Rizzoli & Isles, The Surgeon, Thrills and Chills

 

If you haven’t watched Rizzoli & Isles, you’re missing a great show!

Angie Harmon’s tomboy and witty character mixed with Sasha Alexander’s no-nonsense, no humor’s makes for a great crime show set in Boston.

As a suspense writer, I love all things that thrill and chill. This show is excellent! My friend Tiffany White has a really cool blog and one of my favorite days is Tele Tuesday, where she talks all things TV! Check out her blurb on Rizzoli & Isles, here.

Also, the show is based off the book, The Surgeon–the first in the Rizzoli & Isles series–written by Tess Gerritsen.

The Surgeon is not an ABA book. It’s graphic, disturbing in subject matter, and colorful (not just the tons of splashed blood red)–the language.

Right now you’re asking, “Why do you read such things?”
My answer:  I don’t know. I love thrillers. And I love when evil is triumphed by good. Which it was, but not without danger on every page.

Books are always better than movies…or shows, so I wanted to know. I picked a great time to read The Surgeon, during a week when my husband was out of town. Every tiny pop or creak had my attention. It was that night, I realized I’d given my business card to a server at a restaraunt I didn’t know, and it had my phone number and address on it. (I’ll tell that story another day) It was hair raising, heart pounding, eyes wide open all night, kind of reading.

Turns out, Rizzoli isn’t the main character in this book.  Thomas Moore is, and he was great. I enjoyed his soft, compassionate character. He respected the victims and was good at his job. He was honest, loyal and protective.

I also loved the female main character–Dr. Cordell. She was a victim, but she wasn’t weak. She had overcome, and fought with her head high all the way through. I cheered her on, respected and admired her. Tess Gerritzen did a great job writing about such a tender subject matter. This wasn’t a light bathtub read.

You know who I didn’t like?

Jane Rizzoli. (Maura Isles wasn’t in this book)

She wasn’t a likable character at all, and I hardly if ever say that. Now that wouldn’t be a big deal, if she was only a minor character in this one book, or even the series, but I’m expecting her to become the main character as the series goes on. I don’t want to dislike the main character!

Rizzoli was overbearing, grouchy, inconsiderate and lacked compassion. In fact, she pushed victims to answer questions they weren’t ready to. Yeah, she was fighting for survival as the only female detective, and yeah, the guys gave her a hard time, but dang!

She never showed any softness. When she wasn’t pouting, ranting, or getting jealous over Moore’s romantic relationship, she was whining about her lack of good looks and outcussing every other character.

Now, having said that, I’m going to read on and maybe, over the series, her character will evolve as she takes on more of a lead role. I hope so. If not, I’ll just keep watching the awesome show. Here’s a peek at The Surgeon:

“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 well-earned reputation as a top trauma surgeon.

Cordell’s careful façade is about to crack as this new killer re-creates, 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.”

Question: Do you watch Rizzoli & Isles? Do you read Thrillers?