THE SINNER - TESS GERRITSEN

I've been a bit slow on the reading front lately what with having a million essays to complete! Now that my first year is completely finished I should be able to make up some reading during the summer.

Anyway, I finished Tess Gerritsen's The Sinner at the weekend and to sum it up in a few words: an absolutely amazing book! I think this has to be my favourite book I've read so far, it was brilliant and had me completely gripped, so much so, that I read it in three days which for me is pretty quick!

This book confirmed that Tess Gerritsen is my favourite author. The way she writes is just so gripping and you literally find yourself involved in the book. At one point I was so involved that when my phone beeped I nearly fell off my bead haha. 

This book is the third in the Rizzoli and Isles series (the first two are also great). It tells the story of a murder and an attempted murder of two nuns who live behind the walls of a convent. Dr Maura Isles is put on the case and during the autopsy of nun she discovers a shocking secret. Side by side to this is the murder of another woman whose killer has gone to the trouble of removing her face, hands and feet. Working alongside Detective Jane Rizzoli, they lead an investigation into the deaths of both women making a shocking discovery about the killer. 

Thats basically the story in a nut shell, what I liked is that the book didn't just focus on one murder, and instead focused on two (three sometimes) which added weight to the book whilst still keeping each case relevant to one another. Also what made me like this book more than the first two was that we got a real insight into who Jane and Maura are as characters - more so Maura as this book mainly focuses on her - which was lacking in the first two. Maura has her personal life to balance with her work in the form of her ex-husband Victor who turns up unannounced and tries to get back in her life. It is them revealed he has more business in Boston than just seeing Maura. 

Jane's life is further explored more in the latter half of the book when Agent Gabriel Dean turns up and she is faced with confronting her feelings for him and her new 'situation'. 

I can't express enough how much I enjoyed this book. Tess has a certain way of writing that just keeps to completely gripped without it being predictable at all like a lot of crime thrillers can be. A word of warning for people that get scared easily like myself, do not read this book at night in a quiet room...I jumped out of my skin several times haha. 

As I have said, I would highly recommend this book, even if crime/thriller isn't your thing. I didn't think I'd enjoy reading these types of books  but since have found I enjoy them more than any books in have ever read. 

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I enjoyed reading a book!

Let me first begin by saying that I am not a big reader. I think I have only ever finished maybe three books and even then, that took me forever! BUT, I was determined to find a book/series of books that I actually enjoyed reading and that I wanted to finish.

Onto the book! I think it was last year, a new TV show came out on TNT called Rizzoli and Isles and immediately I loved it. The story lines are just so well written and the two main characters - Jane and Maura - are so unbelievably likeable! So, when I found out that the show originally came from a series of books I was instantly intrigued. I then got the opportunity to go and meet the author of the books- Tess Gerritsen - at a signing and thought I'd take that as an opportunity to buy some of the books and see how they compared to the show.

Rizzoli & Isles on TNT

Me with Tess Gerritsen at her book signing. Note my signed copy
lying on the table there...

I bought 'Silent Girl' which was the book Tess was promoting, but it was also the book at the very end of the series so instead of reading that first and confusing myself I decided to buy the first few books and see how I got on, which to my surprise Tess was kind enough to sign also!

My signed copy of 'The Surgeon'

The first book entitled 'The Surgeon' is basically the story of a man with surgeon like 'skills' who targets and kills lonely women. It's then the job of the Boston homicide detectives to investigate and solves the crimes - so it pretty much follows your typical crime story. Now at first I thought this book would not be my cup of tea at all because as much as I like watching crime dramas, reading about them just seems like it would be a different experience entirely and one that I maybe wouldn't enjoy, but I thought I'd at least give it a try and thats exactly what I did.

On the train home, I began reading and before I knew it I had read six chapters! (For some avid readers that may not seem like a lot but for me that is a lot...) Then, when I got home I immediately went up to my room and continued to read the book (I read twice in one day!) and I managed to read up to chapter 14 or 15. Could it be possible? Could I have actually found I book I enjoyed reading? Indeed I had, I finished the book within a week or so and then moved onto number two, 'The Apprentice' which I am currently enjoying reading...

This is the book (obviously!) and I'd totally recommend it to everyone,
even if you don't think it'd be your type of book.

Tell me, which book do you enjoy reading most?

xoxo

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