Ice Cold - Tess Gerritsen

Synopsis from goodreads - In Wyoming for a medical conference, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles joins a group of friends on a spur-of-the-moment ski trip. But when their SUV stalls on a snow-choked mountain road, they’re stranded with no help in sight.
As night falls, the group seeks refuge from the blizzard in the remote village of Kingdom Come, where twelve eerily identical houses stand dark and abandoned. Something terrible has happened in Kingdom Come: Meals sit untouched on tables, cars are still parked in garages. The town’s previous residents seem to have vanished into thin air, but footprints in the snow betray the presence of someone who still lurks in the cold darkness—someone who is watching Maura and her friends.

Days later, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli receives the grim news that Maura’s charred body has been found in a mountain ravine. Shocked and grieving, Jane is determined to learn what happened to her friend. The investigation plunges Jane into the twisted history of Kingdom Come, where a gruesome discovery lies buried beneath the snow. As horrifying revelations come to light, Jane closes in on an enemy both powerful and merciless—and the chilling truth about Maura’s fate.

My thoughts: I've noticed I really enjoy the books that focus more on Maura than I do the ones that focus on Jane.  I think this is because Jane's holier than thou attitude has gotten to the point where I want to smack her.  She doesn't know everything, her way is not always right and she is not the moral authority over everyone. 

I also really liked this because it mentions the resemblance to the family that gets lost in Oregon and the dad wanders off after a week to try to find help.  Totally true story that was featured on Dateline.  The episode was called "Wrong Turn."  And we may mention it on a weekly basis in our house because we are horrible people who may have made fun of the episode. 

I also liked the religious sect aspect to the drama.  I find it fascinating that people fall into these cults that no normal person would follow.  But then again, I don't understand people who allow others to make all decisions for them. 

Anywhoo, yet another installment in the Rizzoli & Isles series! I am now all caught up until the new book comes out this summer.  Oh, and the show starts back up July 11th on TNT!

If you have ever made a spur of the moment trip with friends, did you let others know where you were going?

The Keepsake - Tess Gerritsen

In this installment of the Rizzoli & Isles series, Detective Rizzoli and her partner get a very interesting case when a recently found mummy turns out to be YOUNGER than anticipated.

Dr. Josephine Pulcillo is an Egyptologist (I didn't know such thing existed) who was hired by the Crispin Museum to help with the finding of Madam X, a supposed ancient mummy whose paperwork was nowhere to be found at the very old and neglected museum. Josephine is the focus of this mystery when after finding her missing keys, a dead body appears in her possession.

More and more details emerge about her and her past that have Rizzoli and Frost scrambling to figure out who the mummy is and why Josephine is in danger. I like that Gerritsen's books always have some kind of focus away from the mystery. This time archeology plays a large role and it is interesting learning about how mummy's were preserved and about other archaeological terms that I would not know about otherwise.

Have you ever read a book that included aspects of archeology? Besides of course In the Woods hahaha. I remember some book I read a looooong looong time ago about the hidden city of something but that was a long long time ago!

And for those of you that are sick of the Rizzoli & Isles updates, have no fear. I have one book left in the series but have to put it down for awhile to read our April Group Read, Sammy's Hill!

The Mephisto Club

I bet ya'll are getting sick of me and my ramblings about Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isle series. Good news? I'm almost completely caught up in the series. Only 2 more books to go! ;) Her newest in the series, The Silent Girl, comes out July 5th! The Mephisto Club is probably the grossest, creepiest and most interesting installment so far. Dismemberment, Satanic symbols, glimpses of Rome and Siena, the Devil tracking down his prey. Very interesting. It kind of reminded me of The Divinci Code and Angels and Demons. Basically, on Christmas Eve Rizzoli is called to a scene where a young woman has been dismembered and there are creepy Satanic symbols written on her walls and a weird ritual on the kitchen floor. Fast forward a few weeks and ANOTHER body is found outside a retired history professors house where he is hosting a dinner party for a very peculiar group of people. The Mephisto Foundation is a group of people who are pretty well off and are interested in tracking down the evil in the world. Its roots go waaaaaaaaaay back to ancient times and many mentions of times before Christianity are mentioned as well as Adam's third son Seth. I found all of this information very fascinating. Anyway, long story short. This group of people get on Rizzoli's nerves (and she gets on mine for being holier than thou and hard-headed) and try to help solve her case. Lots of blood and gore and plenty of mystery. Definitely recommend this series if you haven't checked it out yet! What fiction books with historical references have you enjoyed?

Vanish

Rizzoli & Isles installment number 5 does not disappoint! I think I enjoyed this one even more than Body Double. I would totally be digging into the next one already, but our roads are horrible so there aren't any impromptu trips to the library in my near future.

