A review of Tess Gerritsen's "Rizzoli and Isles" series is long past due. But then again, as a habit, if I am not saying anything, it probably means I enjoyed the reading experience.
I haven't had the chance to read any of Gerritsen's standalone medical thrillers. Counting Ice Cold, I have read seven Rizzoli and Isles, save only the Keepsake and the Silent Girl. I stumbled upon Tess Gerritsen by accident when I felt ready to venture into some uncharted literary landscape other than the one created by Preston and Child, and randomly picked up the Mephisto Club -- the word "Mephisto" somehow caught my attention. It is the sixth novel in the Rizzoli and Isles saga, and I remember I was glued to the pages after only a few short chapters into the story. Since then, I began to devour every Rizzoli and Isles (in chronological order) with a hunger. Gerritsen has delivered every story with such a powerful punch, and I'm so glad every Gerritsen reading experience has turned out memorable and satisfying. "Riveting" would be the first word that comes to mind to describe her writing.
I was mildly surprised when I saw her picture and realized she is Chinese-American, and even more impressed to learn that she is a physician-turned-novelist, and a very successful one at that. All in all, an amazingly talented woman, whose novels are about two amazing female protagonists - homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles, the ME.
It's been sometime since I realized I'm easily drawn to forms of literary expression featuring heroines. Looking back, this is probably why I found the Ghost in the Shells stories so mesmerizing, like a mystifying force pulling me in. I doubt GITS would have the same effect on me without the central female figure Major Motoko Kusanagi -- a polar opposite sentient force positioned against the cold and metallic cyber universe. Likewise, I find the Rizzoli and Isles characters refreshing, so remarkably different from each other yet both deliciously stunning, almost goddess incarnates, though one would be like the She-Ifrit, the other one Shiva. (Ahh, FF8 coming to my rescue again)
It's not just about girls kicking ass which is of course a joy to read/watch. Stories with female protagonists are interesting because of the ever present factors of struggling against a list of adversities male protagonists usually take for granted: going against social expectations, and constantly having to prove oneself as better than her male counterparts, not to mention double the amount of butting heads and wading through prejudice-induced crap. But lying at the core of these is the presence of a deeply-ingrained strength unique only to women -- something hardcoded into our physiology and nature, us who are meant to be procreators.
It's interesting to note that most of the crimes in the Rizzoli and Isles stories have females as victims, some of these women fall prey to heinous acts unthinkable to many, and the ones that survive go through hell-like PTSD. I remember there were moments when I felt compelled to take breaks from my reading. The pictures painted, the messages conveyed were delivered with such accuracy and poignancy, that maybe female readers especially felt the shudder and shocking force. So, two strongly willed and "worth-her-salt" women out to save other helpless fellow females in the big-bad-male testosterone-pumped-world. The stage is set.
Of course, a good setup to a story can just as easily fall flat on its face if the writer can't write. But Gerritsen is one of the best thriller writers I've read so far. Gritty, powerful, disciplined and almost stone-cold at times. If I didn't know better, I'd readily believe this is the writing of a man. With good writing and good story, no wonder every one of her books takes off with positive reception.
Though there is just a small interesting observation, which of course doesn't detract from the books. The only character who seems a bit too "stereotypically perfect" is the FBI hunk Gabriel Dean (OK, even the name has that romantic ring to it) -- an annoyingly handsome rival to Jane who eventually (and predictably) becomes her too-good-to-be-true Mr.right. I suppose we all need a poster perfect male character inserted somewhere, if for nothing else, then as a safe haven, a well-deserved escape from a world riddled with gore, brutality and malice.
