This Lincoln Rhyme novel was high interest and realistic. The topic of identity theft was sent to the extreme in this story which starts out with Lincoln's cousin being arrested for a murder done by someone who stole his identity. The identity thief impersonates other people constantly and does it with the most impressive of information and frightening accuracy. Make sure to read all about it!

Not worried about identity theft? Read THE BROKEN WINDOW by Jeffrey Deaver. You will be.

A serial killer has gone undetected because he has been able to pin the crime on some innocent person each time. The killer “knows everything” about his murder victims and so is able to get close to them and then plant evidence that proves the guilt of innocent people because the killer "knows everything" about them, too.

But how does he do it? How is he able to know everything about these people? Where does he get this information? And who could have access to it?

Enter Lincoln Rhyme, a recurrent character in many of Jeffrey Deaver’s novels, and his partner, Amelia Sachs. They get involved when Rhyme’s cousin is arrested for a murder and soon find that the real killer has access to both the cousin's and the murder victim's personal data. That's when they learn about data mining. In the process, so does the reader.

Data miners store personal data about everyone all the time--everything they do. Rhyme and Sachs learn that this is the only way the killer could “know everything.” So they investigate a large data miner and speak with the few people who can access all the data. The reader realizes that these people must be suspects.

But which one is it?

Whoever it is accesses Rhyme’ and Sachs’ personal data now, too, and can even use data mining “predictive software” to know their next move.

If you like thrillers/mysteries and have never tried Deaver, as I hadn’t, this would be a good book to start with. The privacy issues it deals with will really scare you and make you wonder how much of it is real. Deaver lists several Web sites where you can get further information.