Reviewed by Gina
This reviewer was introduced to Ms. Gerritsen after reading THE MEPHISTO CLUB in early 2007 and quickly became a dedicated fan which led to reading this fabulous author’s entire back list. What is so fabulous about Ms. Gerritsen’s books, in addition to each being a can’t put this book down read, is that while her stories are cutting edge, they also offer a unique retrospective on where we have been and where we might go. Ms. Gerritsen’s attention to detail takes her readers through our cultural changes by simply telling each story. For instance, in CALL AFTER MIDNIGHT the characters search for a pay phone, in KEEPER OF THE BRIDE written in 1996, the bomb specialist has a car phone—bringing back memories of the bulky devices some people had in their cars a mere eleven years ago.
CALL AFTER MIDNIGHT was originally written in 1986 and tells a story of love and betrayal in a highly suspenseful story. Sarah Fontaine married her husband, Geoffrey after a whirlwind courtship. He swept her off her feet as she never thought any man would. When she receives a late night call in their Washington home, her world comes crashing down around her when State Department official Nicholas O’Hara tells her Geoffrey has died in a tragic fire. When Sarah receives another call, this time from Geoffrey, she boards a plane to England and begins the odyssey of a lifetime searching for her husband. She quickly learns that the man she married never existed…or did he?
Even in her earliest book, CALL AFTER MIDNIGHT, Mira Books ISBN 978-0778300748 Ms. Gerritsen reaches out to her reader and brings him or her into the vortex of fear and desire alongside of Sarah. After reading contemporary romantic suspense with fast jets, cell phones and computers, CALL AFTER MIDNIGHT slows the reader’s pace when the characters need to search out a pay phone or take a moment to light up a cigarette—things that have more or less faded from our lives. At the same time, the reader simply cannot put the book down as he or she joins Sarah in her search for her husband.
In UNDER THE KNIFE, 1987, Mira Books ISBN 978-0778300670, Dr. Kate Chesne has the unspeakable happen during surgery when she errs and misreads her friend’s EKG and the woman dies on the table during a simple procedure. Or did she make a mistake? When attorney Dave Ransom prepares to sue her for malpractice she goes to him claiming her innocence. He quickly finds there is something about Kate that makes him think that maybe she’s telling the truth. As the mystery of why her friends and co-workers are dying hits closer and closer to home, Kate and Dave must run for their lives. Set in Hawaii Ms. Gerritsen treats her readers to not only island vistas, but to a thrilling who-done-it.
WHISTLEBLOWER, 1992 Mira Books ISBN 978-1551664682, takes readers to San Francisco where Ms. Gerritsen brings the foggy rainy nights of the Bay Area to life. Even if you have never been to San Francisco and seen our celebrated fog, you know, you just know what it feels like to be in the all encompassing vapor. In WHISTLEBLOWER, Victor Holland stumbles on to a dark secret that could wreck havoc worldwide. A mild-mannered, regular guy he runs for his life, straight into Cathy Weaver’s car, embroiling Cathy in Viratek’s not so brave new world.
KEEPER OF THE BRIDE, 1996 Mira Books ISBN 978-1551669359, Nina Cormier gets the shock of her life on her wedding day and it’s not that her groom has left her at the altar. Bomb specialist Detective Sam Navarro doesn’t want to fall for Nina, but when several attempts on her life bring them closer together, he falls and falls hard. Thing is, Sam is also one of the bombers nemeses and cannot resist getting a two-fer if he can kill both Nina and Sam. Set in Maine, there are a few cliché actions in the story, but it is still a do not miss read.
In 1996, Ms. Gerritsen moved into medical thrillers with HARVEST which is beyond chilling to read. This is one book you do not want to read shortly before you have surgery and will want to sleep with the lights on while gripping the book and turning the pages. Never a boring read, Dr. Abby DiMatteo finds herself in the middle of a living nightmare when she stumbles on a cash for organs program happening in the hospital she hopes to spend her career in. A definite 4 Hearts on this one…Love Romances hearts…not transplants.
