The Keepsake: A Novel by Tess Gerritsen
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Book Reviews of The Keepsake: A Novel
Book Review: Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
Tess Gerritsen is one of my absolute favorite top authors and in my humble opinion one of the top suspense authors in the world.
She always manages to spin a web of suspense which leaves me mystified and I have no idea how the plot will proceed as I read along. She is one of the few authors which once I get their book, I won't be able to stop reading it and I often read til 4 or 5am and am completely useless the next day. I actually didn't like her last two books that much, but I thought she got back into the groove with this one. As usual I won't mention the plot as I like to read my books without knowing anything about it, only whether it's good or not. If you want to know the plot you can always read the publisher's blurbs and the other reviews.
I will say however that this is one of her Jane Rizzoli books. There are pros and cons with serial books. The pro is that the characters are familiar ones and you know who's who. However in IMHO, cons can outweigh the pros. One is that as an author, you're restricted because your book will have to revolve around those characters, but also, you won't have to spend a lot of time and effort creating new characters. As a reader, I don't want the series to degenerate into a drama about the character and her family because that's not why I'm reading the book. And that's why I stopped reading Patricia Cornwell's books because she was writing too much about her protagonist's personal life. The other bad thing about serials is that Tess Gerritsen only puts out a new book every year or so, and by that time I'll have read dozens if not hundreds of books since then and I might have forgotten about these character's lives, so if she mentions something referred to a few books back I might not know what she's talking about.
Anyhoo, overall this is a great mystery/suspense book and if you've never read Gerritsen before, you're in for the treat of your life.
Book Review: Worth losing sleep for
Summary: 5 Stars
First Sentence: He is coming for me.
A 2000-year-old mummy has been discovered in the basement of the Crespin Museum in Boston. With much fanfare and publicity, it has been brought to Pilgrim Hospital for CT scan analysis. Dr. Maura Isles, on of those in attendance, soon realizes something is amiss. The corpse within has a modern dental filling and a bullet in her leg.
The mummy is transferred to the morgue and the case assigned to Det. Jane Rizzoli. When a second, then third corpse that has been transformed into the appearance of an ancient artifact the police realize something is out of sync with archeologist Joesphine Pulcillo, working at the museum and the focus of the artifacts.
There is a blurb on the back cover of the book which says "...likely to keep you reading into the wee hours..." Well, it certainly did that. I should know by now that a book by Gerritsen is one I have to finish the same day I start it.
She know how to hook you in, take you down a very twisty road, build the suspense and keep you going to the very last sentence. Gerritsen's medical background was in evidence through the details of ancient forms of mummification offset by present-day forensic methods. I also enjoyed the historical and archeological information, both of those being fascinating to me.
The characters are interesting and fully developed. Jane Rizzola is a tough New Yorker, married and a mother; Maura Iles is refined, elegant and in a hopeless relationship. A common theme among the characters was self-delusion--wanting what you can't have. This theme was well-played in the story with a subtlety that offset the violence. Her dialogue and sense of place supported this theme.
Gerritsen is a very good writer and always a sleepless pleasure to read.
Book Review: The Ultimate Cold Case for Rizzoli and Isles
Summary: 5 Stars
When the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead, they often layered amulets and jewels within the linen wrappings. Finding such treasures in a 2000-year-old mummy is not unusual, but "Madam X" is full of surprises.
After a CT scan reveals a bullet in the mummy's leg and modern dental work in the jaw, medical examiner Maura Isles and Boston PD Detective Jane Rizzoli have a murder investigation on their hands. The mummy was recently discovered in an unlabeled crate in the basement of the Crispin Museum, a small family-run museum in the Boston area. When Jane and her partner Barry Frost uncover more preserved human remains in the museum's storage area, they realize they have a very intelligent and unorthodox serial killer on the loose.
The discovery leaves them with more questions than answers. What is driving the Archaeology Killer (as the murderer is dubbed by the press)? Why does he go to such lengths to preserve his victims? What is his connection to Egyptologist Josephine Pulcillo -- a woman who, like Madam X, is harboring many secrets of her own? Most importantly, how do they stop him before he claims another victim?
As someone who has had a lifelong love of archaeology (in particular, Egyptology), I greatly enjoyed the archaeological elements in The Keepsake. The book was so vividly atmospheric and creepy that I found myself looking over my shoulder more than once during my reading - just in case.
Tess Gerritsen has created another chilling, fast-paced thriller that is sure to delight fans of the Rizzoli/Isles mystery series. Readers new to Gerritsen's writing will also find The Keepsake very accessible and enjoyable.
Book Review: Atmospheric and action-packed
Summary: 5 Stars
It's every struggling museum's nightmare. Discovering an Egyptian mummy moldering in their basement, the curators invite everybody to an electronic unveiling (CT scan) and the ancient relic proves to be a skillfully mummified modern murder victim. Oy.
Maine author Gerritsen's Boston series duo, pathologist Maura Isles and homicide cop Jane Rizzoli, catch a weird one this time. And it gets worse. A further search of the private museum turns up a cache of shrunken heads, one of which is another comparatively recent victim.
Meanwhile the newest museum hire, beautiful young Egyptologist Josephine Pulcillo, has a secret, which turns out to be even worse than she knows. She is also getting scary cryptic messages. These and the strange coincidences connecting her to the murder victims make her think it's time to run - again. But she loves her job and curbs her instinct until another preserved victim - a "bog body" - turns up in the trunk of her car.
The macabre museum and the archeology milieu provide a rich atmosphere for bestseller Gerritsen's fast-paced thriller, while Pulcillo's mysterious past tantalizes. Rizzoli follows threads that stretch back more than a quarter of a century while Isles mines the preserved corpses for clues to the murdered women's' deaths, every revelation adding a grim clue to a horrifying picture.
The action moves from summery Boston to the Texas desert and the wilds of Maine. Obsession and pathological sadism increase the stakes in this twisty page-turner which delivers action and surprises right up to the last scene. This is one of Gerritsen's best.
Book Review: Tess Gerritsen doesn't disappoint
Summary: 5 Stars
I love Tess Gerritsen's novels and I always buy them as soon as they become available. The Keepsake is one very good example of why I am such a loyal fan.
Her writing is crisp, the story fast moving and fascinating. The central heroine, Jane, is a homocide detective who is a small streetwise character that can stand toe to toe with the toughist of the big boys on the squad and has earned their respect. She also is a woman who has all the emotional hangups that females are known to experience. Jane shares these novels with a growing cast of interesting characters.
What is really neat about these characters is that they come in and out of the books, depending on the plot. After reading several of these novels it is like you really are becoming familiar with the people inhabiting the area.
The keepsake is a great story about a particularly gruesome murderer. The story is not so much one of blood and guts as one of the horror of what the killer does to the women after (at least we hope it is after) they die. The tale takes us to Eqypt and back to the mansion of a very wealthy and powerful man. At the center of this plot is a very quiet and quite beautiful young egyptologist. This young woman is harboring a secret that may shed light on the current growing number of exotically preserved bodies.
As always, I recommend highly this new taut, fast paced, novel by Tess Gerritsen.