| | |  | Amazon Kindle | Home » » » Vanish: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel (Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles) | | | | | | | Description: | | BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Tess Gerritsen's The Silent Girl.
A blessed event becomes a nightmare for pregnant homicide detective Jane Rizzoli when she finds herself on the wrong side of a hostage crisis in this timely and relentless new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Body Double.
A nameless, beautiful woman appears to be just another corpse in the morgue. An apparent suicide, she lies on a gurney, awaiting the dissecting scalpel of medical examiner Maura Isles. But when Maura unzips the body bag and looks down at the body, she gets the fright of her life. The corpse opens its eyes.
Very much alive, the woman is rushed to the hospital, where with shockingly cool precision, she murders a security guard and seizes hostages . . . one of them a pregnant patient, Jane Rizzoli.
Who is this violent, desperate soul, and what does she want? As the tense hours tick by, Maura joins forces with Jane’s husband, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, to track down the mysterious killer’s identity. When federal agents suddenly appear on the scene, Maura and Gabriel realize that they are dealing with a case that goes far deeper than just an ordinary hostage crisis.
Only Jane, trapped with the armed madwoman, holds the key to the mystery. And only she can solve it–if she survives the night. | | | Product Details: | | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 131 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 131 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
94 of 100 found the following review helpful:
 A must read thriller...easily Gerritsen's best.Aug 24, 2005
By Nick G
Medical examiner Maura Isles is called to examine the body of a beautiful, nameless woman but she
gets the shock of her life when the corpse opens her eyes...
The woman, who mistakenly was pronounced dead, is rushed to the hospital where doctors scramble
to help her, but things turn deadly as she steals a guard's gun, kills him, and takes hostages. One of the hostages is none other than detective Jane Rizzoli who is on the verge of going into labor.
As things begin to spiral more out of control, the crazed woman calls a local radio station with
a simple message "The die is cast."
Now it's up to Jane's husband, FBI agent Gabriel Dean to use all of his negotiating and investigative skills
to get his wife and child out of this alive.
'Vanish' is the best novel Tess Gerritsen has written and one of the finest thrillers to come out in a long time.
From page one the reader is pulled into a tension filled novel that surprises with each new plot twist. Combining well-drawn characters with expert plotting 'Vanish' is a novel that begs to be read in one sitting.
This is a page-turner of the first order and a definite MUST read.
Nick Gonnella
34 of 37 found the following review helpful:
Ms. Gerritsen Delivers Again!!!Sep 25, 2005
By Kristi Ahlers
When it comes to thrillers Ms. Gerritsen is top-drawer. She always offers inventive storylines, truly dynamic and complex characters and does so without cheating the reader or the story.
Dr. Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli are back with a vengence and their latest case is not only chilling, it's deeply engrossing.
After a long day Dr. Isles is working on a report and when she can't remember a detail to one of the bodies she autopsied she returns to the cooler only find that there is a body that should be there yet. She's alive...barely. Maura has no idea though that she has uncovered a scandal of epic proportions and the fall out of this has only just began.
Detective Jane Rizzoli is drawing near to her delivery date. This tough, sassy, and pregnant cop is going to sit the stand one more time before she leaves on maternity leave. What should have been an easy in and out court testimony ends up with Jane controlling the out of control suspect with the end result of her water breaking. She is sent to the hospital where Dr. Isles "Jane Doe" was sent. Instead of delivering her baby Jane finds herself in a hostage situation involving "Jane Doe" and a secret she wants heard. But someone doesn't want "Jane Doe" to talk and will do all that they have to in order to seal the lips of this witness. Before they know it Jane, Gabriel, Maura, and more law enforcement agencies than you can shake a stick at. Will Jane and Gabe be able to save the day at the same time avoid losing sight of what's important?
This was an incredibly fast-paced read and one that will completely engross the reader from page one. All of our favorites come back for this story and it was interesting to see how far Gabriel and Jane have come emotionally since their first introduction. Mila is a wonderful character that the reader will see very little of but she is what ties the various threads of this story together. Ms. Gerritsen is a very talented author and one that I highly recommend if you like smart thrillers with all that that entails.
