The Surgeon: with Bonus Content

A serial killer is on the loose in Boston. The victims are killed in a particularly nasty way: cut with a scalpel on the stomach, the intestines and uterus removed, and then the throat slashed. The killer obviously has medical knowledge and has been dubbed "the Surgeon" by the media. Detective Thomas Moore and his partner Rizzoli of the Boston Homicide Unit have discovered something that makes this case even more chilling. Years ago in Savannah a serial killer murdered in exactly the same way. He was finally stopped by his last victim, who shot him as he tried to cut her. That last victim is Dr. Catherine Cordell, who now works as a cardiac surgeon at one of Boston's prestigious hospitals. As the murders continue, it becomes obvious that the killer is drawing closer and closer to Dr. Cordell, who is becoming so frightened that she is virtually unable to function. But she is the only person who can help the police catch this copycat killer. Or is it a copycat? To complicate matters even further, Detective Moore, often referred to as Saint Thomas as he continues to mourn the loss of his wife, is getting emotionally involved with the doctor.

The suspense in The Surgeon is almost unbearable. The writing is superb and the stunning twists and turns make it almost impossible to put down. -- Otto Penzler

Product Description
This enhanced eBook includes the full text of the novel plus the following additional content:
• An exclusive preview chapter from Tess Gerritsen’s Ice Cold, on sale in hardcover June 29, 2010
• Rizzoli & Isles, In Their Own Words: learn more about the lead characters in these special essays written by the author
• Rizzoli & Isles TV Pilot script: read pages from the script for the pilot episode of the TNT drama

In her most masterful novel of medical suspense, New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen creates a villain of unforgettable evil—and the one woman who can catch him before he kills again.

He slips into their homes at night and walks silently into bedrooms where women lie sleeping, unaware of the horrors they soon will endure. The precision of the killer's methods suggests he is a deranged man of medicine, propelling the Boston newspapers and the frightened public to name him "The Surgeon."

The cops' only clue rests with another surgeon, the victim of a nearly identical crime. Two years ago, Dr. Catherine Cordell fought back and killed her attacker before he could complete his assault. Now she hides her fears of intimacy behind a cool and elegant exterior and a well-earned reputation as a top trauma surgeon.

Cordell's careful facade is about to crack as this new killer recreates, with chilling accuracy, the details of Cordell's own ordeal. With every new murder he seems to be taunting her, cutting ever closer, from her hospital to her home. Her only comfort comes from Thomas Moore, the detective assigned to the case. But even Moore cannot protect Cordell from a brilliant hunter who somehow understands—and savors—the secret fears of every woman he kills.

Filled with the authentic detail that is the trademark of this doctor turned author . . . and peopled with rich and complex characters—from the ER to the squad room to the city morgue—here is a thriller of unprecedented depth and suspense. Exposing the shocking link between those who kill and cure, punish and protect, The Surgeon is just the beginning of Tess Gerritsen’s pulse-pounding series of crime thrillers featuring the unforgettable characters Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles.

Rizzoli discovers that the killer's modus operandi has occurred once before in Savannah, Georgia. While the crimes are nearly identical there is one hitch. The last victim of the Savannah killer not only survived, but killed her tormentor. Survived to heal, leave Savannah and move to Boston where she practices as a surgeon and member of an emergency team. Dr. Catherine Cordell finds herself dealing again with a horror from her past she thought was over.

It is not long before it is clear that Catherine Cordell is the real objective of the killer, now known as the Surgeon. The killer's trail of victims defies all police efforts to identify a murderer, who seems to have risen from the dead. The increasing menace to Dr. Cordell plays against her halting relationship with Moore and Rizzoli's almost compulsive antagonism. Compared to the all too human character if his opponents, the Surgeon always appears supremely cold and efficient. As apt to dwell on Greek myth as he his to exult over his victims.

Few characters come across as completely healthy in this tale. Moore is recovering from the tragic loss of his wife, Rizzoli believes she is pitted against the entire male police establishment and Cordell struggles to free herself from the darkness that seized her in Savannah. Gerritsen deserves the credit for deploying a cast like this, and then managing to avoid giving in completely to the bleakness that haunts noir fiction. She does this with some flare, mixing in procedural, forensic and emergency room medicine in counterpoint to the primary plot.

I do feel it necessary to mention that the tale is not at all simply a grim tale of slaughter. It deals with some very serious issues. Gerritsen confronts the aftereffects of rape directly, and in very uncomfortable fashion. Those of us who have been taught to belittle or deny how devastating this kind of personal invasion really is may have a tough time dealing with these passages. I found Gerritsen's frankness illuminating but unsettling, as I think most readers will.

In retrospect I believe this may be the best suspense/serial killer novel of the 2001 crop. Although there have been some close competitors. I do not normally follow medical suspense, so I don't know how well it compares in that genre. But I can't imagine it being far from the top on most reviewers lists. While I am not normally a reader of medical thrillers, I intend to investigate more of Gerritsen's work.

