What readers think of The Apprentice, plus links to write your own review.

The Apprentice is the second novel in Tess Gerritsen’s Jane Rizzoli/Maura Iles series, and the first book in which Maura Iles makes her appearance. About a year after Rizzoli solved “The Surgeon” case and sent Warren Hoyt to jail, another hot Boston summer sees another serial killer on the loose. This killer is mimicking many of The Surgeon’s actions, but with some differences. As Warren Hoyt is safely locked up, is this a copycat? As well as dealing the with the psychological scarring the Surgeon inflicted on her, Rizzoli is once again up against her male chauvinist colleagues, but now there’s also an (extremely attractive) FBI agent, Gabriel Dean, who has involved himself in her case (why?). The autopsies are performed by the very efficient Maura Iles, often dubbed “The Queen of the Dead”. Soon, to everyone’s dismay, Hoyt is no longer in custody, and it seems the killers are a team. Even as she is giving us a solid plot enriched with detail, Gerritsen once again touches on issues: women needing to prove themselves capable and strong; the “victim” role; the use of neuropsychiatry as a defence; is the hunting instinct in our DNA and if so, what stops us as humans from acting on our less appropriate instincts. The characters, the dialogue, the descriptions are all convincing. Plenty of suspense: another page-turner. I’m looking forward to reading The Sinner.