Vanish by Tess Gerritsen
Series: Rizzoli & Isles, #5
Ballentine Books
January 2005
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
A blessed event becomes a
nightmare for pregnant homicide detective Jane Rizzoli when she finds
herself on the wrong side of a hostage crisis in this timely and
relentless new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of
Body Double.A nameless, beautiful woman appears to be just
another corpse in the morgue. An apparent suicide, she lies on a
gurney, awaiting the dissecting scalpel of medical examiner Maura Isles.
But when Maura unzips the body bag and looks down at the body, she
gets the fright of her life. The corpse opens its eyes.Very
much alive, the woman is rushed to the hospital, where with shockingly
cool precision, she murders a security guard and seizes hostages . . .
one of them a pregnant patient, Jane Rizzoli.Who is this
violent, desperate soul, and what does she want? As the tense hours tick
by, Maura joins forces with Jane’s husband, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, to
track down the mysterious killer’s identity. When federal agents
suddenly appear on the scene, Maura and Gabriel realize that they are
dealing with a case that goes far deeper than just an ordinary hostage
crisis.Only Jane, trapped with the armed madwoman, holds the key to the mystery. And only she can solve it – if she survives.
My thoughts: This is the fifth book in Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles series and as I get further into the series, I find myself more hooked than ever. I’ve already mentioned in previous reviews of this series that not only am I enjoying the books, but I also love the television show Rizzoli & Isles. The books are definitely darker than the show, but still deal with similar cases.
This series is definitely part medical thriller, part police procedural and the combination lends itself to an action-packed story with twists and turns that keep you turning the pages. This particular story touches upon human trafficking and we get Mila’s story – a story that we flash back to throughout the book. At times, it’s very graphic and certainly not for the faint of heart.
From a corpse on the autopsy table that is not really a corpse to a very pregnant Rizzoli ending up a hostage, the tensions fly high and you are immediately pulled into this thriller. We get into the heads of many of the characters this time around which only heighten the intensity of the book. While there are some lighter moments – Jane dealing with motherhood and trying to come up with a suitable name for her baby girl – they are certainly few and far between in this book.
Having already read book 10 in this series, which is definitely not my MO when it comes to reading series, I find myself paying more attention to the character development as it answers the many questions I had. As I make my way through this series, I kind of like that I know where certain characters end up.
Are you a stickler when it comes to reading series? Do you need to read them in order or do you jump around?
Books in this series:
- The Surgeon 7. The Keepsake
- The Apprentice 8. Ice Cold
- The Sinner 9. The Silent Girl
- Body Double 9.5 Freaks
- Vanish 9.7 John Doe
- The Mephisto Club 10. Last to Die
