The Bone Collector (novel)

Last updated
The Bone Collector
The bone collector - bookcover.jpg
First edition
Author Jeffery Deaver
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesLincoln Rhyme
Genre Crime
Published1997 Viking Press
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages461 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-340-99272-2
Followed by The Coffin Dancer  

The Bone Collector is a 1997 thriller novel by American writer Jeffery Deaver. The book introduces the character of Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic forensic criminalist.

Contents

It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1999. A pilot for a television series based on the novel was ordered by NBC in 2019. [1] [2] Though the pilot was made available through some services on January 1, 2020, it made its broadcast premiere on January 10, 2020.

Summary

Two colleagues, T.J. (Tammie Jean) Colfax and John Ulbrecht, catch a cab at a New York City airport. After a brief ride through New York, they find themselves in an abandoned warehouse district. The cab's doors are locked and the driver ignores their pleas to let them out.

The next day NYPD Patrol Officer Amelia Sachs is called to a possible homicide near some train tracks in Midtown. Her initial search is fruitless until she spots what she thinks is a dead tree protruding from the ground near the tracks. She climbs down the embankment and as she gets closer she sees that it's actually a hand sticking out of the ground, with the flesh removed and a large diamond ring placed on one bony finger. She digs into the earth and uncovers the face of John Ulbrecht, who has been buried alive.

Amelia calls in and secures the area by stopping a train and traffic up above.

Quadriplegic and ex-forensic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme is waiting for a visitor at his apartment when the doorbell rings. His caregiver Thom answers the door and informs him that he has two unexpected visitors, homicide detectives Lon Sellitto and Jerry Banks. Rhyme tells Thom that he doesn't want to see them but ultimately agrees to speak with them.

Sellitto is Rhyme's former partner, and the officers are there to get Rhyme's help on the kidnapping and murder case, but he says he is in no state to help. Sellitto says that all he wants is for Rhyme to look over the case file and give them insight into what it means. The detective explains that the kidnapper still has one hostage they need to find. At this point Rhyme's expected visitor arrives and he asks the detectives to leave, telling them he will read over the case notes. He finds himself drawn into the case, and agrees to work on it with the help of Amelia Sachs as his eyes on the ground.

The killer is Peter Taylor, Rhyme's doctor. Real name Colin Stanton, he lost his family years ago when Lincoln failed to fully check out a crime scene. The suspect was hiding under a bed and started a shootout in the street, gunning down Stanton's family. Stanton subsequently had a breakdown and was admitted to a hospital where he attempted suicide. Once released, he planned to murder a now-quadriplegic Lincoln Rhyme, and created the identity of Peter Taylor. The name was inspired by James Schneider, a New York serial killer from the early 1900s - "Schneider" is "tailor" in German. However, when Stanton/Taylor realized that Lincoln was becoming suicidal he had to give him a reason to live so that he could murder him. He took on Schneider's alias, "The Bone Collector", and began copying his crimes. Stanton picked his victims at random and thought of them as Schneider's own.

At the climax, Stanton coaxes his way into Rhyme's apartment, murdering Rhyme's former superior, Polling, who had come to admit his own guilt for his perceived role in Rhyme's accident. The investigating team had a witness to the crime Rhyme was investigating when he was injured and didn't need Rhyme's testimony. Stanton reveals his true identity to Rhyme, and his plan to murder all the people he cares about then slowly kill him. Following a struggle, Rhyme manages to bite Stanton's neck, tearing into an artery and mortally wounding him.

After Stanton is taken away, Rhyme is convinced to assist in another investigation, and accepts the offer under condition that he's allowed to continue working with Sachs.

Characters

Lincoln Rhyme – Quadriplegic forensic criminalist who was the head of IRD (the NYPD's Central Investigation and Resource Division) before being involved in an accident at a crime scene where an oak beam fell on him, crushing his C4 vertebrae and leaving him only able to move from his shoulders up and his left ring finger. At the start of the novel, Lincoln is considering suicide with the help of Dr. William Berger, a representative of a pro-euthanasia group called the Lethe Society, until his ex-partner Lon Sellitto arrives at his apartment asking for help on a kidnapping case.