This thriller includes the scary labor/delivery experience Detective Rizzoli goes through to get her beautiful baby born. A mysterious hostage taker has Jane and others corralled into a waiting room at the hospital while everyone tries to figure out how the lady who used to be 'dead' got into this predicament. [ Yeah, a not 'dead' body shows up at the ME's office! ]

The information that Rizzoli, Agent Dean and other co-workers learn is frightening and dangerous and even a new infant won't keep Jane from participating.

I must say I do have a few complaints with Jane's reaction to motherhood and breast feeding. I know it is part of who her character is (brash non-maternal and job focused), but she seriously was making some uneducated comments that were a tad annoying. She wasn't really TRYING to be a mother, more just resenting that the baby had made her change so much. (Not to say that this isn't a perfectly fine reaction to somewhat resent your life not being your own anymore, but it was all in the context of the book.) She also took a flight out of town 2 weeks after the baby was born and was self-expressing milk in a bathroom because she didn't know what to do with her milk. Um perhaps get a pump? I mean, seriously it was a bit annoying that and her simple oh I will just use formula to get this kid to stop crying instead of trying other soothing methods was aggravating. However, I think with how the book ends that Jane's take on motherhood may be changing in the next book.

Also, fair warning but this book focuses a lot of the illegal sex trade industry in our country and there are some pretty vile/descriptive scenes that portray older men having sex with very young girls. It will make you angry and uncomfortable but is definitely worth the read.

When was the last time something in a book irritated you?

Body Double

Rizzoli & Isles are back together for their 4th book with quite the case to solve. Dr. Isles is returning from a trip to Paris when she encounters the police and a colleague from the medical examiner's office AT HER HOUSE!

There is a beautiful woman who has been killed in front of Maura's house, but the most disturbing thing? She looks just like Maura.

In this action packed book they need to figure out who this mystery woman is and why do they look alike, who killed her, did the person mean to kill Maura, and who is Maura's birth mother and what kind of person is Maura's birth mother?

I love this series. I love the characters of Rizzoli and Isles. I love the minor characters. I love the mysteries that are plausible. I love that they are set in Boston. It makes me want to take a trip to the east coast so so so bad.

My only complaints? Sometimes I can't stand to read the gruesome descriptions of the autopsies that Maura performs. But they are written very well. Did you Tess Gerritsen is a doc?

I stayed up until 1 am last night finishing this and am going to start the 5th book in the series, Vanish today. Why I waited months in between to continue reading this is beyond me. I really liked the show Rizzoli & Isles on TNT this past summer and hope it comes back this summer. I think Angie Harmon has Rizzoli is AWESOME. Mainly because I love Angie in practically every role she has played. Including, her stints on Law & Order and The Women's Murder Club. Sasha Alexander makes an awesome Dr. Isles, minus that in the book she has black hair and on the show it is red. Oh well, I like her as a red head better.

Do you have a favorite book/series that has turned into a tv show/movie that you love just as much?

The Sinner - Tess Gerritsen

The third installment of Tess Gerritsen's series on Rizzoli & Isles has things heating up relationship wise for both Rizzoli & Isles. We learn verry interesting new information on both women about former love interests and the case they are dealing with is also quite intriguing.

The new case centers on the death of a nun and a serious attack against another. The murdered nun has quite a few skeletons in her closet for a 20 year old who has devoted herself to God and the badly injured nun has spent time overseas helping the less fortunate. Who would kill a nun? (Probably the same type of person who would steal a baby carrier, but I digress.)

Rizzoli's colleagues also have an intriguing case who they have deemed Rat Lady. She is found in an old restaurant with her FACE PEELED off, her hands & feet chopped off and a single gunshot in her chest.

I really enjoy the authentic voice in these books. I like the medical terminology, while sometimes it does gross me out, it also is informative and not completely made up. I like that the pieces of the puzzle make SENSE when the mystery part is solved and you are not like, ummm how did that come together?

I will say my one pet peeve is that when Rizzoli is trying to deal with her 'relationship' with Agent Dean she is a completely idiot and does all the things that make me want to strangle a woman character in a book. Okay, so she is a difficult person who doesn't know how to get along with more people, we get that. But do NOT make her into such an idiot typical female character. "Oh, of course he can't love me. Oh, of course I won't tell him how I feel. Oh of COURSE I will have angry conversations about him, when I HAVEN'T EVEN TALKED TO HIM. Oh of course, he doesn't need to know ANYTHING. Because I am a woman, I am strong, I can do it all myself. " Whatever. I cannot stand when another perfectly fine character /book is reduced to cliches. Rizzoli is far better than how she is written while trying to deal with her feelings for Agent Dean.

I think it goes without saying, that I am really enjoying this series since I have flown through the first 3 books. I really need to step away from it so I can finish the ARC I have and 2 other library books to finish and then I shall pick up the 4th. I was looking over my shelves this weekend and I really need to STOP going to the library. bad bad me. I have too many books to read of my own!

