The Mephisto Club: A Novel (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this brisk, deftly plotted thriller from bestseller Gerritsen (Vanish), Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and police detective Jane Rizzoli look into the murder of 28-year-old Lori-Ann Tucker, whose body is found Christmas morning in her apartment amid an unholy mess of severed limbs, black candles and satanic symbols rendered in blood. "Peccavi," reads one word scrawled across Tucker's wall—Latin for "I have sinned." Isles and Rizzoli must sort sinner from innocent among suspects who can be found on several continents and include a group of sophisticates—scholars, an anthropologist, a psychiatrist—who are either cult members or crusaders against evil straight from the pages of Revelation. Other murders follow, all gruesome, all involving apocalyptic messages. On occasion, the action shifts to Europe, to a young woman running from a man she's convinced is descended from a race of fallen angels. Gerritsen has a knack for stretching believability just short of the breaking point—and for amassing details that produce an atmosphere in which the most terrible possibilities can and, indeed, should occur. (Sept.)
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From Bookmarks Magazine

The Mephisto Club, the sixth in the Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles series (after Vanish), contains Tess Gerritsen's trademark lurid writing, grisly medical/forensic details, and chilling suspense. This time, as a satanically driven killer tortures and dismembers his victims, an esoteric cult considers the existence of a gene for evil. It's not a tale for the faint of heart; metaphysical inquiries into demonology and evil are matched, page by page, by grisly details. The only major criticism comes from New York Times Book Review, which cited a total lack of credibility. Otherwise, The Mephisto Club should provide "hair-raising, demon-hunting good fun" (Los Angeles Times).

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345476999
• ISBN-13: 978-0345476999
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #372,065 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was my first Gerritsen book, but it definitely won't be my last., January 25, 2007

By	Derek (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

I came across this book randomly while I was waiting for another book to be shipped to me from Amazon. I didn't know that this was part of the Isles/Rizzoli series, I just thought the descriptions of it sounded good and thought I'd pick it up. The whole time I was reading this book I kept going back and forth trying to guess the outcome of the plot and whenever I thought I was pretty sure it would be one thing, I'd come across something that would lead me to flip flop on that assumption. The whole book is engrossing and every chance I got I wanted to read to find out if my guesses were right.

Also, another huge plus of this book is that the protagonists/main characters are real people with real problems. Unlike a lot of other mystery/thriller books, the main characters here have both triumphs in whatever they're trying to figure out/accomplish, as well as major life problems that have potentially enormouos conseqences.

I recommend this book full-heartedly and will certainly pick up on the rest of Gerristen's novels.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Starts Strong But Goes Rapidly Downhill!, November 21, 2006

By	bobbewig (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

Let me start off by saying that if you haven't read any of Gerritsen's books featuring her two main characters, don't even consider reading this book. So much about the characters deeply depends on your being familiar with their history. Even if you have read other books with these characters, The Mephisto Club, while starting off with a lot of suspense, is a disappointment. The plot drags and requires you to suspend belief way too much, there are too many subplots that are left dangling, and the ending -- what there is of one -- is weak and unsatisfying. All in all, I'd advise you to skip The Mephisto Club. Your time and money are too valuable to spend on a book that, at best, is mediocre.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The first 9/10's of the book were great...., March 30, 2007

By	LB (Manchester, MO USA) - See all my reviews

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This book really pulled me in and I found it hard to put down. I contemplated many times who the 'bad guy' was going to be. I was so looking forward to the finale to find out which of the characters was doing all the dirty deeds!

But then - arrrrgh - not another book that has such a wonderful overall plot and then fizzles out at the end!! Noooo -- this book had so much promise. How could Tess Gerritsen write such an intricate and complicated novel and then finish it up with such a lackluster ending?

I was so disappointed to finish reading and find that Tess seemed to suddenly realize that it was time to turn in her manuscript to the publisher, so she wound up things very quickly with no real explanation at all. I seriously think that readers who stuck with this book for so many pages and chapters deserve a good conclusion that fills the readers in and gives them a satisfying finish to the story. It was so interesting up until it abruptly ended - psssttt......