HARVEST was followed by LIFE SUPPORT ISBN 0-671-55304-6, Pocket in 1997. While equally chilling in possibility, LIFE SUPPORT is a bit formulaic. It once again features a beleaguered female doctor and a forty-something divorced male. Three of the deaths in the story seemed almost gratuitous rather than necessary – but that is more likely than not because this reviewer liked those characters. There was something so appealing about Robbie Brace and little Molly.
In 1997 Ms. Gerritsen released BLOODSTREAM which is a bit of a shift in her writing. BLOODSTREAM has a slight gothic overtone which is perfect for the feeling of something lurking, hidden in the fog and shadows. Her hero is also a shift from a doctor to a police officer. Lincoln Kelly has his own issues to work through and is faced with a dilemma anyone in small town police work can encounter—a crime committed by a friend to a family member. Readers can also see the beginnings of the question of “is this a fluke of nature, man-made or a paranormal event” in BLOODSTREAM which is perfected in THE MEPHISTO CLUB. Of all the medical thrillers, this is the one to pick up for a long weekend read.
Perhaps this reviewer’s most favorite Gerritsen book is GRAVITY. Taking place on the International Space Station, Ms. Gerritsen takes readers into not only the world of outer space, but beneath the sea. She really hits home when one of her characters states that, like everyone, he wanted to be an astronaut. In GRAVITY, she opens the door on the possibility of an illness, a plague, being extra terrestrial weaving a medical thriller that is an outstanding read.
Readers meet police detective Jane Rizzoli for the first time in THE SURGEON. Set on Boston, Rizzoli is confronted by one very sick serial killer. He targets not only women, but women who have been raped. Taking pleasure not only in killing his victims, he also thrives on how Dr. Catherine Cordell reacts. THE SURGEON is a definite 5 for content and a story that grabs a hold of the reader; Rizzoli is not a very likeable character.
Ms. Gerritsen returns to her romantic suspense roots in IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS ISBN 0-373-83621-x, 2004. Set in Europe, the reader can almost hear the story being told by someone in a very proper British accent. Even in this, one of her shorter novels, the characters are fully developed, the scenes vividly unfold and the crime’s solution constantly unfolding, but never known. This book is part of an anthology.
Her second Jane Rizzoli book is THE APPRENTICE and it is chilling. She goes beyond simple horror and/or suspense and takes white knuckle reading to a new level. You cannot put the book down, you cannot sleep and you definitely cannot turn out the lights. Jane was still difficult for this reviewer to warm up to – but it certainly didn't stop this from being yet another winner for Ms. Gerritsen.
In 2003 in THE SINNER readers are given an opportunity to learn more about medical examiner Maura Isles, who was introduced in THE APPRENTICE and Father Brophy who appears in the later books. THE SINNER takes readers on a journey of twists and turns, from India to the streets of Boston with an ending the likes of which only Ms. Gerritsen can write. It is perhaps a testament to this reviewer’s own dark sense of humor and honor that the most memorable thread of the story is when Jane Rizzoli sits with one of the victims of the story’s father after she learns just what he has done. With a perversity many of us would love to act on, she suggests that his daughter’s picture be placed where he can see it each and every day, all day. There is justice, even if it is vicariously given.
2004 brought fans BODY DOUBLE, ISBN 0-345-45893-1, the next installment in the Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli series of books. In all of her books Ms. Gerritsen has a way of, at least for me, creeping into our minds and taking our worst nightmares and making them real. For instance, growing up I wanted a twin sister. At times I was certain I had a twin and that my mother just kept it from me. In BODY DOUBLE, Ms Gerritsen reveals to coroner Maura Isles that she did, in fact have a twin sister. Not only a sister, but a brother and in a spell binding-can’t-put-this-book down story takes readers down the road of just what happened to that twin. Add to it the hint of a threat to police detective Jane Rizzoli who is in the last days of her pregnancy with husband FBI agent Gabriel Dean and you have a page turner that once again will keep you up nights wondering what new, sinister twist this fantastic author is going to put in the road. And, just when you think it’s okay to turn out the lights and get some sleep, she throws another twisted curve in your direction.
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