BODY DOUBLE by Tess Gerritsen
Tess Gerritsen has emerged as one of the best writers of thrillers around today. She combines a talent for intricate plots with strong characterizations and that spells a winner. In her latest novel BODY DOUBLE, Gerritsen is in top form and creates a thrilling story that will hold readers rapt until the final page has been turned.
The focus of the story is Dr. Maura Isles. She is a pathologist and has been in Paris for some study. Arriving home she finds there is a dead body in a car parked in front of her home. This body is an almost exact double of her.
Investigating this murder leads Maura and the police to the crimes of a serial killer who has abducted and killed many people across the country. In a side story we learn of one such
abductee. A pregnant woman has been kidnapped and is being held in a virtual coffin beneath the earth. She has air and food but no means of escape. She must wait for her abductor to return and release her or eventually she will die.
Eventually these two stories tie into each other and play out to an exciting conclusion. The reader is kept in suspense as to how the two stories interrelate and how much Dr Isles is involved in all of this. Detective Jane Rizzoli, who has been featured in previous Gerritsen books, is also a player in this drama. Now happily married and pregnant she pushes herself to the limit, both emotionally and physically, to try and solve this case.
If you have never read Gerritsen in the past this is a good book with which to start, but afterwards you might want to backtrack and catch up on all of her previous stories. Isles and Rizzoli have worked together before and the evolution of their friendship is enjoyable to watch.
Don't start reading BODY DOUBLE unless you have some time on your hands. Once you get involved in this story, you will want to read on until you finish it. Gerritsen knows how to play her readers and she paces her plot in just the right way to keep them hooked from beginning to end.
BODY DOUBLE is published by Ballantine Books. It contains 339 pages and sells for $24.95.