Rating: 
Summary: She does it again
Review: After a few not so interesting books since her first, Life Support, Tess has been on a role with the last three books (including this one). In this one, she keeps the plot moving along at excellent rate but also takes time to work the atmosphere of a wintery Boston into the text. While some unreal coincidences occur between the characters to make the plot gel correctly, it's not enought to distract too much. I enjoyed reading the interaction between the characters even if it was too coincidental. I look forward to more books with these characters in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: A Great, Riveting Read
Review: It's right at the end of Chapter Four of THE SINNER, Tess Gerritsen's fine new novel, that readers --- whether familiar with Gerritsen's previous work or not --- will have to resist mightily the temptation to stop reading to acquaint or reacquaint themselves with the other titles in her bibliography. Continued reading of THE SINNER will ultimately will out, if only by virtue of the fact that it's difficult to hold two books open at once, and THE SINNER is impossible to lay down without reading it from cover to cover. But once a reader is done, it's time to look back at the others.The opening of THE SINNER takes place in a cloistered convent where the sins of the outside world have suddenly and violently intruded. Boston medical examiner Maura Isles is called to a bloody scene where a young novitiate lies dead and an older nun is grievously wounded. There are a host of questions surrounding the vicious attacks: How did the killer breach the security of the convent? Who would attack the two nuns, and why? Isles and Boston Police Detective Jane Rizzoli slowly and painstakingly answer these questions from the perspective of their respective fields. When a third, apparently unrelated victim is subsequently found, horribly mutilated, across town, the case suddenly dovetails into the respective pasts of Rizzoli and Isles, in ways neither of them suspected. Both women must at the same time deal with personal issues that by turns interfere with their abilities to make progress on the cases while holding the key to their resolutions. What ultimately makes THE SINNER a great, riveting read, however, is Gerritsen's ability to draw seemingly disparate elements together into a connective storyline while utilizing those elements as an explosive propellant to carry the reader rapidly forward. THE SINNER continues the evolution of Rizzoli, who was previously featured in Gerritsen's THE SURGEON and THE APPRENTICE, and utilizes Isles to keep this novel moving down parallel paths toward its ultimate resolution. If you haven't discovered Tess Gerritsen yet, THE SINNER is a great place to start. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down...'The Sinner' is magnificent.
Review: A horrifying scene has been discovered at Our Lady of Divine Souls. Within the walls of the chapel lie two nuns, one dead, one critically injured. Medical examiner Maura Isles wants answers, and with the help of detective Jane Rizzoli she plans on getting them. The nuns are not to quick to answer questions, but when Maura discovers the victim, Sister Camille a twenty-year old nun, gave birth before she was murdered she presses the nuns for answers, until another woman is found mutilated in a similar manner. As Maura, and Jane race to stop a killer they discover a centuries old horror connecting the murders, but the closer they get to the truth is the closer they get to a killer's identity, and neither can prepare herself for that shocking discovery. 'The Sinner' in one word is magnificent. I was hooked on page one, and for several hours I turned page after shocking page, until every loose end was tied up, and the killer's identity was known. I was totally engrossed in this gripping page-turner, and not only for it's razor sharp suspense, but also for it's two interesting lead characters. Maura Isles receives a welcome introduction in this novel, and returning character Jane Rizzoli gets to have a personal story-line developed, giving readers a chance to get to know her better. Tess Gerritsen is one of my must-read authors, and as usual she doesn't disappoint. This novel, as well as her previous novels, is fast-paced, original thriller filled with twists and turns, and can't be put down once started. This book will fly up the bestseller lists, and readers will anxiously await another appearance of Isles, and Rizzoli. A MUST read! Nick Gonnella
Rating: 
Summary: Tess slept through this one
Review: I like Tess Gerritsen. Let me start with that. The Sinner was a book that seemed rushed, though, and far below her usual high standard. Her romance roots dominated this book, and although her Jane Rizzoli has been a clear-cut character unto herself, I felt Gerritsen was still searching for the key to Isles. She spent way too much time trying to justify Isles' position in the morgue and attach some kind of higher calling or nobility to that place. In short, she doth protest too much and ended up sounding like a wannabe of Kay Scarpetta. Of course, there's only one Kay.... Medically speaking, Tess is right on her game. It was great to see what she brought to the book. But in an effort to add a lot of twists and surprises we ended up with a bad guy who wasn't believable at all. WAY too much time was spent on the romantic aspects of the characters. I mean -- even an attraction to a devoted priest was overdone. If I never hear about Isles' ebony hair and "Queen of the Dead" nickname again, it will be too soon. The church parts (priest lust aside) were going great but then they took an old, old turn and got dropped. A dreamlike opening is promising but by the time anything tied to it, I'd completely forgotten about it. And worst of all, after I finished the book I picked up The Apprentice. Right from the start, fast, hard, taut. Really, this is Tess's weakest effort since she turned to crime.
