20 June 2010

The Surgeon (#27)

I read The Surgeon for book group. The murder-mystery is pretty straightforward - it has some twists and turns, but is overall a bit predictable. The premise for the novel is this: a serial killer is attacking women in Boston, and he bears a strong resemblance to a similar serial killer who was working five years ago in Georgia, but was killed by his fifth - and surviving - victim.

The work is gory, and definitely a page-turner. I read it in a couple of days, and I really felt like I was reading a trashy summer novel. Which is exactly what it was.

The whole time that I was watching it, I kept feeling like I was watching an episode of Criminal Minds. Or even a very-special episode of Law & Order SVU, where they involve people from different jurisdictions. It followed the standard format for a CM episode, and I found myself wanting to skim over the narration because it felt like I would be able to watch this episode any time.

Gerritsen did a good job providing insight into the serial killer's point of view, and I definitely appreciated the serial killer's unexpected personality profile. The writing had a good pace, but I just wasn't able to get attached to any of the somewhat flat characters or into the story, which I felt I would be able to predict about halfway into the book.

So, good summer reading, but I'm glad that I borrowed the mass-market copy from someone.

I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

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