The Sinner http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Sinner-Tess-Gerritsen/9780345458926?cf=3

By Tess Gerritsen

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Reviews

Internist-turned-author Gerritsen returns with her sixth medical thriller (after The Apprentice), bringing back Boston detective Jane Rizzoli. This time out the victims are two nuns-young (and recently pregnant) Sister Camille, beaten to death in the chapel, and elderly Sister Ursula, who is left clinging to life nearby. Medical examiner Maura Isles is brought in to investigate, and she and Rizzoli team up against a case of seemingly biblical proportions, which includes Camille's mysterious pregnancy, leper colonies in India, and unexplained plagues. All of this mayhem swirls around a backdrop of Maura's problems with her charismatic ex-husband and Rizzoli's unexpected pregnancy, which make for a stew that doesn't quite cook and that is spiced with some turgid metaphors: "like a black hole, [the murder scene] sucks into its vortex the rapt attention of the living, who cannot turn away, cannot resist a glimpse into hell." But the plot moves quickly, and there's enough suspense here to warrant a slot on the beach reading list, perhaps along with something by Alex Quaver. Recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/03.]-Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, IN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

A grisly murder at a convent baffles Medical Examiner Maura Isles and Det. Jane Rizzoli at the start of this assured, richly shaded seventh novel from bestseller Gerritsen (The Apprentice; The Surgeon, etc.). The popular duo are called to Boston's Graystones Abbey when two nuns are discovered in an abandoned chapel, one dead and the other near death, both brutally bludgeoned. Red herrings are everywhere: Isles's discovery that one of the murdered nuns had recently given birth (followed shortly by the discovery of the baby's body in a pond near the convent); the murder of a homeless derelict with her face and extremities removed by her killer; and the lurking menace of a multinational chemical company. Complicating matters further is the sudden arrival of Isles's ex-husband, Victor, a celebrity humanitarian with his own suspicious connection to the case, and Rizzoli's old flame, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, who's responsible for the baby now growing in Rizzoli's belly. The investigation is rather low-key, but Gerritsen gives atmospheric depth to her tale with descriptions of snowbound Boston and an exotic past tragedy. Isles's pleasantly bitchy coldness ("Go ahead and pass me, idiots. I've met too many drivers like you on my slab") gives a welcome edge to the proceedings, and the struggles of both Isles and Rizzoli to balance their tough professional acts with romantic drama are satisfyingly gritty. BOMC main selection; 6-city author tour. (Aug. 19) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

"[Gerritsen] has an imagination that allows her to conjure up depths of human behavior so dark and frightening that she makes Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft seem like goody-two-shoes."--"Chicago Tribune"

"Satisfying . . . "The Sinner" is as busy and bumpy as a storm-filled sky."--"Entertainment Weekly" (Editor's Choice)

"A suspenseful, white-knuckle tale all the way to the end . . . Gerritsen is not only talented with words, she has unusual medical and scientific expertise, which gives all her books a precious credibility. . . . It's not only a terrific story, it provokes thought about a lot of other issues of international import. And it's real, without special effects, a story that emanates from the real life around us."--"Deseret News" (Salt Lake City, UT)

"Gerritsen's weaving of unusual crime scenes, complicated investigations, lurid medical details, and moments of visceral fear is truly unique. . . . ["The Sinner"] will keep the reader quickly turning pages. . . . Into these terrors forges Maura Isles, Queen of the Dead, and riveted, we readers follow her."
-"Sun Journal" (Lewiston, ME)

"Dark emotions and dangerous secrets permeate this unusually chilling novel. . . . Another gut-wrenching tale from a true master."--"Romantic Times" (Top Pick)

"Gerritsen just keeps getting better with each book. . . . [The Sinner] moves at a heart pounding pace without a word wasted."--"Drood Review of Mystery"

"Assured, richly shaded."--"Publishers Weekly"

"Another captivating, horrific thriller in her extremely popular canon."--"Booklist"

"Well-executed and entertaining."--"News Tribune" (Tacoma, WA)