The Stone Monkey

A Lincoln Rhyme Novel

By: Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

A famed criminologist, paralyzed from the neck down, Lincoln Rhyme compensates for his physical disability with his brains - and the arms and legs of his brilliant and beautiful protege, Amelia Sachs.

The awe-inspiring duo returns in The Stone Monkey. Recruited to help the FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service perform the nearly impossible, Lincoln and Amelia track down a cargo ship headed for New York City carrying two dozen illegal Chinese immigrants, as well as the notorious human smuggler and killer known as "the Ghost". But when the Ghost's capture goes disastrously wrong, Lincoln and Amelia find themselves in a race against time. They must stop him before he can track down and murder the two surviving families who have escaped from the ship and vanished deep into the labyrinthine world of New York City's Chinatown.

Over the next harrowing 48 hours, the Ghost ruthlessly hunts for the families, while Rhyme struggles to find them before they die. Amelia pursues a very different kind of police work: forming a connection with one of the immigrants that may have consequences going to the core of her relationship with her partner and lover, Lincoln Rhyme.

The Stone Monkey abounds with Deaver's famous trademarks: wholly unexpected plot twists and breakneck pacing, reminding us once again of why People hailed him as the "master of ticking-bomb suspense" and Publishers Weekly called him the "most clever plotter on the planet".

Solve another case with Lincoln Rhyme.

©2002 Jeffery Deaver (P)2002 Simon and Schuster Inc.

Not my favorite Lincoln Rhyme Novel

What did you like best about The Stone Monkey? What did you like least?

Although I normally LOVE Jeffery Deaver, this novel just seemed so-so to me, especially the audio version. Albeit it is abridged, but normally I can follow the abridged versions fairly well, e.g. Coffin Dancer. However with this novel there were parts of it that left me saying, "What just happened? Who is that character?" I will say that I could catch up and I finally figured out what was going on, but then the ending seemed like every other Jeffery Deaver novel, at least in the Lincoln Rhyme series, where there was a twist you probably could have seen coming and bam! They catch the bad guy. So as for his novel, eh, it was by far my least favorite so far. (I am currently on Vanished Man).Now, let me go on to talk about Boyd Gaines reading of the book. From the very first time I pressed 'play' to the very ending of the novel it was hard for me to hear Gaines' performance of the book. He made Sacs sound too much like a simpering female instead of the strong female cop that we all know her to be. Then even worse? His Chinese accent. The first time he started speaking with his faux Chinese accent I was really confused. I kept asking myself "Are the characters supposed to have a slur? Does this character have a lisp or is that supposed to be a Chinese accent?" Oh, it was awful; so awful in fact that it took me two and a half weeks to finish this story when in reality I could have finished it in three days with my commute to work!With all that said, perhaps if I would have read the novel instead of listened to this very, very inferior version I would have liked the novel more. If you are a true Lincoln Rhyme fanatic and Jeffery Deaver fan then by all means get this book and listen to it because it does add some character depth to Sacs and her relationship with Lincoln. But if, however, you are just looking for something to read and have stumbled upon this book, DO NOT buy it because you will be sorely disappointed.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Boyd Gaines?

Joe Mantegna, He read The Coffin Dancer and by far is my favorite reader for Lincoln Rhyme novels with his very realistic New York accent. Or I would have recommended Dennis Boutsikaris who read The Broken Window by Deaver. His portrayal of all the characters was fantastic!

Do you think The Stone Monkey needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

This book is followed by The Vanished Man.

Another wonderful story.

Great story. Suspenseful, sad on the characters suffering. Narrator was wonderful with the changing of voices for the characters.

STONE MONKEY

Stone Monkey is one of the best books I have heard in a while. The story is fast paced but through with details. The characters are well defined and the narrator brings each of them to life with different voices. I listened to the whole book at one time because I just couldn't put it down.

Terrible Audio Quality

Good story but it felt disconnected due to being abridged. Audio quality was terrible. I had my speaker turned up to max just to hear it.

Great narration!

I really enjoyed how the narrator brought the characters to life and the story was great! I enjoy the Rhyme series and being able to "see" the character grow and change.

Jeffrey Deaver does it again

I’m a big fan of Jeffrey Deaver, and this novel did not disappoint ! The performance totally transported me as well .