"If you love CSI........"

If CSI is your favorite TV program and Patricia Cornwall one your favorite authors, then this is the book for you. The detail in the crime scenes is intense and very detailed. If you are interested in how a crime is studied step-by-step, then this is it.

The main character, Jane Rizzoli, is carried over from the previous book, THE SURGEON. While there is a new serial killer, the Dominator (named for his style of killing), the Surgeon Hoyt is an equal part of the storyline. Rizzoli is ever the tough cop battling being a female in an otherwise male dominated unit. She must face her fears of the Surgeon, the sexual nature of the crimes and her own natural fear of what the Surgeon tried to do to her, and follow through to solve the crime.

From the beginning, she sees the similarity of the Dominator's crime scenes to those of the Surgeon. Since Hoyt captured and tortured her before, others, especially an FBI agent - Gabriel Dean - dismiss her reactions, However, when Hoyt manages to escape prison and joins the Dominator in killing, her fears are justified.

This is a "strong woman threatened" type of novel, except Rizzoli never accepts the protection of anyone. She refuses to feel or show any weakness, need or want, though her fears are very real. This is an interesting story with a lot of crime scene detail and a great deal of suspense.

Reviewed by Merrilee Heffernan
Posted July 7, 2002

Summary

It is a boiling hot Boston summer. Adding to the city's woes is a series of shocking crimes, in which wealthy men are made to watch while their wives are brutalized. A sadistic demand that ends in abduction and death. The pattern suggests one man: serial killer Warren Hoyt, recently removed from the city's streets. Police can only assume an acolyte is at large, a maniac basing his attacks on the twisted medical techniques of the madman he so admires. At least that's what Detective Jane Rizzoli thinks. Forced again to confront the killer who scarred her? literally and figuratively?she is determined to finally end Hoyt's awful influence . . . even if it means receiving more resistance from her all-male homicide squad. But Rizzoli isn't counting on the U.S. government's sudden interest. Or on meeting Special Agent Gabriel Dean, who knows more than he will tell. Most of all, she isn't counting on becoming a target herself, once Hoyt is suddenly free, joining his mysterious blood brother in a vicious vendetta. . . . Filled with superbly created characters?and the medical and police procedural details that are her trademark?The Apprentice is Tess Gerritsen at her brilliant best. Set in a stunning world where evil is easy to learn and hard to end, this is a thriller by a master who could teach other authors a thing or two.