Official Reviewer for Romance Designs
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
A tragic loss of innocence.Aug 28, 2005
By E. Bukowsky
"booklover10"
Tess Gerrtisen's "Vanish" has the same general theme as another engrossing novel that I read a few weeks ago--"Dead End," by Mariah Stewart. Both books deal with the loathsome practice of importing vulnerable young girls into the United States from countries such as Mexico and the former Soviet Union. These girls are beaten, drugged, imprisoned, and sold into prostitution.
"Vanish" features some familiar faces, including Boston Detective Jane Rizzoli, who is nine months pregnant, Gabriel Dean, Jane's devoted FBI agent husband, and medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. The book opens as a seventeen-year-old girl named Mila, from Belarus, tells the heartbreaking tale of how she and other like her were lured into the United States under false pretenses. Gerritsen then switches gears as a startled Maura Isles finds a corpse in her morgue who is still breathing. Next, a man and woman with a hidden agenda hold Jane Rizzoli hostage. A negotiator is brought in an attempt to bring the standoff to a peaceful conclusion. These seemingly unrelated plot lines gradually merge into one suspenseful and horrifying narrative about the abuse of power by influential, wealthy, and immoral individuals.
I have always loved Jane Rizzoli, and motherhood takes away none of her feistiness. Whether she is trying to control her pain during labor contractions, attempting to soothe her screaming baby, or confronting a vicious murderer, Jane is always thinking, planning, and looking for solutions. Gabriel, Jane's beleaguered husband, wishes his wife were just a little more laid back, but he cannot help admiring her honesty and depth of feeling. These two are an interesting and offbeat couple, and their scenes together are wonderful.
Gerritsen is in top form here. She incorporates many elements seamlessly--gentle humor, political skullduggery, terrifying and suspenseful confrontations, betrayal of trust, and a nail-biting conclusion. Using a spare style that avoids melodrama, the author's realistic dialogue, well-developed characterizations, and excellent pacing make "Vanish" a first-rate and thought-provoking thriller.
15 of 17 found the following review helpful:
 A solid tale of forensics, international crime, and dangerous confrontationsOct 06, 2005
By Joseph P. Menta, Jr.
A creepy, effective beginning involving women getting kidnapped by a white slavery ring is followed by a somewhat slower middle section where we see a medical mystery and a hostage crisis unfold. The reader, of course, wonders how said mystery and crisis ties into the opening scenes of the book, which were set several months earlier. This wondering keeps us reading, even though there are some tedious emotions on display: homicide detective Jane Rizzoli's FBI agent husband Gabriel endlessly displays realistic but extremely predictable (and ultimately tiresome) demonstrations of concern over the fate of his wife, who is one of the hostages. The last section of the book, set in some lonely woods after the hostage crisis has played out, really pick up, however; they're tension-packed, laced with danger, and keep one turning the pages. The closing pages also finally do something interesting with the Rizzoli/Gabriel dynamic, as our stalwart FBI agent lets us know that he, too, has had enough of his endless concern about his wife's dangerous job, and may want off of the merry-go-round! But final answers on this issue will have to wait for the next entry in this series, which this book will ultimately make you want to seek out.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Terrific high concept thrillerJan 29, 2006
By David Montgomery
"Book Critic"
"Vanish," the latest novel from bestselling author Tess Gerritsen, is a terrific "high concept" thriller -- a story built around an easy-to-grasp premise that grips an audience right away and won't let go.
It begins with the body of a beautiful woman in the Boston morgue. Just another accidental death -- until she suddenly comes back to life. At the hospital, she seizes a security guard's gun and takes several hostages. One of them is homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, who is due to give birth at any moment. It is up to Rizzoli's husband, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, to get his wife and unborn child out safely.
From that basic set-up, the author weaves a spellbinding tale of government conspiracy and white slavery, with themes as current as the morning newspaper. Some of it might be a little overblown, but there's no denying the power of Gerritsen's storytelling.
"Vanish" is a perfect example of the best-selling thriller: action-packed, entertaining and compulsively readable.
See all 131 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
