"The Surgeon" is the nickname given to a serial killer who brutally murders women and takes out their ovaries. This is the first book in the Rizzoli & Isles series, which eventually led to a TV show. Isles does not appear in this book (I believe). Rizzoli is part of a team trying to track down the Surgeon.
Gerritsen either has some medical schooling in her past or she did an amazing job with her research. One of the main character, Dr. Catherine Cordell, is a surgeon, and there are numerous very descriptive trauma scenes in the book. This is the first positive for the book and negative for Flo. The only medical drama I watched regularly was ER. Any intense operating room scene makes me squeamish, even if I know it's fake. This book was very descriptive. Gerritsen talked over and over about the large amounts of blood oozing out of patients and victims. In fact, the cover of the book I have shows a woman colored red. I don't think this is a coincidence.
The killings are also very graphic. I won't make you all queasy with all the details, but let's just say that the Surgeon is aptly nicknamed. Worst of all, he leaves his victims alive for most of his "operation."
Add all that to the victim pool -- young professional women like myself -- and it was just too much to take. Gerritsen hits too close to home.
If you like medical dramas and mysteries, I would recommend this book to you. But if you're not really into both of those...maybe pass -- and save your stomach.
~Flo~
I had the same thought with another book that I read by her. I can't remember the name. I believe she was a doctor so her descriptions are very detailed.
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