Publication Date:August 2003 Availability:Usually ships in 1-2 business days Shipping:Expedited shipping available Shipping:International shipping available
Product Description From the New York Times bestselling author of The Surgeon and The Apprentice comes a chilling new novel of suspense featuring Boston medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles, on the deadly trail of an anonymous madman who’s committed an unholy crime. . . .
THE SINNER
Not even the icy temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling scene of carnage discovered in the early morning hours at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light. Within the sanctuary walls of the cloistered convent, now stained with blood, lie two nuns—one dead, one critically injured—victims of an unspeakably savage attacker.
The brutal crime appears to be without motive, and the elderly nuns in residence can offer little help in the police investigation. But medical examiner Maura Isles’s autopsy of the dead woman yields a shocking surprise: Twenty-year-old Sister Camille, the order’s sole novice, gave birth before she was murdered. Then the disturbing case takes a stunning new turn when another woman is found murdered in an abandoned building, her body mutilated beyond recognition.
Together, Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible slaughters. As long-buried secrets come to light, Maura Isles finds herself drawn inexorably toward the heart of an investigation that strikes closer and closer to home—and toward a dawning revelation about the killer’s identity too shattering to consider.
As spine-tingling as it is mind-jolting, The Sinner showcases Tess Gerritsen in peak form—bringing her intimate knowledge of the dark depths of criminal investigation brilliantly to bear. Beneath its layers of startling insight into the souls of its characters, and the richly wrought depiction of the everyday war between good and evil, beats the unstoppable heart of an irresistible thriller.
Tess Gerritsen left a successful practice as an internist to raise her children and concentrate on her writing. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of medical suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest. She is also the author of the bestsellers Life Support, Bloodstream, Gravity, and TheSurgeon and The Apprentice. Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.
PRAISE FOR TESS GERRITSEN
The Surgeon
“A briskly paced, terrifically suspenseful work that steadily builds toward a tense and terrifying climax.” —People (Page-Turner of the week)
“Creepy . . . [The Surgeon] will exert a powerful grip on readers.” —Chicago Tribune
“Grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go.” —TAMI HOAG
The Apprentice
“Skillful and scary.” —The Washington Post Book World
“An adrenaline rush from start to finish.” —IRIS JOHANSEN
“Masterful . . . Gerritsen moves into the Thomas Harris class, though with a style all her own.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Somewhat of a letdown...December 11, 2008 After reading and loving The Surgeon and the Apprentice, I found this book somewhat of a letdown. It just didn't have the suspence that the first two books in this series offered. I thought it was too much of a dive into Dr. Isles and Jane Rizzolis personal relationships with men, and not enough of a good suspence plot. Hoping the next one is as good as the first two!
LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATESAugust 18, 2008 An array of Tess Gerritsen novels is like a box of chocolates: Each piece is a satisfying treat, each is like the others in some way, but in some way each piece is unique. It is only a matter of selecting one.
In THE SINNER, Tess Gerritsen provided me with a marvelous escape from reality aboard a magic carpet complete with totally believable characters in whom I invested, exotic locations, spine-tingling suspense, and Boston as the locale, where the weather palpably evokes the background mood.
It is not quite as plain and simple as the two other Tess Gerritson novels I read BODY DOUBLE, VANISH) but it, amazingly, remains clear and un-confusing, allowing me to read at a good pace, breathlessly, to see what happens next without having to go back to previous pages to try to remember where various characters or plot elements came from.
And, as usual for me, since I had the luxury of un-interrupted time, since I did not have to put the book down, I couldn't and didn't.
Edge of seater!July 7, 2008 This series of books by Tess Gerritsen is absolutely a page-turner. I couldn't read fast enough. This series was purchased by my niece who is stationed with the Army in Afghanistan. She loves to read mysteries, and I know this series will keep what little spare time she has occupied.
Good Read!June 17, 2008 Two nuns are attacked in a quiet chapel. One is dead, the other is severely injured. It seems to be a motiveless crime. When, another woman is found murdered in an abandoned building, a tenacious link is made between this murder, and the attack on the nuns.
This book is well written. You can almost feel the claustrophobia in the scenes, that are set in the Abbey. The two main characters, medical examiner, Maura Isles, and, homicide detective, Jane Rizzoli are quite believable too.
A weak sister in the acclaimed Jane Rizzoli series!May 16, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Diehard fans of Tess Gerritsen, acknowledged in the publishing world as the reigning queen of the medical thriller genre, will certainly enjoy "The Sinner", her seventh novel and the third in her very successful Jane Rizzoli series. In this outing, a puzzled, frustrated, slightly shop worn and very pregnant Jane Rizzoli shares center stage with her colleague Maura Isles, the crusty medical examiner for the Boston Police Department everyone calls "The Queen of the Dead". The brutal beating of two nuns within the confines of their quiet cloistered convent leads to an exquisitely detailed and informative low key examination of the forensic details of the case and the dogged police investigation which slowly but steadily leads through a thicket of difficult clues to the ultimate solution.
I have to hand it to her! Gerritsen makes a valiant effort to spice up the story with some interesting side plots - Rizzoli's pregnancy by her lover, FBI agent Gabriel Dean; the return of Maura Isles' ex-husband who seems to have ulterior motives connected to the case; the discovery that one of the murdered nuns had recently given birth and discarded the baby in a pond near the convent! But despite her best efforts, "The Sinner" comes off as very weak gruel compared with the fiery cuisine offered up in the previous two Rizzoli novels, "The Surgeon" and "The Apprentice". Somehow the story just never leaped off the page and approached the compelling page-turning urgency of her previous efforts.
That's not to say that it was unenjoyable. It's just that Gerritsen had set her own bar so very high and "The Sinner" was lack-lustre by comparison to that exacting standard. But, as I said earlier, fans will enjoy it and I wouldn't want to have passed this one by in terms of the long term development of her characters. I'm still a fan and I'll look forward to her next novel.
