Book Review: The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

In Boston there's a killer on the loose. A killer who targets lone women, who breaks into their apartments and performs terrifying ritualistic acts of torture on his victims before finishing them off. His surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician- a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them.
But as homicide detective Thomas Moore and his partner Jane Rizzoli begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful medic with a mysterious past. Two years ago she was subjected to a horrifying rape and attempted murder but shot her attacker dead. Now she is being targeted by this new killer who appears to know all about her past, her work at the Pilgrim Medical Center and where she lives. The man she believes she killed seems to be stalking her once again, and this time he knows exactly where to find her...

The Surgeon is the first in the Rizzoli and Isles series and the first book by Tess Gerritsen that I have read, I thought it was brilliant.
I have been searching for a good thriller writer for ages, I wanted something similar to Sophie Hannah and I think I may have found it.
Thomas Moore and Jane Rizzoli are working on the case where the murderer tortures his victims while they are still awake  and then finishes them off with a single slit to the throat. They can see that the murderer is clean, tidy and methodical and almost certainly has some kind of medical knowledge.

Catherine Cordell becomes an integral part of their case. She escaped from a similar attack two years ago and killed her attacker so she is astounded to learn that someone else is torturing and killing women in the same way. It becomes personal as the killer communicates with her and it becomes clear that she is next on the list.
Tess Gerritsen has created very clear-cut , realistic characters. I really took to Thomas Moore, he is not the cliched detective that you find in many books of this genre which was extremely refreshing. The case takes on a whole new aspect when Thomas accepts that he has developed feelings for Catherine and she for him, I really enjoyed this part of the book.
We do not find out a massive amount about Jane Rizzoli in this book as the focus is more on Thomas but I do hope we learn more about her character as the series develops.
Tess Gerritsen writes some particularly chilling scenes in this book and the pace is just right, it only took me just over a day to read it as I was eager to find out what happened.
If you are after a good, page-turning thriller then I would very much recommend this book, it is a series I know I shall greatly enjoy.