The Apprentice - Tess Gerritsen

The Apprentice is the 2nd installment in the griping and crudely detailed Rizzoli & Isles series. I like thrillers and I like things realistic and this series takes care of both of those requirements. Gerritsen knows the medical terminology to gross you out and make you appalled and the police work isn't solved 'magically' like some 'thrillers & mysteries' I have encountered.

The book starts us out back in the sweaty heat of Boston in the summer. Rizzoli is faced with a killer that immediately reminds her of last summers gruesome murders committed by Warren Hoyt who is wasting away in prison. At first, she is told no it couldn't be, you need to focus on this and nobody wants to accept that the killings have returned and Boston is once again faced with a serial killer.

Enter the FBI and sexy agent Dean. (I am a sucker for FBI agents in books with the 'tall dark and handsome' description.) He shows up on a scene and suddenly Rizzoli feels validated that something is up and pissed off that he won't share anything he knows. Forced to work with him, Rizzoli slowly builds some trust and finds herself attracted to him.

The police come up with a new name for their new killer, the Dominator, because he likes to surprise couples instead of single women. He likes to make the male watch as he dominates his woman in front of him. While trying to figure out who this new killer is, they are faced with a twist, Warren Hoyt has escaped from prison.

Rizzoli once again faces herself off against her male counterparts. She shows no weakness, asks no favors and always pushes herself even when a male counterpart would probably take a break. She has something to prove even if it is only to prove it to herself. I find her character very intriguing because she does grow as a character but fights it the whole way. Very realistic and very much what I think a female detective would face in a male dominated field. She reminds me of Benson from SVU. I also am glad I have seen a few episodes of the tv show cuz I can definitely picture Angie Harmon as Rizzoli. And can I just squeee about how much I love Angie Harmon? She's hot and damn I love her in everything I have watched her in! Including the sadly short lived Women's Murder Club Series whose books I also enjoy reading!

This is the first book that we are introduced to Dr. Maura Isles and the one part of watching the shows first makes it hard to accept the book version of her. The tv show definitely makes her more alive and that's what I picture, but the books haven't really brought her out to life, much more focused on Rizzoli, perhaps the other books delve more into her life. I did think that it seems like Dr. Isles was a last minute add in after the series sprung to life. She just kind of enters into this book instead of being introduced in the first book. That would probably be one of my only complaints about the character development.

I am already thinking about going to the library today to pick up the third book if it is available. I keep shelving the other two books I am reading to keep up with my new love of this series. The books that are suffering? The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and Glass by Ellen Hopkins. Both books that would probably hold my attention more if it wasn't for the fact that I WANT/NEED to know what is happening in this series. It's like a drug.

You all need to pick it up!

Oh and a piece of the past..

3 years ago we had our wedding rehearsal... here we are with our wedding partyand mom's

The Surgeon - Tess Gerritsen

I first learned of this series because of the new TNT series Rizzoli & Isles. (What can I say, I am a sucker for cop drama!) Then I started reading reviews about the newest book out in the series by Gerritsen, and decided that I must start it immediately. So I headed to the library and realized I was not the only one with this thought. So I put myself on the wait list and patiently waited one week to get this book. I flew right through it.

The Surgeon introduces us to Jane Rizzoli, Homicide Detective with a chip on her shoulder. Every one else is male and in the club, she not so much. She fights hard for everything she gets and struggles to make a name for herself in the good ole boys club.

The city of Boston, particularly, the women, are being hunted by a serial killer who seems an awfully like the evil Andrew Capra, who was shot to death in Savannah two years ago by Dr. Catherine Cordell after he tried to make her one of his victims. Ironically, Dr. Cordell has relocated to Boston and the deaths started soon after she arrived. The Surgeon is targeting women who vulnerable, who have suffered a rape and who are victims. He can only control and kill them if they are completely under his control and all the fight out of them. At first, the police thing perhaps The Surgeon is raping these women and then coming back for them, but with a few twists and turns they realize this is not the case.

The brutal part of the Surgeon is his method of torture. He binds up his victims with duct tape and then using a scalpel and other medical instruments cuts out their uterus. (The thing that makes them evil.) Then he cuts their carotid artery which finishes them off. UGHHHHHH. That is one of the things that grosses me out and freaks me out the most. Scary stuff.

Cordell is a great assist to the police and she and a male detective get a little hot and heavy. As the case develops it definitely looks like the killer is aiming in at the ultimate kill which is Catherine herself. Can Rizzoli find the killer and save her own reputation before it's too late? Better read to find out!

I really enjoyed that the book allowed for you to think of people to be possible suspects but they weren't like obviously oooh think this guy is the bad guy type stuff. It made you think and the killer did NOT come out of left field either, which is another positive in my book! I will be devouring this series as soon as the books get checked back in at the library!

Other books in this series include:

The Apprentice

The Sinner

Body Double

Vanish

The Mephisto Club

The Keepsake

Ice Cold

What is a series that you have recently started and liked?

Besides this one, I think we all know I have enjoyed The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Series!!