his work pace: I鈥檓 always writing. It鈥檚 eight months of planning and outlining. I do very extensive outlines, they鈥檙e about 100 to 200 pages long and then I do a lot of research, too.

At the same time, I probably do about five or six short stories a year, I wrote a radio-play last year called 鈥淭he Starling Project鈥� and I鈥檓 trying to write a television show, a comedy, of all things.

Although I do a book a year, I also have to throw in eight or so other projects for the fun of it. The short stories, I don鈥檛 make any money on, you get kind of an honorarium for them. But I do them because they鈥檙e a lot of fun and the fans love the short stories. They鈥檙e very twist-oriented, which I really love.

Characters we care about in the novels; in the short stories, it鈥檚 all about the twist. I can have the most reprehensible serial killer who鈥檚 the hero [in a short story], which is great fun. I can completely pull the rug right out from underneath the reader. I can鈥檛 get away with that in a novel because we care about the characters too much.

On why he made Rhyme a quadriplegic: There were two reasons. Going back to the days when I started reading mysteries, I was absolutely enamored of the Conan Doyle stories of Sherlock Holmes. I liked a hero whose main tool was an intellect. Sherlock Holmes got out in the field some, but, basically, Holmes was an intellect.

The real impetus, though, was a reaction against the clich茅d action heroes that we see from films. I love these characters I鈥檓 going to name, but the 鈥淒ie Hard鈥� movies with Bruce Willis, the Tom Cruise 鈥淢ission: Impossible鈥� movies, they can be great fun, but, ultimately, they come down to a physical confrontation with the villain. So I wanted a hero was forced to outthink the villain.

Originally, he was going to be a paraplegic, paralyzed from the waist down, but I said, no, I鈥檓 going to go all the way, so he is pure mind. And I never thought he would be that popular, that he would be that kind of thriller hero. He鈥檚 just taken off. People absolutely love him. The readers embrace the disability. Some would like him to get better, but that鈥檚 not who he is.

He鈥檚 a curmudgeon, he鈥檚 a tough guy, and he鈥檚 real. I鈥檝e gotten a lot of response from the disabled community that he was representative of a real disabled individual; that is, a real human being. These are not people who are on pedestals, these are not people who are less than human, they鈥檙e like all of us 鈥� they just happen to have a slightly different physical state.

On what鈥檚 next: Actually, I鈥檓 working on a new Lincoln Rhyme, I鈥檓 doing two in a row (with 鈥淭he Steel Kiss鈥�). This will be set in Europe, most of it in Italy. The first half in America and the second half in Italy.

I travel to Italy quite a bit, I鈥檓 very familiar with the country. Because of several incidents in the news that would be up Lincoln Rhyme鈥檚 alley, I鈥檝e decided to set the book there.

The book after that will probably be another Kathryn Dance book, but it could very easily be a stand-alone. I have an idea for an interesting stand-alone.

I hit 65 last year and I was prepared to think about retirement, but this stuff is too much fun. I just can鈥檛 do it.