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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
Even Alan Sugar would like this, 4 Sep 2006
There are many crime thriller series out there but if there's one that should be read in chronological order, it's this one by Tess Gerritsen. Fortunately I knew the correct order before I read any of her work, and I do recommend that if you're new to Tess, and the Jane Rizzoli series in particular, you should read THE SURGEON first. There are now six in all, with number six The Mephisto Club released this month (Sept 2006) while The Apprentice is the second.
When I finished The Surgeon I assumed that the story ended, but it didn't - The Apprentice is very much a continuation of the theme and storyline. It's difficult to say too much for fear of spoiling things for anyone who has yet to read The Surgeon, but they certainly go hand-in-hand and I would suggest that the character of The Surgeon himself may yet reappear in the third of the series. In The Apprentice, events and feelings revolve closely around Boston detective Jane Rizzoli, single and in her early thirties, and very traumatised one year on from her nightmare experience with The Surgeon. Her partner in the previous book, Detective Thomas Moore, doesn't feature here although he is frequently mentioned. Instead, Rizzoli gradually finds herself developing what becomes something of an awkward alliance with a highly suspicious-acting FBI agent named Gabriel Dean. Despite her deep mistrust, she finds him very attractive and has to suppress her desires many times in the interests of retaining a professional image. They both have one thing in mind from that point of view - hunting down a psychopathic killer given the pseudonym of Dominator, who seems to be forming an alliance of his own with, of all people, the aforementioned Surgeon.
This book involves a far deeper and more intimate analysis of the mind and personality of Rizzoli, and it is carried off convincingly and entertainingly. The central character is female and so too is the writer, but this isn't a story by girls for girls. It will be read and enjoyed by one and all, and contains some fascinating medical detail, not the least of which is the (factual?) revelation of exactly what it is that makes this killer do what he does, what makes him so evil. There's nothing in his very ordinary childhood and background to turn him into a psycho, so none of the usual stereotypes apply here. No, but there WAS one thing that happened - I won't spoil things by revealing it here - and it makes for an interesting and credible take on the motives behind mindless killings.
As an established fan of crime-thriller-series authors such as McDermid, Deaver, Billingham, Reichs, Slaughter and Connolly, I'm more than pleased to add Tess Gerritsen to my personal library, and I'm off to read The Sinner straight away, followed by Body Double and Vanish. Tess has a very useful blog on her web-site by the way - it's great for wannabe writers.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Good, but not the best, 5 Mar 2003
By A Customer
The Apprentice is Gerritson's follow-up book to The Surgeon. It is well written and contains all of Gerritson's usual elements of supsense, but it is not as good as the surgeon. The Apprentice seemed to be too much like the Surgeon with the same plot line and the same problems that Rizzoi has to deal with. I felt that Gerritson could have done without writing the Apprentice, or if she felt that it was necessary to write she could have made it more dissimilar. To me, the Apprentice was like reading a second-rate version of the Surgeon. But overall, the Apprentice is a well-written book that I enjoyed reading. I will definitely buy Gerriton's next book. If you enjoy her work, I would recommend reading Gravity which i think is her best book.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Not as good as The Surgeon....but not bad either, 3 Jun 2007
I'm new to Tess Gerritsen but did my homework before I started on her books to make sure I read them in sequence as I dove straight into Karin Slaughter and it drove me nuts not knowing the history.
The Apprentice is definitely a continuation of The Surgeon as we team up once again with Detective Jane Rizzoli as yet another killer is one the loose in Boston. This killer has some of the same characteristics of The Surgeon, a case which has scarred Rizzoli both physically and mentally. The similarities beg the question - "could a killer who she put behind bars be teaching his tricks of the trade to somebody new?".
The book itself is not quite as page-turning as The Surgeon but I think that may be because The Surgeon didn't focus on any one character and kept you going from several different perspectives whereas The Apprentice is focused mainly on Rizzoli and the killers. I have to admit that I didn't warm to Rizzoli in The Surgeon and I still don't think she's a particularly likeable character in The Apprentice but I'm warming to her slowly. The Apprentice is still a cracking story and will keep you engrossed but the ending is slightly rushed. I'm still looking forward to the next installment however.
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