pheebs1776 's review for:

The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen

4.0

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This is a brilliant follow-up the Gerritsen's first novel in the series, focusing more on Detective Rizzoli and the trauma of the last case. While this book does nothing groundbreaking, it serves as a tight sequel that delivers on the promises of quality from the first, once again demonstrating why Gerritsen is regaled as a master of the thriller genre. Every scene is tight, well-researched, and embedded with a sense of humanity and internalized misogyny that so impressed me with The Surgeon . Even the romance, which I usually find trite in novels like these, was well-written and not the story's focus. I do, however, take issue with Rizzoli being saved by a man by the end of the day, but she never losses her agency in the story, and is someone who expressed a desire to be loved and cared for, so, I think that Gerritsen handled a, albeit, forced romance with nuance and consideration .

I will say, as a fan of the TV series before delving into the books, I am so delighted to see Maura Isles finally make her debut, even if she is introduced as a side character, but if they did not do my man Korsak dirty :(