The Apprentice

She sat listening to the sounds of traffic on the street below, which only seemed to emphasize the utter stillness inside her apartment. She looked around, at the starkly furnished living room, at the blank walls where she had yet to hand a single picture. The only decoration, if it could be called that, was a city map, tacked to the wall by her dining room table. A year ago, the map had been studded with colored pushpins marking the Surgeon's kills. She'd been so hungry for recognition, for her colleagues to acknowledge that yes, she was their equal, that she had lived and breathed the hunt. Even at home, she had eaten her meals in grim view of the killer's footprints.

The crime is as mysterious as it is horrifying. A man is found dead, sitting against the wall with a teacup on his knee, his throat slashed. His wife is missing; only her neatly folded nightgown with its handful of blood spatters gives any clue as to her fate.

This is not the first time Jane Rizzoli has had to face a crime like this. The Surgeon, who she herself put in jail at great price to her mind and body was the only man who had this kind of MO. Except for one important change -- this killer takes out couples instead of single women -- their methods are nearly exact, and so Rizzoli is convinced there has to be a connection. No one is willing to listen to her theory, except for Detective Korsak, the detective in charge, who also sees the grim resemblance between these victims and the Surgeon's, but can't understand how anyone could know the modus operandi so intimately. When FBI agent Gabriel Dean tries to take over the case without anyone's asking, Jane finds her job all the harder, both because she's upset at his highhanded secrecy, and also because she's attracted him.

Fans of crime scene investigation will find this book a definite treat. CSI plays a huge part in the action, as Jane carefully takes every piece of evidence in account to help her track down the clues. There's a great deal of forensic technology used in this book, and Gerritsen manages to make the mundane act of searching, gathering and processing evidence into a major plot motivator, keeping the reader moving at a quick pace to see where clues, even as small as carpet fibers on duct tape, lead.

Rizzoli is a strong character. The thing that makes her special is that since her involvement with the Surgeon, she has lost her immense sense of self-confidence and replaced it with an equal amount of fear. Her biggest challenge is to put that fear aside and act like all is usual, which she does well. She has no choice really, as head detective and token female of the Boston Homicide department, any signs of slipping would mean that she'd lose her job, and her job means a lot to her. It takes all of her strength to prevent Dean from taking over her case, but she manages to keep him from doing so. Special Agent Dean doesn't mean any harm, he simply feels she is too close to the case, and fears that perhaps she won't be objective. He is very intense, wanting to find the Surgeon's apprentice before he strikes again. When Dean realizes that Rizzoli is still completely in control, he even apologizes. He is simply doing his job, and even though it's obvious that he's withholding information, which can be frustrating for both the reader and Rizzoli, he is a good guy whose actions make sense to the story.

While they track the apprentice, the Surgeon, A.K.A. Warren Hoyt has plans of his own. The first item on his list is his escape, which he pulls off with the deftness of Houdini. Hoyt, a blood technician before his capture, is convincing and charismatic; he can persuade people into doing just about anything. His incredible charm combined with his total lack of emotions make him very creepy. Creepy enough, I'd say, to venture that Hoyt and Hannibal Lechtor would probably enjoy a glass of Chianti together at a dinner party.

Even if you haven't read The Surgeon, you will enjoy this book, and I think that The Apprentice is spoiler free enough (well, to an extent...I mean, you know that she catches the Surgeon in the end, but otherwise...) that you can go and read the previous book later.