Under the Knife (Harlequin Intrigue # 136) [Paperback]

Tess Gerritsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1990 | Series: Intrigue

The Mira books feature a range of novels by well-known and sometimes new authors. The common thread running through the series is the focus on love, romance and man-woman relationships.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Melodrama and logical flaws slay this tale of murder and yuppie love. Gerritsen ( A Call After Midnight ) gets off to a flying start with a death during routine surgery. Although medical records suggest the patient died due to an error by anesthesiologist Kate Chesne,sp ok/pk who is sued for malpractice, she persuades David Ransom, lawyer for the victim's parents, that the records are suspect. Together they discover that the "accident" is one of a series of murders. Fortunately for the protagonists, the killer, who has efficiently cut the throats of two other victims and fractured the skull of a third, decides for no convincing reason to indulge in an elaborate frame-up that could easily fail. Characters are also inconsistent: in the beginning David plans to "expose" and "destroy" Kate, but tells her a few pages later that he doesn't attack doctors, only their mistakes. The lovers' squabbling and passion never rise above romance formula; even the author characterizes one of her scenes as "a tableau taken straight out of some soap opera."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (March 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373221363
• ISBN-13: 978-0373221363
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,616,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite by Gerritsen, October 11, 2000

By 

"newsradio" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Knife (Paperback)

I had mixed feelings when I saw that Tess Gerritsen's UNDER THE KNIFE was going to be reissued in a standalone edition for the first time. This was my first Gerritsen book and remains my favorite after all these years. I'm glad people will have a chance to discover it. I've also seen how some readers who didn't discover this author until she started writing mainstream thrillers have responded to her early romantic suspense titles. I hope people will go into it with an open mind. This is a great book.

UNDER THE KNIFE was originally published in 1990 as Harlequin Intrigue 136. Yes, it is a romance novel. It is also the only one of Gerritsen's early books to take place in and around a hospital, though it is more of a murder mystery than a scientific thriller like her recent work. The main character is Dr. Kate Chesne, who is performing a routine operation on a friend in the Honolulu hospital where they both work. Then the patient dies and Kate is accused of malpractice. The woman's family hires a high-profile lawyer, David Ransom, who goes after doctors "like her." Kate is stunned. She knows she didn't do anything wrong and she is determined to vindicate herself. At first, David is skeptical of her claims of innocence. Then they learn that Kate's patient was only one of the staff members at the hospital to die under unusual circumstances. Someone is killing doctors and nurses to protect a long-buried secret, and Kate's search for the truth has moved her up to number one on the killer's hit list.

UNDER THE KNIFE is a book I have reread many times over the years, not only my favorite Gerritsen book but one of my favorite Harlequin Intrigues. I think the reason it works so well is because of the characters. I've read complaints about her other Harlequin rereleases that Gerritsen's romance characters are cardboard. It's funny. I've always thought the characters in her mainstreams were more one-dimensional, overwhelmed by plots that don't allow for much character insight. In this book David and Kate are real people with complex histories, families and hopes and fears. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew them well and cared what happened to them. That's why the final scene with David and Kate is so beautiful. I know some people will be uncomfortable with the high emotional level. There are some big moments, including the climax, will either strike readers as unbearably melodramatic or genuinely moving. I'm a guy and it takes a lot to get to me. This is one of the few books that I can think of that made me cry.

I'm making this book sound really drippy. It's not. The mystery is excellent. There is a healthy dose of suspense and Gerritsen knows how to keep readers guessing. Some of the moments where Kate is stalked in the hospital are chilling. The ending is pretty powerful, when we find out the killer's motivation and all the secrets some out. I also liked that this wasn't a one-note villain. The character was 3-dimensional too. I liked the Hawaiian setting, too. Then again, it should be clear by now that I just love this book.

In UNDER THE KNIFE Tess Gerritsen writes chilling suspense, an intricate mystery, and a moving romance. I can't think of many mysteries where the characters are as important as whodunit, or romances that are truly gripping and suspenseful. This is one. Every time I finish it I want to start over again from page one. To me, that's a great book. I'm not saying it's literature, but for six dollars, or the two-fifty I originally paid, it's well worth the price. It made me a big fan of this author and ten years later, I'm still reading her. My first, and still the best.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good murder mystery, November 21, 2000

By 

K. Lininger (FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Under the Knife (Paperback)

I read this book a long time ago in a 3 in l book. I had forgotten when I bought this book. Even though, I remembered the ending, I was still completely entertained. This is a story of a doctor who gets accused of being careless and letting her patient die. As things start to unravel, you know she is innocent and the lawyer who was bound to see her in court realizes that there is a lot more to the story. Together they go out in a search of the truth. Excellent twists and turns that keep you guessing up until the end.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another exciting hospital thriller by Tess Gerritsen., October 3, 2000

By 

"kmkmtm" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Knife (Paperback)

FROM THE BACK COVER: "For David Ransom, it begins as an open-and-shut case. Malpractice. As attorney for a grieving family, he's determined to hang a negligent doctor. Then Dr. Kate Chesne storms into his office, daring him to seek out the truth -- that she's being framed. First it was Kate's career that was in jeopardy. Then, when another body is discovered, David begins to believe her. Suddenly it's much more. Somewhere in the Honolulu hospital, a killer walks freely among patients and staff. And now David finds himself asking the same questions Kate is desperate to have answered. Who is next? And why?"

In her eight months on the job as an anesthesiologist, Dr. Kate Chesne has had an impeccable reputation. But it only takes one moment to ruin a career ... and to end a life. When a routine surgery results in the death of a patient, medical records indicate that Kate was derelict in her duties ... criminally so. Attorney David Ransom hates doctors. All doctors. It was because of a negligent doctor...[that] David has dedicated all his time, energy and skill as a malpractice attorney to seek out and punish careless and/or completely incompetent physicians. So when Dr. Kate Chesne bursts into his office one day pleading with David to drop his case against her, proclaiming her innocence while admitting that there is no other reasonable explanation for the patient's death, David ruthlessly and dispassionately sends her away. As the body count rises and as David has more and more contact with Kate, he begins to believe in her innocence and in the undeniable physical attraction he feels for her. David is forced to withdraw himself from the case against Kate due to his "conflict of interest" ... after all, is there any bigger conflict of interest than sleeping with the opposition?

The suspense is wonderful. Someone is killing off all of the personnel involved in the death of a woman and her premature child several years earlier. Who and why? Is it...the still-grieving ex psychiatric patient who was the woman's lover and the child's father? Or is it someone else? Someone with their own reasons for making sure the events of that tragic night never reach the light of day? The romance is both great and frustrating. Great in that is it very passionate. Frustrating in that David and Kate ping-pong back and forth between "I've got to have you!" and "This relationship is never going to work out." Intriguing whodunit with several viable suspects.