Whistleblower (Intrigue) [Import] [Paperback]

Tess Gerritsen (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Silhouette Books (June 24, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373591853
• ISBN-13: 978-0373591855
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment, February 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Whistleblower (Paperback)

There's usually a reason that a bestselling author's early novels are NOT famous -- they're simply not as good. I've enjoyed most of Tess Gerritsen's other novels, but this one frustrated me with its sappy, bad-Harlequin-romance atmosphere. Although they are supposedly intelligent, mature adults, the two leads behaved like none too bright, naive yo-yos. Granted, there were a few good surprises, but all of the characters were pretty one dimensional. This may be partly due to the book's shorter length (i.e., if you cram in lots of plot developments, something's got to go). I always feel guilty about panning an author's hard work, yet I also want to spare a reader hours of unsatisfying effort. I finished reading this book because I'm stubborn, but I'd advise others to skip it and stick with her later works.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, February 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Whistleblower (Paperback)

I read "Whistleblower" when it was first published in 1992 and recently picked up my copy again (Yep, it's a keeper). The book is a true thriller, offering a clear glimpse of the suspense she would soon unleash on mainstream readers. At the time, I actually thought it was a little too punishing for category romance, with what happens to Cathy's friend Sarah (that certainly isn't what I wanted to happen after Gerritsen spent a lot of time developing the character and getting us to like her. It only made it more shattering). Still, I think those are the very reason her mainstream fans might like this one too. It's full of shocks and surprises, even ones that are hard to take, because Gerritsen takes no prisoners. The love story is nicely understated and never becomes too swoony. Rather, it's a suspenseful story about government conspiracies and those who dare to tell the truth. As good as--or better--than her more celebrated releases, but at a better price. You can't go wrong.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Such a shame that this wwas ever published, April 26, 2008

By 

S. Cox "szcox" (Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whistleblower (Paperback)

I have been a fan of Tess Gerritson for a long while and have enjoyed many of her novels over the years (except that awful one set in England where neither the plot nor the characters worked). I really looked forward to reading this latest offering but I am now exceedingly annoyed at having spent a reasonable amount of money on a complete piece of rubbish! The plot was so predictable that all which subsequently occurred was obvious by the end of the second chapter and the writing was so appalling that I had to skim a good proportion of it. I seriously doubt if Ms Gerritson actually wrote this..if she is sub-contracting she needs to find a better writer to do it in her name.