The Surgeon: A Novel

Author - Tess Gerritsen ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Mass Market Paperback Book item from Ballantine Books was reviewed on 20-Oct-2008.

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1) Mass Market Paperback Book The Surgeon: A Novel by Ballantine Books. I had never heard of Tess Gerritsen prior to Amazon offering a free Kindle download of "The Surgeon." It sounded interesting, so I gave it a try. I´m so glad I did!

As another reviewer stated, it was similar to the style of "Silence of the Lambs" or "Hannibal." Each of the main characters are fully fleshed out, and their individual personalities are very distinct. I found myself empathizing with Detective Moore, disliking (at least initially) Jane Rizzoli, and fearing for Dr. Cordell.

The medical terminology was over my head a few times, but it lends credence to the scenes in the ER. The author effectively places you in the midst of all the action, and you sometimes forget you´re reading a book.

There aren´t many books that I have difficulty putting down, but "The Surgeon" kept me up way beyond my bedtime.¤

2) Mass Market Paperback Book The Surgeon: A Novel by Ballantine Books. Although I found the narrative generally compelling and suspenseful, I was relieved to come to the final page. At times it seemed that Dr. Gerritsen was repeating a procedure for her surgery residents; "Watch this again, students." And again.

As a newcomer to Gerritsen´s books, I never realized that this was part of a Jane Rizzoli series. Although that character was nicely developed, she was far from the most engaging character. The italicized "thoughts of the creepy villain" seemed unnecessary interruptions of the flow; he was at no point sufficiently interesting to deserve all that space.

If you enjoy gruesome and scary, but don´t require an exciting love angle, you may love this one. I found it somewhat unsatisfying.

¤

3) Mass Market Paperback Book The Surgeon: A Novel by Ballantine Books. This was a free download, and I was pleased that this was not a second-rate novel. Fast-paced, detailed, and suspensful.¤

4) Mass Market Paperback Book The Surgeon: A Novel by Ballantine Books. The ending is a blatant rip-off of the climax of The Silence of the Lambs. A very well-written rip-off, but a rip-off all the same.

Otherwise, I thought this was a great book, well developed characters, good backgrounds on all of them, and avoidance of most cliches. The only thing I really didn´t like was the characterization of Jane Rizzoli. She´s the book´s other female protagonist, someone we should be empathizing with, and to me, she just came off as a grade-A, you-know-what. Defensive about everything and uber-hostile to Catherine Cordell because she´s attractive, and generally in need of a good smackdown.¤

5) Mass Market Paperback Book The Surgeon: A Novel by Ballantine Books. I was very anxious getting my hands on this book after I had read all the reviews. The book started out very tense, and I liked the pace. However, towards the middle of the book I had this sneaking suspicion that the "killer" would be somebody the reader had never actually "met". It turned out to be a anonymous person who is always "hidden from the reader" until the very, very end. Unfortunately, that´s what spoiled the book for me. I felt let down by the author who decided to drop the suspect right in front of me over the last 20-30 pages without any prior introduction.¤

6) Mass Market Paperback Book The Surgeon: A Novel by Ballantine Books. 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.


From the Hardcover edition.¤

7) Mass Market Paperback Book The Surgeon: A Novel by Ballantine Books. Penzler Pick, August 2001: Tess Gerritsen left a very successful career as an internist to raise her children and devote more time to writing. After several books that have had moderate success, Gerritsen has now written a gruesome and frightening story that should put her among the top women thriller writers working today.

A serial killer is on the loose in Boston. The victims are killed in a particularly nasty way: cut with a scalpel on the stomach, the intestines and uterus removed, and then the throat slashed. The killer obviously has medical knowledge and has been dubbed "the Surgeon" by the media. Detective Thomas Moore and his partner Rizzoli of the Boston Homicide Unit have discovered something that makes this case even more chilling. Years ago in Savannah a serial killer murdered in exactly the same way. He was finally stopped by his last victim, who shot him as he tried to cut her. That last victim is Dr. Catherine Cordell, who now works as a cardiac surgeon at one of Boston´s prestigious hospitals. As the murders continue, it becomes obvious that the killer is drawing closer and closer to Dr. Cordell, who is becoming so frightened that she is virtually unable to function. But she is the only person who can help the police catch this copycat killer. Or is it a copycat? To complicate matters even further, Detective Moore, often referred to as Saint Thomas as he continues to mourn the loss of his wife, is getting emotionally involved with the doctor.

The suspense in The Surgeon is almost unbearable. The writing is superb and the stunning twists and turns make it almost impossible to put down. -- Otto Penzler¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 17-Nov-2008, 03454478409780345447845, 400-670-230-4X0-2X0-1GB-8

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