general

Although I was loath to put this book down until the final page, it still was not as gripping as her last two books. Still if you like medical thrillers you can't go wrong with Ms. Gerritsen.

Without giving too much of the plot away the opening takes us to India and a massacred village. Then we are back in Boston at a brutal murder of a young novice and the injury of an older nun. The violence is unbelievable and there seems to be no indication of motive. But when the investigation moves forward ties between the murder of the young novice and the murder of an unidentified women in an abandon building are linked by bizzare circumstances. Detective Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isle work together to bring a killer to justice.

I enjoyed reading about Jane and I actually liked that Ms. Gerritsen was willing to portray this strong woman with normal human feelings of not thinking that she can do it all. I don't feel that romance was a huge part of the book. I'm a huge romance genre fan and the romance between Jane and Agent Gaberial Dean was way far back on the back burner and since I have been reading all the books involving Jane I was happy to see this relationship was continued and developed. As for the romance issue with Dr. Isle I feel that it played a part in the storyline and again this was not a priority in the plot. Yes, this book is not as griping as her last two...but then it is dealing with a different type of killer.

This book is worth picking up just keep and open mind and don't expect it to be like her others. Suspense is at a premium and favorite characters from previous book are included. If you have not read the last few books by Ms. Gerritsen don't worry, this book is still a stand alone story and by no means relys on previous titles. This is a fast paced read and a good way to spend a weekend.

Tess Gerritsen's excellent new suspense thriller, "The Sinner," is her best work in years. Boston-based medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli are called in to investigate a brutal attack on two nuns who live in a cloistered convent. Was this a random attack by an intruder, or were the nuns the intended targets? Isles and Rizzoli also investigate the case of a murdered woman whose mutilated body turns up in an abandoned building. The corpse's physical condition suggests that the woman had suffered from a mysterious and debilitating disease. What is the disease and is it somehow related to her death?

Maura and Jane have some personal problems in addition to their professional worries. Suddenly and inexplicably, Maura's ex-husband, Victor Banks, turns up in Boston. Although she has not seen him in years, Maura is still attracted to Victor. However, she is wondering why he has suddenly come back into her life, and she suspects that he may be manipulating her for reasons of his own. Jane Rizzoli, a hard-bitten cop who tries to hide her personal feelings, is still in turmoil over her brief affair with an FBI agent named Gabriel Dean. Gerritsen's protagonists, Isles and Rizzoli, are strong and professional women, but they are also vulnerable, sensitive, and fallible. We care very much what happens to them.

With her crisp and deft prose style, Gerritsen successfully combines the elements of a medical thriller, murder mystery, and romance in "The Sinner." The action, dialogue, and character development are all first rate, and the plot is intricate without being convoluted. To her credit, Gerritsen brings all of the novel's threads together in a satisfying conclusion that feels just right. Don't miss this top-notch thriller.

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.