Vanish by Tess Gerritsen

Synopsis (from back page)

Stare death in the face… The beautiful woman appears to be just another corpse in the morgue. But when medical examiner Maura Isles looks down at the body, she gets the fright of her life. The corpse opens its eyes.

Now very much alive, the woman is rushed to the hospital, where she murders a security guard and seizes hostages, one of whom is the heavily pregnant homicide detective Jane Rizzoli.

But who is this woman, and what does she want? Only Jane can solve the mystery - if she survives the night.

Review

This is the first book by Tess Gerritsen that I have read, but it certainly will not be the last.

From the moment I started reading it, to when I finally turned the last page I was completely hooked and it was only after I’d closed the book and wiped away a stray tear that I realised just how engrossed I’d become in the lives of not only Jane and Maura but also those of Mila, Olena and to a lesser extent Joe.

Although a little graphic in places, it’s not overly done so and the autopsy descriptions are all relevant and largely significant to the storyline. Personally I have to admit that I loved these scenes and could actually picture it all happening in my head. Fantastic!

My only little bug bear with it is that the author never reveals how Olena ended up in the morgue to begin with? Was her ‘death’ an unsuccessful attempt on her life by the people who were after her? Or was it all part of her and Joe’s plan to bring the truth out into the open?

Overall, this is a fantastic and really gripping read and one that certainly kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

Vanish is actually the fifth book in the Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles series and although I haven’t read any of the preceding ones (yet) I can quite honestly say that it didn’t affect my enjoyment of this one. Admittedly there is the odd reference to a previous case, which I can only assume is featured in one of the previous books, but these are literally just mentioned in passing and don’t have any great relevance or impact with the storyline here…although saying that I am going to have to track down all the other books in the series so that I can see how the characters of Jane and Maura have grown over time.

Although it may be wiser to start at the beginning of the series, I highly recommend this particular book.

Reviewed by Karen.