THE FIRST BODY IS A MYSTERY. She’s young. She’s beautiful. And her corpse, laid out in the office of Boston medical examiner Kat Novak, betrays no secrets – except for a matchbook clutched in one stiff hand, seven numbers scrawled inside. THE NEXT BODY IS A WARNING. When a second victim is discovered, Kat begins to fear that a serial killer is stalking the streets. The police are sceptical. The mayor won’t listen. And Kat’s chief suspect is one of the town’s most prominent citizens. THE FINAL BODY . . . MIGHT BE HERS. With the death toll rising, Kat races to expose a deadly predator who is closer than she ever dreamt. And every move she makes could be her very last.
--This text refers to the
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Tess Gerritsen is a physician and an internationally bestselling author. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest. She is also the author of the bestsellers Ice Cold, The Keepsake, The Bone Garden, The Mephisto Club, Vanish, Body Double, The Sinner, The Apprentice, The Surgeon, Life Support, Bloodstream, and Gravity. Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
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More About the Author
I'm a physician as well as the New York Times-bestselling author of medical thrillers and the Jane Rizzoli crime thrillers.
Readers who are familiar with my graphic autopsy scenes and forensic details may be astonished to learn that my very first published novels were actually ... romantic suspense. So why did I leave writing romances and turn to thrillers?
It was all because of a chance dinner conversation some years ago. The man sitting beside me at a restaurant one night was an ex-cop who 'd recently been traveling in Russia. Moscow cops had told him that orphans were vanishing from the streets, and they believed the children were being kidnaped and shipped abroad as organ donors.
I was horrified by the tale. Weeks later, unable to forget those missing Russian orphans, I knew I just had to write a book about them. I wanted to bring into it all the medical and autopsy details that I'd learned from my years as a physician. The sights, the smells of the autopsy and operating rooms -- everything.
My first medical thriller, HARVEST, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked my debut on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list. It was followed by my medical thrillers LIFE SUPPORT (1997), BLOODSTREAM (1998), GRAVITY (1999).
In 2001, my books took another abrupt turn, to forensic thrillers. THE SURGEON was my first Jane Rizzoli thriller. Since then, I've written THE APPRENTICE (2002), THE SINNER (2003), BODY DOUBLE (2004), VANISH (2005 -- and an Edgar Award nominee), and THE MEPHISTO CLUB (2006).
I believe my readers want me to tell them secrets. And that's exactly what I try to do. I take them into the autopsy room, and show them what I've seen. But most of all, I hope I'm revealing what lies in the hearts of my characters. Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles are real people to me now. I hope they're just as real to everyone who becomes acquainted with them!
Readers who are familiar with my graphic autopsy scenes and forensic details may be astonished to learn that my very first published novels were actually ... romantic suspense. So why did I leave writing romances and turn to thrillers?
It was all because of a chance dinner conversation some years ago. The man sitting beside me at a restaurant one night was an ex-cop who 'd recently been traveling in Russia. Moscow cops had told him that orphans were vanishing from the streets, and they believed the children were being kidnaped and shipped abroad as organ donors.
I was horrified by the tale. Weeks later, unable to forget those missing Russian orphans, I knew I just had to write a book about them. I wanted to bring into it all the medical and autopsy details that I'd learned from my years as a physician. The sights, the smells of the autopsy and operating rooms -- everything.
My first medical thriller, HARVEST, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked my debut on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list. It was followed by my medical thrillers LIFE SUPPORT (1997), BLOODSTREAM (1998), GRAVITY (1999).
In 2001, my books took another abrupt turn, to forensic thrillers. THE SURGEON was my first Jane Rizzoli thriller. Since then, I've written THE APPRENTICE (2002), THE SINNER (2003), BODY DOUBLE (2004), VANISH (2005 -- and an Edgar Award nominee), and THE MEPHISTO CLUB (2006).
