Product Description

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Surgeon and The Apprentice comes a chilling new novel of suspense featuring Boston medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles, on the deadly trail of an anonymous madman who’s committed an unholy crime. . . .

THE SINNER

Not even the icy temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling scene of carnage discovered in the early morning hours at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light. Within the sanctuary walls of the cloistered convent, now stained with blood, lie two nuns—one dead, one critically injured—victims of an unspeakably savage attacker.

The brutal crime appears to be without motive, and the elderly nuns in residence can offer little help in the police investigation. But medical examiner Maura Isles’s autopsy of the dead woman yields a shocking surprise: Twenty-year-old Sister Camille, the order’s sole novice, gave birth before she was murdered. Then the disturbing case takes a stunning new turn when another woman is found murdered in an abandoned building, her body mutilated beyond recognition.

Together, Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible slaughters. As long-buried secrets come to light, Maura Isles finds herself drawn inexorably toward the heart of an investigation that strikes closer and closer to home—and toward a dawning revelation about the killer’s identity too shattering to consider.


As spine-tingling as it is mind-jolting, The Sinner showcases Tess Gerritsen in peak form—bringing her intimate knowledge of the dark depths of criminal investigation brilliantly to bear. Beneath its layers of startling insight into the souls of its characters, and the richly wrought depiction of the everyday war between good and evil, beats the unstoppable heart of an irresistible thriller.


Tess Gerritsen left a successful practice as an internist to raise her children and concentrate on her writing. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of medical suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest. She is also the author of the bestsellers Life Support, Bloodstream, Gravity, and The Surgeon and The Apprentice. Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.

PRAISE FOR TESS GERRITSEN

The Surgeon

“A briskly paced, terrifically suspenseful work that steadily builds toward a tense and terrifying climax.”
—People (Page-Turner of the week)

“Creepy . . . [The Surgeon] will exert a powerful grip on readers.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go.”
—TAMI HOAG

The Apprentice

“Skillful and scary.”
—The Washington Post Book World

“An adrenaline rush from start to finish.”
—IRIS JOHANSEN

“Masterful . . . Gerritsen moves into the Thomas Harris class, though with a style all her own.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #800977 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-19
• Released on: 2003-08-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A grisly murder at a convent baffles Medical Examiner Maura Isles and Det. Jane Rizzoli at the start of this assured, richly shaded seventh novel from bestseller Gerritsen (The Apprentice; The Surgeon, etc.). The popular duo are called to Boston's Graystones Abbey when two nuns are discovered in an abandoned chapel, one dead and the other near death, both brutally bludgeoned. Red herrings are everywhere: Isles's discovery that one of the murdered nuns had recently given birth (followed shortly by the discovery of the baby's body in a pond near the convent); the murder of a homeless derelict with her face and extremities removed by her killer; and the lurking menace of a multinational chemical company. Complicating matters further is the sudden arrival of Isles's ex-husband, Victor, a celebrity humanitarian with his own suspicious connection to the case, and Rizzoli's old flame, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, who's responsible for the baby now growing in Rizzoli's belly. The investigation is rather low-key, but Gerritsen gives atmospheric depth to her tale with descriptions of snowbound Boston and an exotic past tragedy. Isles's pleasantly bitchy coldness ("Go ahead and pass me, idiots. I've met too many drivers like you on my slab") gives a welcome edge to the proceedings, and the struggles of both Isles and Rizzoli to balance their tough professional acts with romantic drama are satisfyingly gritty.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
When two Boston nuns are found brutally beaten--one fatally and one with a scintilla of life left in her--it's up to homicide detective Jane Rizzoli to find the perpetrator. Medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles, nicknamed the Queen of the Dead, has the unlucky fortune to discover that the murdered nun, a young woman about to make her final vows, hid untold secrets from the rest of the aging convent. Both fallen Catholics, Rizzoli and Isles seek to reconcile the viciousness of the crimes with the seeming blind faith of the victims. Another dead body turns up, and the investigators must rely on their clinical analysis, lest they be sucked in to the drama unfolding before them. Each woman immerses herself in her work rather than face the outside world; Rizzoli refuses to face the truth of what her future holds, and Isles denies her own loneliness. Woven within the horror of this gruesome story is the old allegory of good versus evil, but by relating it through these two fascinating individuals, Gerritsen avoids cliches. Another captivating, horrific thriller in her extremely popular canon. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Thou shalt not kill" but that doesn't apply to whoever brutally bludgeons to death two nuns in a New England nunnery. Detective Jane Rizzoli, called to the scene, is brought up short when an autopsy reveals an earth-shattering revelation, so closely linked to her own troubled personal life it taints the investigation, bringing it nearer to her heart and away from professionalism, and, worst of all, breaking down the impenetrable veneer she so closely protects. Accompanied by medical examiner Maura Iles, the two women embark on a hunt for the killer, with Maura too becoming inextricably linked when a global connection is discovered. Fast paced and a "one-session" read, it is another cracker from this talented American crime writer, expanding on previous characters and introducing the new. Rizzoli looks set to rival the best of American fictional detectives whilst Iles is a gentler version of Cornwell's Scarpetta. It is a partnership one hopes will continue into the future, with each complementing the other in their various different aspects of the job and personality. - Lucy Watson

