Title: The Apprentice
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Series: Rizzoli & Isles #2
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Transworld Publishing
Year: 2002
5th sentence, 74th page: Kind of like a brush.

He’s learned from the best

A series of horrific murders seem disturbingly familiar to Detective Jane Rizzoli. They remind her and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles of those committed by a killer known as the Surgeon, who they recently put behind bars.

While they’re still trying to track down the new killer, the unthinkable happens: the Surgeon escapes. Suddenly, Jane is chasing not one but two brilliant and twisted minds, united by one goal…

To perfect their skills on the woman who’s hunting them.

I loved this follow-up to The Surgeon. For starters, the storyline followed flawlessly, and there were the first glimpses of the cracks in Rizzoli’s armour. Dr. Isles was also introduced in this book as an aloof and vague character, since the series is called Rizzoli and Isles, I assume that she will play a far larger role in books to come.

Agent Dean was the exact opposite to every male that Rizzoli has worked with. And I liked that his character was able to completely put her at odds and even question some of her own motives. I always love flawed heroines, and using another character to show some of the cracks in their self-assurance is a tactic that worked beautifully. It also helped that Agent Dean was Jane’s polar opposite, and a great reminder of how well opposites can work together.

Gerritsen has a masterful grasp of the victimisation and mentality of the men who prey upon women. Not only their psychology, but also the victims themselves – even those who don’t want to be a victim. I loved this aspect of her writing, and it was this that made her work truly spin tinglingly brilliant.

Image source: Amazon