I believe my readers want me to tell them secrets. And that's exactly what I try to do. I take them into the autopsy room, and show them what I've seen. But most of all, I hope I'm revealing what lies in the hearts of my characters. Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles are real people to me now. I hope they're just as real to everyone who becomes acquainted with them!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Early Gerritsen novel rereleased, not worth picking up,
By
This review is from: Girl Missing (Audio CD)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Tess Gerrittsen's GIRL MISSING is an audiobook only release that is a reprint of a mid 1990s book she wrote. As the author says in the introduction, this is one of her first forays into suspense after spending a lot of years writing romance. I've read several recent Gerritsen novels, and was excited to get this book through the Amazon Vine program. Truthfully, this is a plain vanilla novel that lacks the suspense and twists and turns that highlight the author's later works.Long time heroine Kat Novak is the medical examiner and recently divorced. A sudden slew of deaths are coming in, and Kat can't explain why they died. But, she finds a phone number in one of the dead girl's pocket. The number is Adam Quantrell's, the rich CEO of a pharmaceutical company. She suspects him at first, but soon finds that Adam is concerned his daughter Maeve is involved in drugs. The biggest problem for me in this book is that the plot never advances past the first level. There is never a discovery that leads to a new mystery. Kat and Adam spend the entire novel trying to figure out what drug is killing the kids and where it came from. While interesting, this novel isn't nearly as good as Gerritsen's latest thrillers. I recommend you take a pass on this one.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mildly interesting mystery but too much romance...,
By Denise Crawford "DC" (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Girl Missing (Audio CD)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
It's difficult to get the gist of what this book is about from reading the fairly inaccurate product description. This was a mystery about the deaths of some young people from a new narcotic-type drug that hadn't been released to market yet. Kat Novak, the medical examiner, gets suspicious that there's more to these deaths than accidental drug overdoses.I have read all of Tess Gerritsen's previous suspense books and even some of her early romances. It is easy to see the progression and development of her skills as author by reading them in order of publication dates. It was fairly evident that this was an earlier work, but without having seen the original printed book, Peggy Sue Got Murdered, I can't say for certain what changes and updates were made for this particular version of the novel. This is a review of an audiobook, which I find quite a different medium than print, and tend to like and enjoy less. I found the narrator of this version to be acceptable, but some of her voices, accents and affectations did bother me somewhat -- especially the male voices. Adam sounded completely stilted most of the time and the cops were portrayed as whiny and inept (so cliche). Some of her pronunciations of medical and chemical terms were off -- perhaps some coaching should have been done prior to the recording session. I feel that it would enhance the audiobook if different voices were used for the various characters - make it much more realistic and dramatic. As far as a story -- well this was OK. I didn't think the denouement was very exciting and the motivation for the murders was slim. The last action packed chapter again is typical of the genre -- men and women go beyond normal human capabilities to survive against incredible odds. I could have done completely without the romance part -- Tess reduced Kat Novak to a simpering fool in the face of her love for Adam and once again we have another rich knight in white armour rescue of a damsel in distress (emotional or physical -- it's all the same). I prefer my suspense thrillers to have less focus on the love interest and more on the science and the procedure. Typical forensic pathologists do not go investigate cases in the field, but we wouldn't have many thrillers to read if the authors didn't write them doing exactly that or if they left them in their labs!! So, all in all, the book was fairly enjoyable but unremarkable. I like Tess Gerritsen's recent suspense and thriller novels so much better and still plan to buy them. But this one can be skipped or borrowed!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Early Tess,
By
This review is from: Girl Missing (Paperback)
Drug addicts from the projects are dying of overdoses of an unidentifiable substance. Those who run the city are not especially concerned, but medical examiner Kat Novak, who grew up in that neighborhood, is determined to find out what's going on. Adam Quantrell is the handsome, wealthy CEO of a local pharmaceutical giant, whose wild-child step daughter has been missing for some time. When Kat contacts him about the lethal drug, and tells Adam about her roots, he asks her to assist him in locating the girl.Tess Gerritsen, known for her taut crime novels, started out writing romantic thrillers. Girl Missing is one of her earliest efforts (1994), and boy, does it show. To extend the benefit of the doubt, perhaps it's merely time that makes this book seem mundane, contrived, and predictable, and loaded with cliches. Parts of this plot are downright silly. Kat and Adam land in some extremely perilous situations, but that never stops them from jumping right back in danger, not even when Kat's home is blown up as she watches from the sidewalk (she had forgotten something in the car and went out not a moment too soon.) Readers who enjoy romance novels with an aura of menace may find this novel satisfying, but if you're hoping for something in the way of a true thriller/police procedural, give it a miss.
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