Customer Reviews

Sinner
After reading the Surgeon and the Apprentice any author would be hard pressed to come up with something as good, but, Tess Gerritsen has almost done it with this book. It's a real page turner. I hope she keeps these characters for awhile.
I have to admit I read the book in a day and a half. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because I just finished reading the Surgeon and the Apprentice and just couldn't put it up to those two.
Great book am awaiting her next work.

An Uncharacteristic Showing
I have been highly impressed by Tess Gerritsen's style of writing in her previous novels: Gravity, The Surgeon, Harvest, The Apprentice. Unfortunately, The Sinner does not carry with it the same level of suspense and excitement that has made her other titles absolute page-turners. In fact, there is nearly no suspense involved for the first 3/4 of the book, as the mystery tying together 3 seemingly unrelated crime scenes is unraveled at a painfully prolonged pace. Yes, this is more of an average quality murder mystery novel than the characteristically excellent medical thriller that has made Gerritsen a multiple-time New York Times bestselling author. Although The Sinner certainly is readable, I would recommend spending your time on one of Gerritsen's more acclaimed titles instead.

A Good Read!!!
Although I was loath to put this book down until the final page, it still was not as gripping as her last two books. Still if you like medical thrillers you can't go wrong with Ms. Gerritsen.

Without giving too much of the plot away the opening takes us to India and a massacred village. Then we are back in Boston at a brutal murder of a young novice and the injury of an older nun. The violence is unbelievable and there seems to be no indication of motive. But when the investigation moves forward ties between the murder of the young novice and the murder of an unidentified women in an abandon building are linked by bizzare circumstances. Detective Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isle work together to bring a killer to justice.

I enjoyed reading about Jane and I actually liked that Ms. Gerritsen was willing to portray this strong woman with normal human feelings of not thinking that she can do it all. I don't feel that romance was a huge part of the book. I'm a huge romance genre fan and the romance between Jane and Agent Gaberial Dean was way far back on the back burner and since I have been reading all the books involving Jane I was happy to see this relationship was continued and developed. As for the romance issue with Dr. Isle I feel that it played a part in the storyline and again this was not a priority in the plot. Yes, this book is not as griping as her last two...but then it is dealing with a different type of killer.

This book is worth picking up just keep and open mind and don't expect it to be like her others. Suspense is at a premium and favorite characters from previous book are included. If you have not read the last few books by Ms. Gerritsen don't worry, this book is still a stand alone story and by no means relys on previous titles. This is a fast paced read and a good way to spend a weekend.