Twelve in 12: The Surgeon in OD

Title: The Surgeon

Author: Tess Gerritsen

Genre: Crime

416 pages

This is the second of three books I will be reviewing for The Great Transworld Crime Caper

Quick note before I start: I apologise in advance for any typos, I’m currently writing one handed.

Boston Mass.: there is a killer running around murderingb victims of rape and conducting surgery on them. And for one doctor, it’s all just a little bit of history repeating…

Gerritsen has created a tight, powerfull crime thriller with this one. The information about exactly what the killer does to his victims is gruesome, but not too much if you get queasy about these things. There are a few clues about how the victims are chosen but it’s mostly following the cops as they piece everything together.

Gerreitsen is also a fully qualified doctor. This shows not only in the medical explanations given by the cops but the scenes about complicated medical procedures.

The two main characters are Rizzoli and Moore. Rizzoli is my favourite: whether at work or with her family, she is the only female and works hard to make her impact. Moore is…

I’m just gonna come right out and say it now. Can we please, please, for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, STOP WITH THE BROKEN COPS THING IN THESE BOOKS? It’s getting really, really annoying. I can understand it when it’s the result of something from an earlier book. I even understood it in the last book I reviewed for this, as it was the reasonfor the character being where he was and for trying to resist being sucked into his past life. I know it can make for tension and drama and all that good stuff, but it is also getting really, really boring and cliched.

Another time worn crime genre cliche is the lead cop going too far and being removed from/shunted sideways on the case. So why Gerritsen desides to do this to both the main characters I’ll never understand.

Despite these quibbles, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by Gerritsen. Recommended.

Will