THE MEPHISTO CLUB
Tess Gerritsen
Publisher: Bantam Press
ISBN: 0593055926
January 15th, 2007
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THE MEPHISTO CLUB
written by
TESS GERRITSEN
Reading Tess Gerritsen’s tenth Jane Rizzoli and
Doctor Maura Isles outing, The Mephisto Club,
is like opening the windows in a stuffy, body strewn flat. That is to
say, in the world of serial-killer novels, which at times can be somewhat
formulaic to say the least, this author’s writing is like a breath
of fresh air. Indeed, so compact is Gerritsen’s style, the reader
might believe they have slipped into some timeless box, so quickly do
the hours pass as the pages spin over in a blur of anticipation.
Christmas Eve in Boston is no holy night for medical examiner Dr. Maura
Isles. In a rundown house a woman has been dismembered in an act of
carnage that leaves veteran cops in shock. The last person called from
the dead girl’s phone is Dr. Joyce O’Donnell, a celebrity
psychiatrist who's made her name defending serial murderers.
But there are other clues that make the police wonder if this slaying
was part of a Satanic ritual. Drawn on the wall, in blood, are ancient
symbols, and a mirror-image word in Latin that, translated, says: “I
have sinned.” Then a second woman is found butchered on Beacon
Hill, just outside the grand residence of Anthony Sansone, a reclusive
historian. He is the leader of the Mephisto Club, an old and secret
society dedicated to the study of evil, and to confronting it in its
purest form. On the door to Sansone's house have been scrawled yet more
ancient symbols. Are they clues? Or threats? When the same symbols appear
on Maura Isles’s door, Maura and Jane must call on the Mephisto
Club for assistance. Because this is a form of evil Boston PD has never
encountered before. And the only way they can defeat it is by turning
to the people who understand the devil himself.
A thriller with more than just a little
sense of The Gothic about it, The Mephisto Club,
from its very first line, grabs the reader and simply refuses to let
go, as the story bounces from America to Europe and back with a seamless
writing prowess.
Each question asked must be answered before moving on, which of course,
they’re not, so we have to keep going and do so with immense pleasure.
And there are a lot of questions, believe me.
Combining Gerritsen’s professional medical expertise with her undoubted writing talent, The Mephisto Club goes far beyond Silent Witness / Bones stereotype exclamations and goes into the world of the certifiable with out pausing and without ever being fantastic. The highest accolade to give this book is that, although the market is riddled with religiously motivated nut-jobs at the moment, Gerritsen has steered clear of the norm to deliver a novel that is both intensely credible and deeply disturbing. See the blood? Grief, we can nearly feel it, the writing is so real.
The Mephisto Club, is a superbly well written novel, with a pace that is almost Nascar in its relentlessness and, as such, is one that should not be missed.
“Chris,
I love the site! And thank you for the lovely, lovely review!”
Tess Gerritsen
25 Janaury 2007
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