A review by hauntedjen
The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen

4.0

Don't let the figures of Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander on the cover fool you. In this follow-up to Tess Gerritsen's "The Surgeon" Medical Examiner Maura Isles shows up in a few autopsy scenes and that's it. I'm not sure where the TV show came up with the idea of making these two ladies bosom buddies, but I can tell you it wasn't from this book.

"The Apprentice" finds Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli hard at work in the Boston heat a year after she captures the Surgeon, a serial killer with a penchant for surgically removing an organ from his victims. This summer she's faced with another gruesome crime scene, and although the Surgeon is secured in a prison, this new killer has borrowed a few details from her old nemesis. The case brings Rizzoli into partnership with Vince Korsak, a detective from nearby Newton, Massachusetts. If you love the Det. Korsak as played by TV's Bruce McGill you may be disheartened by Ms. Gerritsen's character in the books. He's overweight, sweats profusely, drinks too much, wheezes loudly and smells of cigarette smoke. Just as the TV show prettied up the character of Jane Rizzoli, it also made Vince Korsak more lovable (and hygienic). The two make a great pair though and are working amicably until Special Agent Gabriel Dean of the FBI steps in and steps on their toes. The new serial killer, dubbed the Dominator, has entered the scene and interest in the case goes straight to Washington DC.

The mystery seems to slowly plod along until all of the sudden you're on the last twenty pages and the killer is revealed. There was a good mix of police procedure and character development, but the characters weren't as engaging as Det. Thomas Moore and Catherine Cordell (the Surgeon's previous victim) in "The Surgeon". I enjoyed getting to see more of Rizzoli's parents and brothers, and again can't imagine how the TV show created such a loving, sweet family out of the mess Ms. Gerritsen gave Jane for a family. The books feel more real, giving you the tough, ugly side of things, but it is a satisfying venture. I'm sure many more women can connect with Jane Rizzoli, not so many with Angie Harmon.