On a freezing December night, with a full moon hovering
in the black sky over New York City, two people are
brutally
murdered -- the death scenes marked by eerie, matching
calling cards: moon-faced clocks inves-tigators fear ticked
away the victims' last moments on earth. Renowned
criminologist Lincoln Rhyme immediately identifies the
clock
distributor and has the chilling realization that the
killer
-- who has dubbed himself the Watchmaker -- has more
murders
planned in the hours to come.
Rhyme, a
quadriplegic long confined to his wheelchair, immediately
taps his trusted partner and longtime love, Amelia Sachs,
to
walk the grid and be his eyes and ears on the street. But
Sachs has other commitments now -- namely, her first
assignment as lead detective on a homicide of her own. As
she struggles to balance her pursuit of the infuriatingly
elusive Watchmaker with her own case, Sachs unearths
shocking revelations about the police force that threaten
to
undermine her career, her sense of self and her
relationship
with Rhyme. As the Rhyme-Sachs team shows evi-dence of
fissures, the Watchmaker is methodically stalking his
victims and planning a diabolical criminal masterwork....
Indeed, the Watchmaker may be the most cunning and
mesmerizing villain Rhyme and Sachs have ever
encountered.