Jeffery Deaver’s ‘The Steel Kiss’ Makes Us Think Twice About Riding Escalators [REVIEW]

In Jeffery Deaver’s THE STEEL KISS, even an escalator becomes a deadly weapon. (Photo by Nick Harris, Flickr)

In The Steel Kiss, New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver introduces readers to a menacing new threat that is much too real, and which touches all our lives: smart appliances that can be remotely controlled to kill anyone at all… even you.

Deaver’s longtime forensic detectives, Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, return in their first case since The Skin Collector to unravel a sinister plot to hack consumer data.

Grand Central Publishing

Using DataWise5000 software as well as “the databases of the products containing the controllers and of people or companies who had purchased the specific items” (445), the perpetrators literally get away with murder… until Sachs walks onto a brutal crime scene while hunting Unsub40 for the case she is currently working.

Mayhem ensues, shots are fired, and the death of an innocent victim occurs simultaneously while Sachs’ suspect changes his appearance, then leads the detective’s undercover team on a wild goose chase that will leave you breathless!

Deaver’s twisted knack for creating believable villains with a truly maniacal streak is in rare form here, especially since he has now succeeded in finding a way to turn familiar everyday products into weapons used to commit heinous murders.

As if this isn’t enough, Deaver weaves the appearance of Sachs’ old flame turned ex-con into the story, then adds an innocent victim’s civil trial into the mix for good measure.

Readers may wonder, as I did, how all the threads of this clever, heart-stopping mystery relate to one another, but we’re in the capable hands of master manipulator, Jeffery Deaver, who is determined to keep us turning one page after another.

The Steel Kiss should come with a warning label, because by the time readers finally turn the last page, their nerves will be so jangled they will want to seriously unplug every appliance they own. Don’t miss Deaver’s thrill ride of the year!

Jeffery Deaver (Photo by Niko Giovanni Coniglio)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeffery Deaver is the international number-one bestselling author of more than 30 novels, three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book. His work has been sold in 150 countries and translated into 25 languages. Three of his books, A Maiden’s Grave, The Bone Collector and The Devil’s Teardrop were made into films or made-for-TV movies. He is also a frequent public speaker and has delivered numerous lectures and keynote addresses at conferences and festivals around the world.

The former journalist, folksinger and attorney has received numerous awards, including: the International Thriller Writers‘ Novel of the Year Award; the British Crime Writers’ Association‘s Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger; the Nero Wolfe Award; three Ellery Queen Reader Awards for Best Short Story of the Year; the British Thumping Good Read Award; the Mystery Writers Association of Japan‘s Book of the Year Award; as well as two of the Japanese Adventure Fiction Association‘s Grand Prix awards. 

Born outside Chicago, Deaver has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University. Visit his home on the web at JefferyDeaver.com, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter.

THE STEEL KISS
By Jeffery Deaver
496 pgs. Grand Central Publishing. $28.