Review: The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

First line: Today they will find her body.

From the inside cover: In her most masterful novel of medical suspense, New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen creates a villain of unforgettable evil–and the one woman who can catch him before he kills again.

He slips into their homes at night and walks silently into bedrooms where women lie sleeping, unaware of the horrors they soon will endure. The precision of the killer’s methods suggests he is a deranged man of medicine, propelling the Boston newspapers and the frightened public to name him “The Surgeon.”

The cops’ only clue rests with another surgeon, the victim of a nearly identical crime. Two years ago, Dr. Catherine Cordell fought back and killed her attacker before he could complete his assault. Now she hides her fears of intimacy behind a cool and elegant exterior and a well-earned reputation as a top trauma surgeon.

Cordell’s careful facade is about to crack as this new killer recreates, with chilling accuracy, the details of Cordell’s own ordeal. With every new murder he seems to be taunting her, cutting ever closer, from her hospital to her home. Her only comfort comes from Thomas Moore, the detective assigned to the case. But even Moore cannot protect Cordell from a brilliant hunter who somehow understands–and savors–the secret fears of every woman he kills.

Filled with the authentic detail that is the trademark of this doctor turned author . . . and peopled with rich and complex characters–from the ER to the squad room to the city morgue–here is a thriller of unprecedented depth and suspense. Exposing the shocking link between those who kill and cure, punish and protect, The Surgeon is Tess Gerritsen’s most exciting accomplishment yet.

My thoughts: This is the first in Tess Gerritsen’s Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles series and I really enjoyed it. I have been watching Rizzoli and Isles on TV and love the show, so when I found out that it was based on Tess Gerritsen’s novels, I knew I had to read the series.

It appears that a serial killer is in Boston. He stalks very vulnerable women and eventully performs “surgery” on them thus his nickname “The Surgeon.” Homicide detective Jane Rizzoli takes the lead on the case and is eager to prove herself given this is the type of case that could make her career. She partners with Thomas Moore to work the case and find the link between the victims. Eventully they discover that two years prior an identical crime spree occurred in Savanah, Georgia. However, the last victim, Dr. Catherine Cordell, shot her attacker and the spree ended. Dr Cordell is now living in Boston and even though her attacker is dead he seems to have followed her there. 

This is an intricate medical thriller that has it all: a tight, tense, well-paced plot, full of intense and riveting scenes, crisp, suspenseful writing, terrific well-drawn and engaging characters and a diabolical villian who makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.  

The only problem is that Maura Isles is not in this book – hopefully she makes an appearance in the next one. The other thing I noticed is that the book series is quite different from the TV series – something I think I am going to like as I will be able to keep the two separate. I found this to be a really good book that was very hard to put down. This is the first time I’ve read Tess Gerritsen and not only will I be reading the rest of the Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles series, but I will also be checking out her other books.

(I borrowed this book from the library.)

Books in this series: 

1. The Surgeon                  6.  The Mephisto Club
2. The Apprentice           7.  The Keepsake
3. The Sinner                     8.  Ice Cold
4. Body Double                 9.  The Silent Girl
5. Vanish