Book Review: Vanish

Reviewed By: Cheryl - RAM

Vanish     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Tess Gerritsen
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Medical   Woman Main Character
Series: Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli # 5
Ballantine Books

Tess Gerritsen's fast-paced thrillers get better and better. This particular example veers dangerously close to conspiracy theory territory while maintaining realism through the use of very real social problems and situations.

The book begins with two stories - that of a young woman from Belarus who is trying to enter the US illegally and that of Maura Isles, a Boston medical examiner who is working through a routine day of carrying out autopsies.

Their stories eventually intersect when Maura discovers that one of the 'corpses' in her morgue isn't quite dead. A series of violent incidents end with pregnant detective Jane Rizzoli and her husband, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, involved in a mystery which threatens very powerful people.

The switches between the Belarus woman's story and the much longer main narrative are very well handled, as are the various plot twists. I thought that the conspiracy-theory emphasis on mysterious all-powerful forces with access to an apparently unlimited supply of expert killers was a bit overdone, but my opinion may be affected by my own dislike of stories with that particular plot element. In this novel, the conspiracy theory elements are balanced to some degree by the illegal immigrant plot line which, to me, seemed more plausible. However, overall 'Vanish' is a gripping and fast-paced tale with plot twists that maintain suspense right to the satisfying conclusion.

Cheryl - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Cheryl - RAM

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