The Burning Wire

Suspense master Jeffery Deaver “is able to fool even the most experienced readers with his right-angle turns” ( Booklist ) in these acclaimed New York Times and international bestsellers!
    The ninth novel in his “simply outstanding” ( San Jose Mercury News ) Lincoln Rhyme series
    THE BURNING WIRE
    “Sterling. . . . Not even the brilliant Rhyme can foresee the shocking twists the case will take in this electrically charged thriller.”
    — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
    “Deaver, master of the plot twist, does his usual magic—no matter how hard you try, you can’t figure out what he’s about to spring on you—and, as an added tension-intensifier, the Watchmaker, the nasty villain introduced in The Cold Moon , is still behind the scenes, just outside our peripheral vision. Another winner from the dependable Deaver.”
    — Booklist
    “Only the canniest readers will see which of [the] grace notes are red herrings and which are linked in crucial ways to the case at hand . . . by the devious Deaver.”
    — Kirkus Reviews
    This title is also available in an audio edition
    The “ingeniously devious” ( People ) Jeffery Deaver delights readers with two pulse-pounding novels featuring investigative agent Kathryn Dance
    ROADSIDE CROSSES
    Chosen as a Hot Summer Thriller on TheDailyBeast.com!
    “A gripping story peopled with memorable characters. No surprise. Jeffery Deaver is grand master of the ticking-clock thriller.”
    —Kathy Reichs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Spider Bones
    “Deaver’s got the world of social networking and blogs down cold. . . . That dose of realism adds a fresh, contemporary edge.”
    —David Montgomery, TheDailyBeast.com
    “The techno-savvy Deaver . . . has one of those puzzle-loving minds you just can’t trust.”
    —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Time s
    “Clever and twisted. . . . Don’t miss this one.”
    — Library Journal
    THE SLEEPING DOLL
    “[An] intricately plotted thriller. . . . A dazzling mental contest.”
    —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times
    “The chase is on, and so are the surprises.”
    — Sacramento Bee
    Also from Jeffery Deaver, whose “labyrinthine plots are astonishing” ( The New York Times Book Review ) . . . Chosen as the 2009 “Best Novel of the Year” by the International Thriller Writers organization
    THE BODIES LEFT BEHIND
    “A tour de force . . . . The suspense never flags. . . . Deaver has no rivals in the realm of sneaky plot twists.”
    — Kirkus Reviews
    “The pace is terrific, the suspense inexorable. . . .”
    — The Guardian (U.K.)
    “Deaver is such a good puppet master that he makes us believe whatever he wants us to believe . . . without telling us a single lie. . . . It’s not until we’re well more than halfway through the book that we even begin to suspect that we might have made some dangerous mistakes . . . but by then, it’s way too late, and we are completely at Deaver’s mercy.”
    — Booklist (starred review)
    “Hurtles along at 100 m.p.h. . . . An edge-of-the-seat read.”
    — Sunday Express (U.K.), 4 stars
    “He makes the characters live and breathe. . . . Read this and no country walk will ever be the same again.”
    — Daily Express (U.K.)
    “Not just an adrenaline-charged manhunt but a game of deception and multiple double-cross that keeps the reader guessing right up to the final page.”
    — The Times (London)

Thank you for purchasing this Simon & Schuster eBook.
----
    Join our mailing list and get updates on new releases, deals, bonus content and other great books from Simon & Schuster and Simon & Schuster.
    C LICK H ERE T O S IGN U P
    or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com



For editor extraordinaire, Marysue Rucci

“Hell, there are no rules here. We’re trying to accomplish something.”
    —T HOMAS A LVA E DISON, ON CREATING THE FIRST ELECTRIC GRID

Thirty-seven hours until Earth Day
    I
    THE TROUBLEMAN

    “From his neck down a man is worth a couple of dollars a day, from his neck up he is worth anything that his brain can produce.”
    —T HOMAS A LVA E DISON

Chapter 1
    SITTING IN THE control center of Algonquin Consolidated Power and Light’s sprawling complex on the East River in Queens, New York, the morning supervisor frowned at the pulsing red words on his computer screen.
    Critical failure.
    Below them was frozen the exact time: 11:20:20:003 a.m.
    He lowered his cardboard coffee cup, blue and