Tess Gerritsen Reviews

Page Two

Added May 14, 2007

The Surgeon

Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles Series, Book 1

Author: Tess Gerritsen
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: July 2002
Genre: Fiction: Medical/Suspense/Thriller
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Price: $7.99
ISBN-10: 0345447840
ISBN-13: 9780345447845
Author Email/Website: http://www.tessgerritsen.com/
Reviewer: Summer Lasaire
Rating: 9 Gargoyles

Just how well do you know the people you work with, your neighbors, your friends? Catherine Cordell found out one night that those you thought you know, sometimes you don't know at all.

Two years ago in Savannah, Georgia, Catherine Cordell let one of the resident doctors that worked under her, into her home. She had told him earlier in the day that she couldn't let him continue being a resident. He'd made too many mistakes, mistakes that a doctor couldn't afford to make. They talked, he begged her to give him another chance, but she refused and he drugged her. She awoke naked, tied to her bed as he was raping her. Andrew Capera it turned out wasn't just a rapist, he was a murderer. Women had been killed, raped and then while awake, their wombs removed and as a coup de grace, their throats were slit, and she was his next victim.

Boston, Massachusetts. The killings have started again, same M.O. Andrew Capera is dead and it seems they have a copycat murderer. There's a few differences this time, there's no rape before the women are butchered, but after some digging, the detectives have found out that all of The Surgeon's victims have been raped. How does he know? How does he find out such personal information, when two of the women didn't even tell their families?

Homicide Detectives Rizzoli and Moore approach Dr. Catherine Cordell to see if she can add any information that can help them catch the killer that has been dubbed, The Surgeon. She can't help them, she was drugged with Rohypnol, a date-rape drug that leaves gaps in memory in addition to the two years since it happened, those two years spent in trying to forget. It's a race against time, they need to find The Surgeon before he strikes again and all they keep coming up with are dead ends. The Surgeon seems to be a ghost; there are no witnesses, no trace of him at the murder scenes except for a singe strand of hair found in the abdominal cavity of one victim.

When I picked up The Surgeon, I expected a book rich in medical details since Tess Gerritsen is a former internist; I wasn't disappointed, instead I was drawn into a story that I couldn't put down. Following along with the police on their search for the Surgeon was gripping and captivated me from the first page, clear to the last. I had glimpses into the murderer's head, but even so, didn't know who he was until close to the end, and ended up with my heart in my throat during the last scene, hoping against hope that the Surgeon would be caught before he carried out the killing of both victims that he had in his possession. All of the characters are fully fleshed out and so multi-facetted that they felt real. I did find something strange, I didn't hate the Surgeon, and could understand the reasons for the killing this surprised me.

If you're a lover of mystery, The Surgeon is a definite not-to-miss book and I can't wait to start reading The Apprentice, which is next in the Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles Series and sitting on my nightstand now… I can see another night without enough sleep in my immediate future. Tess Gerritsen is a superb storyteller that is now on my list of favorite authors. Pick up The Surgeon and you will see just what I mean.

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Added May 14

The Apprentice

Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles Series, Book 2

Author: Tess Gerritsen
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: July 2003
Genre: Fiction: Medical/Suspense/Thriller
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Price: $7.99
ISBN-10: 0345447867
ISBN-13: 9780345447869
Author Email/Website: http://www.tessgerritsen.com/
Reviewer: Summer Lasaire
Rating: 9 Gargoyles

How long does it take for a person to get over almost being murdered by a serial killer? Does one really ever get over it?

For a year Detective Jane Rizzoli has been trying to get over her first hand experience at the hands of a killer. She still carries the scars, both physical and mental from her run-in with the Surgeon. Finally the nightly terrors have stopped coming every time she closes her eyes, the constant thoughts that she's no longer invincible, that now she's scared, is constantly on guard against attack and this constant fear pisses her off.

There's a new killer in town. He goes after couples; he kills the man after violating his wife in front of him and then abducts the woman. Rizzoli is lead investigator on the team and although it's the role she wants, she's starting to feel the pressure of being in charge. For some reason the FBI has become involved and the Boston Police Department has been ordered to cooperate. The FBI has never been involved in any of their homicides before…what makes this case different? Agent Gabriel Dean isn't talking.

Things have just gone from bad to worse for Detective Rizzoli; Warren Hoyt, the Surgeon has escaped and from what they've learned, he has a new target. The Surgeon is now after Jane Rizzoli, the woman responsible for his capture, a woman that got away. Jane has two serial killers on the loose in Boston and a pile of cases waiting for her attention. Will she be able to handle the pressure with her usual determination and catch the killers, or will the terror of being Hoyt's new target be too much?

Tess Gerritsen has done it again! The Apprentice comes to life from the first page and only gets more absorbing, more frightening and real with each successive scene. Rizzoli has a lot to deal with and her emotions…her pain, her determination, leaps off of the pages to be felt by the reader. Although she's not sure she can handle everything, she does pull through to do what she has to, it's her duty and duty to Rizzoli is of utmost importance. All of the characters in The Apprentice are well crafted and all of the scenes from the squad room, to the ME's autopsy room, to the sites of the murders are so well done that I felt as if I was there, experiencing them along with the police.

I can't recommend The Apprentice highly enough. I have the entire Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles Series, and I'll be reading each and every one of them, probably more than once. This is one series that has a permanent place on my keeper shelf!

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