The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

A chilling murder story with detailed medical linings to garnish the plate of story cooked up in this book. It will make you think twice of stepping into an OR for any reason.

Women are found brutally murdered all over Boston; and they are all spotted with a similar pattern; whereby they have been drugged, had neat surgical incisions across their abdomens which were done while they were alive/conscious and had a neat slice across their throats.
There is always a neatly folded pair of nightclothes smudged with blood in a chair nearby and all the women have been found to have their uterus removed.
Detective Jane Rizzoli is on the scene; she is the main protagonist in all Tess Gerritsen’s books. Portrayed as the bold and unnerving policewoman who stands tall and proud in the male-dominated field, she will not allow herself to be intimidated by her sneering male colleagues and strives to prove herself in the field and to protect her own turf.

Her gender positioned her in a vulnerable and defensive mode and this was the front she showed to Detective Thomas Moore who was assigned to the same case. However, his cool and calm stature impressed her and soon, she found herself impressed by more than his professionalism at work.
Their investigations on the murders led them to a previous series of killings done by a killer who was dead for two years; Andrew Capra who had conducted his murders in the same manner and also following a certain pattern after he committed his murder.
Their search on Capra’s records led them to the beautiful Dr Catherine Cordell; who was Capra’s last and only surviving victim who was the one who shot him to death.

Dr Cordell was initially uncooperative as she was unwilling to relive her painful past that she had tried so hard to put behind and Detective Moore; who was working hard to solve the case, decided to try harder to persuade her and this led them closer, much to the dismay of Detective Rizzoli who now realized that she thinks more of Moore than just a friend.

However, when things took a worse turn and they realized that the killer is hot on Dr Cordell’s turn, they are led to believe that the killer seemed to be finishing off Capra’s unfinished business from the start and that the other victims were just his starters to brag to Cordell that she remains the main target.
As Detective Moore worries more about Cordell’s safety, he was drawn closer than the supposed line and he was retracted from the case by his superior.

Rizzoli pursued the case further, and they were left with no choice but to conduct a hypnosis on Dr Cordell to relive her past memories through medical works. She revealed a possible 2nd person present at the crime scene which suggested that the current killer could be a partner of Andrew Capra.
The investigation team then turned their attention onto Andrew Capra’s background and found out more about his records and revealed one of his close friends/lab partner during medical school who was expelled due to a disturbing past.

Hot on the trail, Rizzoli almost threw her own life away when she was pursuing the killer and her own vulnerability led her into the trap the killer set for her, while she was trying to rescue Cordell from the killer’s hands.

The killer was finally captured but Rizzoli could not brush the trauma of near-killed experience on herself.
It was truly chilling as you follow the killer’s mind when he committed all the murders and yet, it was intriguing and exciting as the detectives slowly uncover the true identity of the killer.
Of course, it was definitely a great thing when the psychotic killer is arrested and a tie-breaker for all at the end.

Another recommended read from Tess Gerritsen; and one thing is for sure, you will never walk into an OR or a laboratory feeling the same ever again!~

Life Support by Tess Gerritsen

Tess is officially on the list of my top and favorite authors of all time; and she has impressed me from the first book I read of her; Body Double (which reminds me, I don't think I have written a review on it yet)

Life Support is yet again, another medical thriller by her and it is again, a skillful combination of her medical theories along with the interwoven plots of murder and intrigue.
It was a different twist of the usual plot; where this starts with a series of seemingly aged and healthy men dying of weird viral infection in the brain and this aroused the suspicion of ER resident Toby Harper who then tried to investigate the causes leading to their death.

She found a trail which led her heads on with one of the senior and prominent consultant surgeons which could even result in her career termination; however, she was not ready to give up and when she stumbled upon the similarities and the medical histories of all the patients who have passed on, she was in for a more exciting picture in front of her; which relates to a Creuzfedlt-Jakob disease in each of the patient in her investigation.
This led her to a shocking discovery of a medical conspiracy to create a breakthrough in science through a gruesome and inhumane process.

This book can leave you feeling chilled to the bone as you read of the medical process and also the value of fame and recognition to a human being.
I could not believe that there are beasts lying behind the faces of the doctors whom we trusted to put our lives in their hands and yet they were thinking of ways to get famous; at the cost of our health.

It was also sad that people are willing to take risks for the sake of staying young forever and this, is the main notion of the whole story, where the people are willing to pay; at any cost for a promising remedy to help them stay young and defy their age and creating a network of medical monsters who use this as an opportunity to create fame for themselves through their findings in science.

It was an amazing read and certainly an eye-opener; and the author has once again stirred the suspense and excitement, not forgetting the fear in me.
Tess Gerritsen has never failed to impress me; and have I mentioned that she is officially one of my favorite authors?

Judge Dee's Mysteries by Robert Van Gulik

I've gotten hold of a few of the books in this series from a second hand bookshop; and I was pleased with my loot as I really loved mysteries and Chinese Literature and this is a combination of both.

Judge Dee was a famous icon in the period of Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi's rule. In fact, he was one of the Empress's trusted advisor in court.
He was also famous for his wisdom and quick wits in solving crime cases; and this has established his name in the Chinese history.
So famous was he that there were several movies/TV series; and the most recent one being The Greatness of a Hero (check my movie blog)

All the stories below were translated from the Chinese texts by this Dutch author; Robert Van Gulik.
I do find some of the stories focusing too much on nudity (even the illustrations show that in the books)
It seems to be such a norm that women in those days were used to being seen nude by men; which I doubt, in a conservative society like China.

The Chinese Nail Murders

This is one of the most written/filmed story; and it seems that it was extracted from one of the old court cases; whereby there are two separate cases but using the same method of committing the crime. Both the murderers are women and do not know each other.
Even Judge Bao was seen judging this case in his chronology crime-solving series.
I wonder who is the actual mastermind who is responsible for this now?
This story truly depicts, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"

Judge Dee at work

This is a compilation of five mini-stories happening in towns across the country.
Fast-paced and short, it is not too difficult to figure the culprit.

The Lacquer Screen

I find this intriguing; where the murder case was kinda unique and the murderer, well, not totally unexpected although there were a few additional twists.

Necklace and Calabash

This one was rather interesting too; as it involves the royal court and the beloved princess of the King, who lost her precious necklace.

Phantom of the Temple

I would say this is the one that disappoints me (or was it too predictable for me after reading the previous 4 books?)
I must say this is not crime story at its peak.

Overall, I enjoyed Chinese-translated stories like these and especially mysteries! =)