Rating:
Summary: Gerritsen does it again!
Review: 'The Sinner' takes off where 'The Apprentice' left off, following the pursuits of homicide detective Jane Rizzoli as she investigates the brutal deaths of two cloistered nuns. Rizzoli's assisted by the attractive but aloof new medical examiner, Maura Isles. Isles is a woman running from her recent breakup with ex husband Victor Banks, the handsome and devoted leader of One Earth an organization dedicated to solving health care needs in impoverished countries. Rizzoli and Isles are each at turning points in their own lives and are both obsessed with these brutal deaths. Together they piece together a strange trail of events leading to the murders. As usual, Gerritsen fully develops her characters and their relationships and so carefully details her story that it appears to have been taken from the pages of an investigator's journal. You leave this book feeling you truly know Rizzoli and Isles and the final unravelling of the investigation with its many turns and twists will surprize the most experienced mystery reader. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: fantastic yet shocking medical thriller
Review: It's only four days before Christmas and the citizens of Boston are in an uproar because two nuns in a cloistered abbey are bludgeoned with one dead and the other barely alive. Boston Medical Examiner Dr. Maura Isles discovers that Sister Camille gave birth to a stillborn deformed son. The other nun that was attacked, Sister Ursula was only back in the abbey a year after doing nursing work at a leper colony in India. She remains in intensive care but the doctors aren't hopeful that she will recover. Maura is called out on another case when a woman is shot to death, her hands and feet are amputated, and her facial skin peeled away. The woman also has some strange lesions on her body and after exhaustive study, they learn she was suffering from Hansen's Disease. A vice president of a company that has a factory near the leper's colony is found shot to death, the victim of an assassin just before he was scheduled to talk to the Justice Department. All three of these cases are linked and once that connection is discovered, the police will probably know who the killer is. Tess Gerritsen has joined the ranks of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs with this fantastic and shocking medical thriller. Jane Rizzoli, one of the more popular Boston detectives, plays a secondary role in THE SINNER because she is as concerned about her unexpected pregnancy as she is about these cases. Dr. Maura Isles is the star of this tale because it is her esoteric medical knowledge that is needed if the case is to be solved. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling
Review: In "The Sinner", Tess Gerritsen focuses on two strong women characters, homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. Both characters are wonderfully portrayed. I can't get enough of Jane Rizzoli, a female cop with a tough facade who has been a fighter all her life. Add to that now, Maura Isles, a woman who seems cool and detached on the outside, yet who is experiencing inner turmoil. The two come together to investigate the person who murdered one young, beautiful nun and brutally bludgeoned an older one. Gerritsen has proven herself to be one of the best medical thriller authors today. Her books always deliver a powerful story and entertaining read, with some of the best characterization out there. Count me a fan.
Rating:
Summary: Totally Satisfied!!!
Review: This is my first Tess Gerritsen novel and I haven't been disappointed at all. Even though it does display much the same premise as the Kay Scarpetta novels,she still makes the story interesting,exciting, and suspensful. It moved along really well and I felt like I got to know the main characters. I would consider buying other novels by this author.
Rating:
Summary: The series is addictive.
Review: I read "The Surgeon" then "The Apprentice", then "Body Double" and now "The Sinner" and I am so hooked! All were the kind of books that made me want to take the phone off the hook, not answer the door, call in sick to work and just be left alone to read my book! I cannot wait for the next edition!
Rating: 
Summary: Not great
Review: I'm going to try my best not to lose it writing this review, I don't want to insult someone elses work, after all, who am I? But in my opinion this book is atrocious, by far and away the worst material I have ever read. I've never read a Gerritsen before and I don't think I ever will again.
Is it just me or in the opening chapters does it seem like every man alive is either incompetent or evil? Or am I being an over-sensitive male oaf? Because the female characters are all intelligent, successful career women, either pregnant or on their time of the month but still struggling through in the world of evil stupid men like super-commandos.
The twist was blindingly obvious from the start, not surprising in the least.
The best thing about the story is Detective Rizzoli, a hard, clever woman who at the end of the book marries a guy she hardly knows because she's pregnant, the walking down the aisle rolling her eyes in disbelief was so cheesy that it made me feel more sick than any of the apparently 'grisly' murders.
I too am a writer and I would hate it if someone said these things about any of my work but I also hate to think that I would ever be thoughtless enough to put my name to something so unashamedly awful.
Sorry Tess, I'm sure you could do better.
| 