Amelia Sachs – 31-year-old police officer who is about to be transferred out of patrol. However, on the morning of her transfer, she is called to a possible homicide where she finds the first victim of the bone collector. Her work at this crime scene catches the attention of Lincoln Rhyme and she reluctantly becomes his "legs and eyes" as he takes on the case of the Bone Collector.

Lon Sellitto – Homicide detective working for the NYPD, who has been assigned the kidnapping case from the airport. He is a twenty-year veteran and the ex-partner of Lincoln Rhyme. He has also been given the unenviable task of persuading Rhyme to work on the case.

Thom Reston - Lincoln Rhyme's full-time care assistant.

Series

Following the success of this novel, Deaver continued to feature Rhyme and Sachs in a series of subsequent novels. The series to date comprises:

Adaptations

Film

The film adaptation of the novel, directed by Phillip Noyce and produced by Martin Bregman, was released on November 5, 1999. It starred Denzel Washington as Lincoln Rhyme and Angelina Jolie as a renamed Officer Amelia Donaghy. The cast also featured Queen Latifah, Ed O'Neill, Michael Rooker, Mike McGlone, Luis Guzmán, Bobby Cannavale, John Benjamin Hickey, and Leland Orser.

The film received mixed to negative critical reviews. [3] [4] [5] [6] It was the number one film its opening weekend, taking in $16.7 million. [7] The film would earn $151.5 million worldwide.

Television

In November 2018, Variety reported that a television adaptation of the novel was in the works with a script by VJ Boyd and Mark Bianculli sold to NBC. [1] The potential series would be executive produced by Boyd ( S.W.A.T. ), Bianculli, Alon Shtruzman, Avi Nir ( Homeland ), Peter Traugott ( The Brave ), and Rachel Kaplan ( Wisdom of the Crowd ). NBC ordered a series pilot in January 2019. [2]

In March 2019, NBC cast Russell Hornsby as lead character Lincoln Rhyme as well as Michael Imperioli. [8] [9]

The series, now called Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, focuses on Lincoln Rhyme helping to solve the most high-profile cases for the New York Police Department with the aid of Officer Amelia Sachs while the two attempt to catch the newly resurfaced serial killer known as the Bone Collector. It is also expected to draw from other books in Deaver's Rhyme series. It premiered on January 10, 2020, [10] but was canceled in June of that year.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Imperioli</span> American actor (born 1966)

Michael Imperioli is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama The Sopranos (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004.

Sachs is a German surname, meaning "man from Saxony". Sachs is a common surname among Ashkenazi Jews from Saxony, in the United States sometimes adopted in the variant Zaks, supposedly in reference to the Hebrew phrase Zera Kodesh Shemo (ZaKS), literally "his name is Holy Seed," a quotation from Isaiah 6:13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amelia (given name)</span> Name list

Amelia is a feminine given name. Its English form was likely influenced by the names Amalia, derived from the German word amal meaning work, and Emilia, which is derived from the name of the Roman Aemilia gens. The name of the gens is likely derived from the Latin word aemulus, meaning rival. The name Amelia has been associated with both names as well as with the name Emily, also derived from Emilia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffery Deaver</span> American mystery and crime writer

Jeffery Deaver is an American mystery and crime writer. He has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a J.D. degree from Fordham University and originally started working as a journalist. He later practiced law before embarking on a career as a novelist. He has been awarded the Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers' Association and the Nero Wolfe Award, and he is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story of the Year and a winner of the British Thumping Good Read Award. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including The New York Times, The Times, Italy's Corriere della Sera, The Sydney Morning Herald, and the Los Angeles Times.

<i>The Bone Collector</i> 1999 film by Phillip Noyce

The Bone Collector is a 1999 American crime thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. The film is based on the 1997 crime novel of the same name written by Jeffery Deaver, concerning the tetraplegic detective Lincoln Rhyme.

<i>The Coffin Dancer</i> Novel

The Coffin Dancer is a 1998 crime novel by American writer Jeffery Deaver. The book features his regular character Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic detective.

<i>The Vanished Man</i>

The Vanished Man is a forensic crime mystery by American writer Jeffery Deaver, featuring the quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs. It is the fifth novel in the Lincoln Rhyme series, which began with The Bone Collector.

<i>The Final Deduction</i> Book by Rex Stout

The Final Deduction is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1961 and collected in the omnibus volume Three Aces.

