The Apprentice

The wicked antagonist from the terrifying book The Surgeon, along with its best-selling author, is back. Despite being imprisoned, Warren Hoyt continues to stalk a defenseless community and seems to be leaving his terrible legacy to an all too dedicated, all too lethal pupil.

THE PRECEPTOR

The summertime in Boston is scorching hot. A slew of horrifying incidents in which affluent men are forced to watch as their spouses are beaten only serve to compound the city's problems. A cruel request that results in kidnapping and fatalities.

The pattern points to one individual: Warren Hoyt, a serial murderer who was just taken off the city's streets. Officers can only presume that an acolyte is loose, a crazed individual who bases his assaults on the deranged medical methods of the insane person he really admires. That's Detective Jane Rizzoli's opinion, anyhow. Once again compelled to face the murderer who left her both physically and metaphorically damaged, she is determined to put a stop to Hoyt's terrible influence, even if it means facing additional opposition from her all-male homicide team.

However, Rizzoli is not depending on the abrupt attention from the US administration. Or when he meets Special Agent Gabriel Dean, who has access to more information than he can admit. Above all, she doesn't anticipate being a target herself when Hoyt unexpectedly breaks free and joins his enigmatic blood brother in a murderous revenge.

The Apprentice is Tess Gerritsen at its most brilliant, full of well developed characters and the hallmark medical and police procedural elements. This thriller by a master who might impart some knowledge to other writers is set in a breathtaking universe where evil is simple to understand and difficult to eradicate.

taken from the hardback copy.