The Surgeon

Rating:
Summary: A Real Page Turner
Review: Tess Gerritsen puts all her expertise as a doctor to full use in this well-written and suspenseful medical thriller. Dr. Catherine Cordell is the central figure, whose echoes of her past rape and near murder in Savannah have followed her to Boston and her new position as an ER trauma surgeon. Here,a serial killer is brutally murdering young women by the same method that was nearly perpetrated upon Catherine earlier. It all seems to be focused upon terrifying her again, for reasons unknown to her. The killer subtly stalks her mentally via her hospital office and her computer driving her even further into panic.The police are dilligently pursuing these henious murders and Thomas Moore forms a protective relationship with Catherine,bringing her the first trust she has known in years. Jane Rizzoli, the only policewoman on the case is trying to bring redemption to the role of females on the force. It backfires on her in her overzealousness,creating its own little diversion, until she is finally able to heroically redeem herself. Tess Gerritsen is so well able to describe the devistation wreaked upon women following rape, and the denigrating of women,in general,by the viciousness of this killer. The story is so fast-paced, moving you from one frightening scene to the next, with the excitement constantly building until the ultimate riveting conclusion.It is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your chair until the final page.

Rating:
Summary: be very afraid ...
Review: This was such an excellent read that I stayed up all night to finish it. (Then I got really scared but thank God it was morning!) Unlike a previous reviewer, I did like the medical jargon in this book. It made the atmosphere realistic and as I have been in hospital before, it was pretty accurate! Yikes!

Ms Gerritsen has a flair for some great writing. I liked the parts when she reveals the serial killer's thoughts (in italics) She uses sacrificial stories from the past and presents the killer as a person with an incredible fantasy life/wish. The ending is well done and I couldn't help but give a cheer to this fine writer. A very satisfying read! Thank you, Ms Gerritsen!

Rating:
Summary: A serial kill mutilates and slaughters female victims.
Review: Dr. Catharine Cordell is a beautiful and brilliant emergency room doctor who narrowly escaped death after having been brutally [attacked] in Savannah, Georgia. She shot and killed her attacker and hoped that she had closed the chapter on that horrible incident.

Unfortunately, there is another killer loose in Boston, where Tess Gerritsen's new thriller, "The Surgeon" takes place. "The Surgeon" is the name given to a vicious man who stalks young women and then sadistically tortures, mutilates and murders them with a scalpel.

In some ways, this is a conventional slasher novel. The killer, a faceless presence throughout the book, is brilliantly evil and meticulous in his methodology; he also takes gory trophies to remind him of his victims. Does this sound familiar? It should, since this is the plot of dozens of novels that are written every year. Although I enjoy thrillers, I wonder why so many readers take such pleasure in books that depict women as victims. This theme has been done to death (excuse the pun) and I am surprised that Gerritsen resorted to such an overused plot device.

In spite of my qualms about the theme, "The Surgeon" held my interest. Dr. Cordell is a strong and feisty woman who has closed herself off from her emotions because of her traumatic past. She is an interesting counterpoint to Thomas Moore (one of the detectives looking for the serial killer) with whom she falls in love. Also interesting is Detective Rizzoli, a young female cop, who resents having to prove herself to her male counterparts. Rizzoli is a bitter and competitive person and she reminds me of many women who find it difficult to make it in a man's world.

"The Surgeon" is fast-paced, with plenty of dialogue and action to keep the plot moving. The ending is fairly conventional. The police work against time to catch the slasher before he kills Catharine. Although no new ground is broken here, I found myself caught up in the suspense. It is a tribute to Gerritsen's skill that she can take a plot that has been done so many times before and still make it riveting.

Rating:
Summary: TESS IS TOPS AT THRILLERS
Review: While serial killer villains may abound few are as excruciatingly terrifying as the menace introduced in Tess Gerritsen's latest thriller, "The Surgeon."
An outstanding young cardiologist, Dr. Catherine Cordell, can never forget that she is the only surviving target of a crazed serial killer. Although the murderer was shot and killed in Savannah, Georgia, Catherine has found it impossible to leave that nightmarish time behind. She shares this information with no one.
In an effort to blot out past horrors she moves to Boston. Soon, the unthinkable occurs - three women are slain in Boston by someone with the same modus operandi as the person who hunted Catherine in Georgia. His methods lead authorities to believe he has been trained in medicine, and they dub him "The Surgeon."
Catherine had fought back once and saved her life, but now she is about to crumble as with each new murder the sadistic stalker seems to be getting closer to her, to the hospital, to her home, as action hurtles from the Emergency Room to the morgue.
She has only one ally, Detective Thomas Moore, and he, too, is stymied.
Gerritsen, an M.D. herself, brings chilling accuracy in detail and characterization to her tale of those who destroy and those who heal.

Rating:
Summary: A FABULOUS MEDICAL THILLER!
Review: It seems to me that Tess Gerritsen is slowing changing over from the Medical Suspense category to the Suspense category. Sure, "The Surgeon" had some of the medical jargon that sometimes drove me crazy because I am so ignorant when it comes to anything medical, (of course I'm only 17), but it didn't have a fraction as much as "Life Support" and "Harvest." This book dealt with a serial killer who rapes and murders his victims. The police who are stumped, turn to Dr. Catherine Cordell, a surgeon who works at the local hospital. She was attacked a few years ago by a similar assailant in the same manner, but lived. The only problem is that Catherine killed her attacker back then. The police start to wonder if maybe someone is copying Catherine's attacker. The police find that the victims all reported sexual attacks earlier on in their lives. The investigation turns from the streets of Boston to the hospital that Catherine works in, when Catherine starts having a stalker. This novel is definitely an exciting thrill-ride with not too much medical gibberish that the book will confuse the reader who does not have a lot of medical background. I hope Tess's next book will be this good.

