Rating: 
Summary: A disquieting sequel to "The Surgeon."
Review: Homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, of the Boston Police Department, has horrible memories of a vicious serial killer named Warren Hoyt. Hoyt was nicknamed "The Surgeon" because of the surgical precision with which he mutilated his female victims. Although Hoyt is now behind bars, he left behind a legacy of shattered lives. Rizzoli still has nightmares about her close call with death. Her hands are scarred from the Surgeon's scalpel, and she knows that she was lucky to survive her encounter with Hoyt.Suddenly, Rizzoli is called to the scene of a case that is strangely reminiscent of the Surgeon's grisly handiwork. Rizzoli senses that Hoyt is somehow connected to this and other similar cases. However, Rizzoli's superiors believe she lacks objectivity because of her prior connection to Hoyt. They cannot believe that Hoyt has somehow found a way to commit murder from behind prison walls. Further complicating Rizzoli's life is an FBI agent named Gabriel Dean who mysteriously appears one day in order to help the Boston PD catch this new serial killer. Dean refuses to reveal why he was called into Rizzoli's case. Although she is physically attracted to this handsome agent, Rizzoli is also angry that the FBI is interfering in her investigation. Who is this new killer and how does he pick his victims? Are the latest killings in some way connected to the incarcerated Warren Hoyt? Gerritsen ratchets up the suspense nicely, as the answers to these and other questions gradually unfold. "The Apprentice" features a strong, proud female cop, Jane Rizzoli, who refuses to let anyone see her with her guard down. Gerritsen explores some interesting themes in this novel, such as the weird fascination that some people have with malicious killers, and the necessity for a woman to seem as macho as her colleagues in order to survive as a homicide detective. I recommend "The Apprentice." It is a suspenseful thriller with a truly frightening villain, non-stop action, and fascinating details about how the police try to catch a killer.
Rating:
Summary: Great crime thriller
Review: THE SURGEON aka Walter Hoyt has been in prison for over a year but the Boston police detective who put him away still bears the emotional and physical scars he inflicted on her at their last meeting. She is not confident in her abilities anymore and she uses three locks on her front door to keep out the predators that she knows lurks out there. A copycat killer emulates the crimes of THE SURGEON and Jane is the lead detective on the case when Walter escapes from prison. He joins his copycat associate with both perpetrators focusing their attention on Jane and making very sure she knows it. FBI agent Gabriel Dean, who is working on his own agenda, tries to get Jane to remove herself from the case but the feisty detective is determined that she will bring down Walker and his partner with him. Tess Gerritsen can always be counted on to give crime thriller fans a fantastic reading experience and she succeeds with her latest novel THE APPRENTICE, which is heading to all the bestseller lists. Her wounded heroine is very likable and readers feel as if they share a bond with her because of her emotional scars. Ms. Gerritsen's works appeal to readers who love the novels of Patricia Cornwell and Linda Fairstein. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Not nearly good enough
Review: Tess Gerritsen has written a serial-killer novel. Other reviewers has said the same thing, and I will repeat it: it is not good enough, it has been done better before! The Apprentice is a rip-off of great serial killer/frustrated police-woman/gruesome medical examiner facts-books by Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs and others, who does it much better than Ms. Gerritsen. There is not much new in this book, and it is hard to feel anything for the characters. Even the serial killer is just annoying. Jane Rizzoli, the frustrated police-woman, battling not only with sexist issues at the station but also the mental and physical scars from the same serial killer in a previous book, is trying hard to find him again, when he escapes prison. She cannot admit that she is scared to death, and while we try hard to gain some sympahty for her, the killer is getting closer and also playing gruesome mindgames with her. She is almost too stubborn for her own good. When the story is about to get going, it ends. Too much space in this book is used to descibe Jane Rozzoli's mental health, and her angst and anxiety and it gets boring. I was not impressed with this book, but - will not rule out that I could pick up another Tess Gerritsen book another time.
Rating: 
Summary: Medical Thriller
Review: Are sequels ever as good as their predecessors? Are they written because the author is running out of ideas, and so is recycling previous things?
Series fiction usually has a new case every time, and may not dwell much on the original. But Tara Moss's Makedde Vanderwall series has the Stiletto Murders still fresh in the mind with the first three novels ("Fetish", "Split" and "Covet"). Tess Gerritsen has also brought back her killer, the Surgeon, in this follow-up - "The Apprentice".
We first met homicide detective Jane Rizzoli in "The Surgeon", where the killer preyed on damaged women, and cut out their uteruses. "The Apprentice" (which should be read after "The Surgeon" as it names the killer) sees murders similar to the Surgeon's, but the victims are different - instead of damaged women, they are wealthy couples. And the Surgeon has escaped from prison.
Neuropsychiatry is brought into this novel with an interesting take on murderers - damage to their frontal lobes causes them to kill. Detective Jane Rizzoli considers if this is true... or maybe some people are just born evil.
Tess Gerritsen's most fascinating and thrilling novel is "Gravity". Yet her other medical thrillers are of extremely high quality. Lately she's been into police procedure and life in the medical examiner's world - i.e. the novels are going more mainstream - but still manages to write complex and intriguing storylines. Can you believe this fantastically intelligent and talented author used to write romantic suspense? Tess Gerritsen proves that change really is for the better. And as a former physician, her novels have that ring of authenticity.
"The Apprentice" is well plotted, with interesting characters, curious deaths and murderers who are very clever, indeed. Tess Gerritsen's books must be read.
Rating:
Summary: Hollow Follow-On Package
Review: This story is a sequel to Tess Gerritsen's more original book 'The Surgeon.' In 'The Apprentice' she largely recaps the trauma her protagonist Jane Rizzoli had to endure during the hot summer a year ago. Passages of inner monologue are meant to captivate the reader. Unfortunately, I was not captivated by Jane Rizzoli's rather flat and not very nuanced perception of her surroundings (including her constant feminist offense by anything male). Sure, there is plenty of medical detail of the slayings and forensics; but they do not seem to lend the book any soul. The characters have almost no depth which together with the detailed procedural descriptions of techniques used to investigate crime-scene evidence leave the reader very dissatisfied.
Around pages 200-250 (of 350) the actual plot is finally revealed, and I must admit that Ms. Gerritsen had a quite clever and almost convincing idea to link the series of 'apprentice' killings to a war criminal. But too little is made of this idea. The reader learns almost nothing about the 'apprentice.' Interspersed monologues by the 'surgeon' (the bad guy from her last book who in a run-of-the-mill fashion manages to miraculously escape from a medical ward and who is meant to act as a 'teacher' to the apprentice) do not help.
I would strongly recommend you choose another book to sink your precious time into.
Rating:
Summary: Great Thriller
Review: The Surgeon and Jane Rizzoli are back in "The Apprentice" by Tess Gerritsen. Ms. Gerritsen is tops when it comes to portraying a brutal killer. The Surgeon is so creepy, he gave me goose bumps. And now he's teamed up with another killer, the Dominator. Jane Rizzoli is a wonderful chracter and in this book, we get to see a more personal side to her, which I liked. She's a tough cop who's dedicated to her job, trying to deal with scars left behind by the Surgeon. Great thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: What a let-down!
Review: I was SO looking forward to reading this book, a sequel of sorts to The Surgeon, one of the best books I've ever read, but this just wasn't that great. Not that it wasn't real written, it is. I think that Ms. Gerritson's writing style is among the best out there, certainly blowing Patricia Cornwell out of the water, but the ending was horrible, not even developed completely. Perhaps if the first book hadn't been so good, this one wouldn't have been such a let down, but I was looking forward to another awesome book, and I just didn't find it here.
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