Marc Ruby for The Mystery Reader


A MUST read!   August 24, 2001
Nick Gonnella
28 out of 28 found this review helpful

He stalks his prey in the darkness. He enters their houses and walks into their bedrooms. The precision of his brutal killings suggests he is a man of medicine. The police are baffled and their only clues are the facts that he rapes his victims, removes their uterus, and THEN kills them. Luckily for the police one of the potential victims fights back and kills her attacker.

Dr. Catherine Cordell is trying to forget the attack that almost killed her two years ago. And although she has moved from Savannah to Boston the nightmares that plague her are about to become a reality.

Within a few weeks of each other a series of killings have locked the people of Boston in a state of fear. The police, having nothing to go on, begin to look into the recent murders only to discover they are very similar to the murders that happened in Savannah. Detectives Thomas Moore and Jane Rizzoli examine the close similarities between the years apart crimes and are shocked to realize they can't be copy cat crimes, for the details of the original killings were kept out of the papers, but how can this be the work of the original killer, he was killed by Catherine Cordell?

Moore and Rizzoli do the only thing they can, bring Cordell into the middle of their investigation because any information she supplies them can bring them closer to catching the killer. Unknown to anyone is the fact that the killer is staying one step ahead of them, and Catherine Cordell has now been targeted as the next victim on the killer's list, a deranged madman that knows the fears of the women he kills.

`The Surgeon' sucked me in from the first page, and kept me riveted from one shock to the next. With a plot as sharp as a scalpel, and a villain as nasty as Hannibal Lector, `The Surgeon' succeeds at being a terrifying read all the way up to it's explosive climax.

Tess Gerritsen proves to be nothing less than SUPERB at creating tension filled medical thrillers. With four previous bestsellers, Ms. Gerritsen has created her most exciting novel to date, and that is no small accomplishment, considering her earlier novels were excellent.

Dark, twisted, and disturbing `The Surgeon' is a MUST read!

Nick Gonnella


Grabs You and Never Lets Go.....   September 27, 2001
Roz Levine
24 out of 25 found this review helpful

There's a serial killer loose in Boston, first torturing and mutilating women in a very methodical way and then viciously killing them. The press have dubbed him "the surgeon". His crimes are grisly and he's very clever. As the body count rises, homicide detectives Thomas Moore and Jane Rizzoli are working the case round the clock and getting nowhere fast. That is, until they discover that two years ago an almost identical crime spree occurred in Savanah, Georgia. There, the killings stopped when the last victim, Dr Catherine Cordell, was able to fight back and shoot her attacker. Now she's living and working in Boston and though it's impossible, "the surgeon" seems to have followed her there..... Turn off the phone and lock the door because The Surgeon is about to keep you up reading, all night. This is an intricate medical thriller that has it all: a tight, tense, well-paced plot, full of intense and riveting scenes, crisp, suspenseful writing, terrific well-drawn and engaging characters and a diabolical villian who makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Tess Gerritsen has really honed her craft and her indepth medical knowledge and great attention to detail add real credibility to the story. Add to that a stunning climax and satisfying ending and you have the makings of a superb read that shouldn't be missed.


At a surgeon's pace...   March 2, 2003
Mark Wagenschutz (Battle Creek, MI USA)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

This is my first venture into Tess Gerritson. The Surgeon is the typical fare of the slasher/cop genre. And typical is my reaction to most of the book. It falls in line with the James Patterson, Jonathan Kellerman style of novels. The villian is unkown, and the author throws a curve every now and again to keep you guessing. The surviving victim of a brutal attack two years ago in Savannah, Dr. Catherine Cordell establishes a new life in Boston. But the past is following her as new female victims are being killed in Boston in the same fashion as before. Enter Detective Thomas Moore, a widower and perceived saint among the Boston PD, and his chip-on-the-shoulder partner Jane Rizzoli. Of course, Moore and Cordell fall in love, Rizzoli is not happy, the killer is getting closer to his ultimate prize - finishing what was not accomplished two years ago.

Overall, the book was a fun read. If there was a 3 1/2 star choice, I'd rate it there. I'm not to the point that I'll immediately purchase another Gerritson novel...I'm not totally sold yet. But I will go to the library to check one out.


TESS IS TOPS AT THRILLERS   August 30, 2001
Gail Cooke (TX, USA)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

While serial killer villains may abound few are as excruciatingly terrifying as the menace introduced in Tess Gerritsen's latest thriller, "The Surgeon."
An outstanding young cardiologist, Dr. Catherine Cordell, can never forget that she is the only surviving target of a crazed serial killer. Although the murderer was shot and killed in Savannah, Georgia, Catherine has found it impossible to leave that nightmarish time behind. She shares this information with no one.
In an effort to blot out past horrors she moves to Boston. Soon, the unthinkable occurs - three women are slain in Boston by someone with the same modus operandi as the person who hunted Catherine in Georgia. His methods lead authorities to believe he has been trained in medicine, and they dub him "The Surgeon."
Catherine had fought back once and saved her life, but now she is about to crumble as with each new murder the sadistic stalker seems to be getting closer to her, to the hospital, to her home, as action hurtles from the Emergency Room to the morgue.
She has only one ally, Detective Thomas Moore, and he, too, is stymied.
Gerritsen, an M.D. herself, brings chilling accuracy in detail and characterization to her tale of those who destroy and those who heal.