Rating:
Summary: Another winner by this talented autho
Review: Two years ago Savannah Trauma Surgeon Catherine Cordell informed first year resident Andrew Capra that she was not recommending him for a second year residency. He went to her home and pleaded his case and she politely but firmly refused to change her mind. He angrily tied her up, raped her, and prepared to kill her just as he did to three other women.

She somehow manages to get free and kill him with the gun hidden under her bed. She survives the attack but Savannah flees to work in a prestigious Boston hospital. A recent spate of rape and murders similar to the ones done by Andrew brings Catherine right into the middle of another nightmare. The perpetrator is focusing on her and unless the police can find out who he really is, Catherine will become his next victim.

Tess Gerritsen has written a medical thriller that discusses a woman's need to be vigilant against the predators of the world. The story line is fast paced and enthralling in a Cook-Palmer kind of way. THE SURGEON is a multi-layered work with various and fascinating sub-plots seamlessly tying back to the main theme. Ms Gerristen has found her niche in the medical suspense genre.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: "THE SURGEON" MAKES THE CUT
Review: Gerritsen does it again. She delivers a well-paced, suspenseful novel of medical terror. In "The Surgeon," Tess gives us a very despicable murderer, who is attacking and killing women who have been sexually assaulted. He imprisons them in their own beds and then removes their uteruses, and lets them live a while before he slashes their throats. Not the nicest guy in the world. Ms. Gerritsen is extremely good at interjecting much medical terminology and information, but does so in a way that it does not become too technical or wordy. The characters in this book are very well conceived: the heroine, Dr. Catherine Cordell, a victim of the killer who manages to survive and kill him; Thomas Moore, an unusually "saintly" cop who finds himself falling for the lovely doctor; Jane Rizzoli, the embittered female cop who wants to break this case to show that women can do the same, if not better, than men; Peter Falco, Cordell's partner, who harbors a secret love for his comrade; and of course, the killer. The identity is truly well-hidden, and does not resort to a lot of other writers' tired cliches. My one question, though: what was in the IV bag the killer put in the elderly patient of Catherine's that resulted in his sudden death? There's no follow up on this, or the patient's indignant son who feels the hospital did nothing for him? This of course doesn't detract from the book's overall effect, but it seems Tess might have forgot about it? But, hey, this is one great book...I found it hard to put down. Looking forward for more from this brilliant writer/surgeon.

Rating:
Summary: Tess knocks another one out of the park!
Review: Even if you are not up to speed on medical jargon (althought there's a limited amount of it in this book) you will throrougly enjoy the way Tess builds the plots and subplots of this excellently created medical thriller. I fully expect to see THE SURGEON made into a motion picture - - if somebody in Hollywood has the good sense to buy the rights. Keep on crankin' 'em out, Tess. You've got an ever increasing following of readers out here. We all love you, especially we who hail from the great State of Maine. Steven L. Waterman (author of JUST A SAILOR)

Rating:
Summary: A MUST read!
Review: He stalks his prey in the darkness. He enters their houses and walks into their bedrooms. The precision of his brutal killings suggests he is a man of medicine. The police are baffled and their only clues are the facts that he rapes his victims, removes their uterus, and THEN kills them. Luckily for the police one of the potential victims fights back and kills her attacker.

Dr. Catherine Cordell is trying to forget the attack that almost killed her two years ago. And although she has moved from Savannah to Boston the nightmares that plague her are about to become a reality.

Within a few weeks of each other a series of killings have locked the people of Boston in a state of fear. The police, having nothing to go on, begin to look into the recent murders only to discover they are very similar to the murders that happened in Savannah. Detectives Thomas Moore and Jane Rizzoli examine the close similarities between the years apart crimes and are shocked to realize they can't be copy cat crimes, for the details of the original killings were kept out of the papers, but how can this be the work of the original killer, he was killed by Catherine Cordell?

Moore and Rizzoli do the only thing they can, bring Cordell into the middle of their investigation because any information she supplies them can bring them closer to catching the killer. Unknown to anyone is the fact that the killer is staying one step ahead of them, and Catherine Cordell has now been targeted as the next victim on the killer's list, a deranged madman that knows the fears of the women he kills.

'The Surgeon' sucked me in from the first page, and kept me riveted from one shock to the next. With a plot as sharp as a scalpel, and a villain as nasty as Hannibal Lector, 'The Surgeon' succeeds at being a terrifying read all the way up to it's explosive climax.

Tess Gerritsen proves to be nothing less than SUPERB at creating tension filled medical thrillers. With four previous bestsellers, Ms. Gerritsen has created her most exciting novel to date, and that is no small accomplishment, considering her earlier novels were excellent.

Dark, twisted, and disturbing 'The Surgeon' is a MUST read!

Nick Gonnella

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!!!!
Review: This book is great!! A real page turner-suspense all the way. The clues are laid out so well and the story really flows along. It is hard to put it down!! Gerritsen's best yet!!