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The Surgeon
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Rizzoli & Isles: Book 1

The Surgeon (2001) (edit title/settings)

by Tess Gerritsen (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

He slips into their homes at night and walks silently into bedrooms where women lie sleeping, about to awake to a living nightmare. The precision of the killer's methods suggests he is a deranged man of medicine, propelling the Boston newspapers to name him "The Surgeon." The cops' only clue... read more

Summary edit see section history

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,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

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 Tess Gerritsen's most exciting accomplishment yet.

Characters edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “"Detective Saint Thomas!"”
    Jane Rizzoli
  • “She now knew her death was inevitable, and with that acceptance came liberation. The courage of the condemned.”
  • “Evil doesn't die. It never dies. It just takes on a new face, a new name. Just because we've been touched by it once, it doesn't mean we're immune to ever being hurt again. Lightning can strike twice.”
    Catherine Cordell
  • “No matter how careful we are, evil knows where we live. It knows how to find us.”
    Catherine Cordell
  • “Then I guess I never found him. I've heard other women say that as soon as you tell a man what happened to you, as soon as you use the word rape, the men back away. As though we're damaged goods. Men don't want to hear about it. They prefer silence to confession. But the silence spreads. It takes over until you can't talk about anything at all. All of life because a taboo subject.”
    Catherine Cordell
  • “She had once thought of him as colorless, like all the other featureless men who walk past you on a city street, outlines sketched on a flat canvas. Only now did she really see him, the warm ruddiness of his skin the web of laugh lines around his eyes. All the charming imperfection of a face well lived in.”
    Catherine Cordell
  • “No, Catherine. I know the best about you! I know how strong you are, how brave you are. All this time I had no idea what you were dealing with. You could have told me. You could have trusted me.”
    Peter Falco
  • “You won't know until push comes to shove. He'll be the one still standing beside you.”
    Thomas Moore
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • The most intimate emotion two people can share is neither love nor desire but pain.
    Highlighted by 118 Kindle customers
  • Where we go depends on what we know, and what we know depends on where we go.
    Highlighted by 85 Kindle customers
  • picquerist,” said Dr. Lawrence Zucker. “Someone who uses a knife to achieve secondary or indirect sexual release. Picquerism
    Highlighted by 56 Kindle customers
  • Law of Reversed Effect. The harder you try to remember something, the less likely it is you’ll be able to recall it.
    Highlighted by 51 Kindle customers
  • Contents Also by Tess Gerritsen Prologue
    Highlighted by 49 Kindle customers
  • This unsub is a classic
    Highlighted by 48 Kindle customers
  • Where we go depends upon what we know, and what we know depends on where we go.
    Highlighted by 33 Kindle customers
  • Jane Rizzoli, also from the Boston Homicide Unit. Thirty-three years old, Rizzoli was a small and square-jawed woman.
    Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers
  • Detective Thomas Moore
    Highlighted by 28 Kindle customers
  • phlegmatic to get anybody pissed off at him or to be pissed off at anyone else. And as for
    Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
Show all 18 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

  • Boston: City in Massachusetts where the majority of the story takes place.
  • Atlanta: City in Georgia where it appears the first murder happened.
  • Pilgrim Medical Center: Hospital in Boston where Cordell works.
  • Back Bay: Neighborhood in Boston where Peyton and Cordell live.
  • Savannah: City in Georgia where Cordell lived and tragedy happened.
  • Jamaica Plain: A west Boston neighborhood tucked between Franklin Park and the bordering town of Brookline
  • Riverside Medical Center: Hospital in Savannah where Cordell and Capra work.
  • Shroeder Plaza: Located in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury where various branches of the Boston Police Department have been located. It is often referred to as "the Marble Palace."

Organizations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

Today they will find her body.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Prologue
Chapters 1 - 27
Epilogue

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 13 in Rizzoli & Isles. (standard series)

Followed by The Apprentice.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Tess Gerritsen (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Country: United States
Publication Date: 2001
ISBN: 0345447832
Page Count: 416

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3557.E687 S87 2001
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Gruesome

Movie Connections edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Apprentice
  • The Sinner
  • Body Double
  • Vanish
  • The Mephisto Club

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history

   
  • The Sparrow

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