Count to Ten

Title: Count to Ten

Author: Karen Rose

Genre: Crime, thriller, mystery

Rating: A

Blurb: Abandoned to the foster-care system, two young brothers end up in an unimaginable hell. When one dies, the other vows revenge on those responsible.

A fire investigator

Chicago Fire Department veteran Reed Solliday is sickened. An autopsy has revealed that a young girl found in the wreckage of an explosion was raped and murdered before fire ripped through the house. Solliday must now join forces with the police if they are to find the killer...

A detective

Determined to bury herself in work after her partner is shot, Mia Mitchell is immediately confronted by her most challenging case - an arsonist who has escalated from fire to rape and murder.

What will happen when their lives collide?

Count to ten and watch their worlds explode.

Opinion: A really excellent read, and only the tiniest bit hampered by the predictable romance line of the novel (the two characters always get together in the end *sigh*). Still, the thrill bit was every bit as absorbing and I was up late into the night trying) and failing - through no fault of the novel) to finish the book. The morning after, I grabbed the book as soon as humanely possible, continued reading, and was spooked for the rest of the day, having been heightened to a new feeling of paranoia. ;)

Character development was OK in the novel - I liked the way they interacted although really, don't you think the tough-female-cop-with-a-bad-past has been overused? Still, I'm the typical gal who enjoys such stories. D:

The murderer/arsonist cuts a swath of dead bodies through the novel, and sometimes you can't help but go, "No, don't kill him/her!" but the wish never comes true. Well, almost never. You can't help but feel sorry for the people he kills because for me, death is a very personal issue (although I have no problem writing the deaths of my own characters D:). Karen Rose is my new author addiction and I highly recommend that you hunt down this book and have a read.

~rage-chan

The Surgeon

Title: The Surgeon

Author: Tess Gerritsen

Genre: Thriller, crime

Summary: (Blurb) It is a hot sultry summer in downtown Boston, and homicide detective Thomas Moore is called back from holiday to be told there's a serial killer at large. This isn't just any serial killer. This is a predator who targets lone women, breaks into their apartments in the early hours of the morning, and commits bizarre ritualistic acts of torture on his victims before finishing them off. The killer's surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician working alongside unsuspecting doctors and nurses at the Pilgrim Medical Center; a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them in the most terrifying of ways.

As soon as Moore and his partner, Detective Jane Rizzoli, begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these Boston killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful surgeon with a mysterious past. Two years ago in another city she was the subject of a horrifying rape and attempted murder, but shot her aggressor dead.

Now she is being targeted by this new killer, who seems to know all about her past, her work at the Medical Center, what car she drives, and, crucially, where she lives. The man she believes she killed now seems to be stalking her once again, only this time he knows exactly where to find her, and nowhere – whether it is the ER, the squad room, the city morgue or even her apartment – is safe...

(Doesn't the summary sound much more neater and organized than mine??)

Opinion: This is honestly much more riveting and interesting than standard novels from writers like Iris Johansen and Julie Garwood (although I enjoy all authors as well). This novel has an element of darkness and evil that Johansen and Garwood somehow failed to implement. Ah well.

When I was reading about the killer slashing the women's throats and things, I could distinctly feel my own throat aching, that was how descriptive it was. I kept shuddering at the feel of blade scraping against bones, and I tell you, my imagination was in overdrive. It isn't a thrill-and romance sort of novel, but more thrill-and-murder kind, which is awesome for reading on a rainy and stormy day. ^_^

It's so brilliantly written that I absolutely crave for more!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.