One of my favourite authors is Jeffery Deaver. His research is brilliant, and varies from one book to another so that as a reader you are always learning something new.
His plotting is brilliant. You are led from one twist to another without the pace ever flagging. However to me the master turn is that the climax is always breakneck, and like some of the great concertos (or should I say concerto?) you keep thinking it is the end - and then there is one more stunning twist and climax which turns everything upside down - and yet makes perfect sense.
His characters, especially Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs. Who else has created a quadriplegic hero who can move only a finger, and yet is so completely in charge of the situation? But he is not unreal. He has dark moods of despair, rare flights of hope, bad temper and wit. He is both loved and admired for who he is, and we are aware of his flaws. His intellectual brilliance astounds us, pleasurably and believably, and yet his humanity makes him real.
Amelia Sachs is a heroine who is active, brave, beautiful, although it is not forced on us - and she has arthritis!! It hurts. That brings her into the empathy and believability of all of us. Women who are invulnerable make me feel inadequate. Those who are always running into foreseeable traps are tedious. Sachs hits the half-way perfectly.
But for me the greatest of Deaver's qualities is the compassion he brings to even the deepest villains. Their behaviour is understandable, even pitiable in many cases. What they do is monstrous, often brilliantly clever, but they are not monsters. It is torment rather than the simple cop-out - he's insane.
The research, the unflagging pace, the skill, and above all, the humanity, make Deaver a master.
Who is your favorite hero, heroine, or villain?
Editor's Note: Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Assassin and Execution Dock, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane.