<i>The Empty Chair</i> (novel)

The Empty Chair is a crime novel by American writer Jeffery Deaver, published in 2000. It is the third novel in a series featuring Lincoln Rhyme; the first of which was made into a movie, The Bone Collector.

<i>The Stone Monkey</i>

The Stone Monkey is a crime novel by American writer Jeffery Deaver. First published in 2002, it is the fourth Deaver novel featuring the quadraplegic detective Lincoln Rhyme.

Gary Fleder is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His most recently completed film, Homefront, was released by Open Road Films and Millennium Films in November 2013. In recent years he has been a prolific director of television pilots.

<i>The Broken Window</i> 2008 crime thriller by Jeffery Deaver

The Broken Window is a crime thriller novel by American writer Jeffery Deaver, published in 2008. It is the eighth book in the Lincoln Rhyme series.

<i>The Cold Moon</i>

The Cold Moon is a crime thriller novel by American writer Jeffery Deaver. It is the seventh book in the Lincoln Rhyme series, and also introduces CBI agent Kathryn Dance, who would get her own series of books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gone for Goode</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of Homicide: Life on the Street

"Gone for Goode" is the first episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 31, 1993, immediately following Super Bowl XXVII. The episode was written by series creator Paul Attanasio and directed by executive producer Barry Levinson. "Gone for Goode" introduced regular cast members Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Wendy Hughes, Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Jon Polito, and Kyle Secor.

<i>The Twelfth Card</i> 2005 novel by Jeffery Deaver

The Twelfth Card is a crime novel by American writer Jeffery Deaver, the sixth in the series featureing Lincoln Rhyme. It was published in 2005.

<i>The Burning Wire</i>

The Burning Wire is a crime thriller novel by American writer Jeffery Deaver, featuring the officially retired, quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme. It is the ninth novel in the Lincoln Rhyme series.

<i>Heat Wave</i> (novel)

Heat Wave is the first in a series of mystery novels featuring the characters Nikki Heat, an NYPD homicide detective, and Jameson Rook, a journalist. The novel and its sequels are published by Hyperion Books as a tie-in to the U.S. crime series Castle and attributed to that show's lead character Richard Castle. Heat Wave was published in 2009 and has been followed by Naked Heat (2010), Heat Rises (2011), Frozen Heat (2012), Deadly Heat (2013), Raging Heat (2014), Driving Heat (2015), High Heat (2016), Heat Storm (2017) and Crashing Heat (2019). The first seven novels in the series, though Driving Heat, were actually written by mystery novelist Tom Straw.

<i>Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector</i> 2020 American crime drama television series

Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector is an American crime drama television series that premiered on NBC as part of the 2019–20 television season, on January 10, 2020 and ran until March 13, 2020. The series is based on the 1997 novel The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver. While popular as a mid-season replacement show, NBC made the decision in June 2020 to cancel after one season.

Courtney Grosbeck is an American actress and model best known for playing the role of Coco Spectra in the soap The Bold and the Beautiful and Rachel Sachs in the series Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector.

References

  1. 1 2 Stedman, Alex (November 16, 2018). "'The Bone Collector' TV Series in the Works at NBC". Variety.com. Variety. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Iannucci, Rebecca (January 17, 2019). "The Bone Collector TV Adaptation Snags Pilot Order at NBC". TVLine.com. TVLine. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  3. ↑ "The Bone Collector Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  4. ↑ "Bone Collector, The (1999): Reviews". Metacritic . CNET Networks. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  5. ↑ "Newsweek.MSNBC.com - Weekend". MSNBC . MSNBC. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  6. ↑ William Arnold (1999-11-05). "Brutal 'Bone Collector' wallows in gruesome absurdity" (Web). Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2008-12-06.[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ "The Bone Collector". BoxOfficeMojo.com. IMDb. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Russell Hornsby to Headline 'Lincoln' NBC Pilot Based on 'The Bone Collector' Books". 5 March 2019.
  9. ↑ "Michael Imperioli To Star In 'Lincoln', NBC Pilot Based On 'The Bone Collector' Books". Deadline . 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  10. ↑ Petski, Denise (November 8, 2019). "NBC Midseason Drama 'Lincoln' Gets New Title". Deadline.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.