This book has been sat on my bookshelf for quite a well, as she technically wasn’t part of the TOPCWFC but I recently found it in the pile so got stuck in.
After her husband’s death, Dr Claire Elliot moves to the small town of Maine, with her teenage son. She hopes that relocating to this small quiet town will be a good opportunity for her son to put his past indiscretions behind him and for them both to make a new start with her running the towns medical practice. As with all good stories unfortunately it doesn’t quite work out like that. Not long after they arrive her son’s school mates start murdering each other and it soon becomes clear that things are not quite what they seem. People are quick to blame the fact the children are just bad, and it takes a while before the town link what’s happening now to a similar event 100 years previously.
This was not a Rizzoli and Isles book, which as I’d just finished watching the fantastic tv series of the same name did disappoint me a little, I really should read the blurb on the back a bit more. I am a big fan of Tess Gerristen and we saw her talk during the festival in Harrogate in 2011. So I hate to say it, but I didn’t think this novel was one of her best. The story was not particularly original, and could almost have been called Erin Brockovich.
However I think that Tess Gerritsen is such a skilled writer, she still manages to create tension and intrigue, and leaves you guessing the outcome right til the last few pages. I must admit that I did skip over some of the lengthy medical descriptions as they were a little long, but then the main character of the book was a doctor so its to be expected and the one of the authors skills is being able to intermingle medical knowledge, with suspense.
Half way through I got some Stephen King flashes (at the risk of upsetting people everywhere I’m afraid I’ve never managed to finish a Stephen King novel, not saying they are not good. I just get a bit lost) and I began to think that the story was heading to the dark side. But I’m glad to say that as ever Tess Gerritsen did not disappoint.
All in all I would say its definitely worth a read, but wouldn’t rush to read it twice. I am however looking foward to the next Rizzoli and Isles outing.
A crime readers blog 