Vanish: (Rizzoli & Isles series 5)

One of these is not like the others -- motherhood adds an interesting contrast to the usual bedfellows of politics, corruption, and sex. This book features nice pacing, suspense, and a main character who is sure of herself as a detective but not as a new mother. She is brave yet vulnerable. Another excellent R&I book!

I was a little disappointed that there was not enough twists in this case. I am surprised by Tess Gerritsen not having enough twists in this case. I always like the way she twists and turns her series in Rizzoli & Isles.

I am having a really good time reading this series. Although one character seems to be in trouble all the time, I can get past it because the story pulls you in so quickly and you really can't see who done it.

Great book! Though I realized at page 136 who the unknown characters were I was still delighted by the story. There were 3 spelling errors in the text that the editor should have noticed, but overall great read!

It is a little confusing at first because you don't understand the beginning until way into the book.....but I really liked it. It kept me interested the whole time and I like the TV show Rizzoli and Isles. I read another after this one and enjoyed it too.

A good story. Enjoyed the juxtaposition of telling perspectives. As a male reader, I keep on feeling like I am in the back of the Gerritsen bus. Most of the male characters are dirtbags and only men who are worthy of Rizzoli and Isles are decent characters.. Did I also see a political anti-Bush storyline in this novel or is it just my overactive imagination? The ending was just OK.

I am so pleased that someone tackled the topic of human trafficking. Such a sad thing but you really want those that are involved to "get it". I love how many times two stories that seem to have nothing to do with each other and then they collide. Love it!

This story was captivating, couldn't stop reading, it felt like it could happen in real life and today I just read about a DC policeman involved with young girls in prostitution, so interesting. Even though the book was graphic, it made me wonder what I would do in similar situations, I think it opened my eyes to what evil can be in the world where you would least expect it. I would recommend it to adult female friends. Thank you.

The subject, forced prostitution, kidnapping & murder are very real and should be addressed.
The author is a very good story teller. I have enjoyed many of her books and hope to read the rest of them.
Her mysteries keep you guessing and very interested so that you can't just put down the book until you have read more.

Once again Tess Gerritsen has written an amazing novel. I had a very hard time putting it down to go to work or sleep. The suspense, the twists and turns... I didn't see it coming. I laughed, cried, was scared and mad as I went farther into the book. I can't wait to start her next book.

I really liked the way Gerritsen begins the story in one location and time and works those details into another time and place. The details of the story kept my attention from beginning to end. One of her best.

Tess Gerritsen makes me tired. I get so involved in her books that I just can't seem to stop reading. I end up with my eyes seeming to drag on the carpet the next day because I couldn't put her book down!

I really liked the way Gerritsen begins the story in one location and time and works those details into another time and place. The details of the story kept my attention from beginning to end. One of her best.

Tess Gerritsen makes me tired. I get so involved in her books that I just can't seem to stop reading. I end up with my eyes seeming to drag on the carpet the next day because I couldn't put her book down!

"Do you know what the worst export our country ever sent to Russia was? ... That movie, PRETTY WOMAN. You know, the one with Julia Roberts. The prostitute as Cinderella. In Russia, they love that movie. The girls see it and think: If I go to America, I'll meet Richard Gere. He'll marry me. I'll be rich, and I'll live happily ever after."

VANISH, by Tess Gerritsen, has as its underlying theme the forced enslavement of East European girls as prostitutes brought into the U.S. illegally.

The book grips at the start. A young woman, apparently dead, is fished from the cold waters of a Boston marina. But, after she's discovered to be alive in the morgue refrigerator, she's rushed to a local hospital, where she subsequently recovers sufficiently to snatch a security guard's gun, kill the guard, and take a roomful of hostages including a pregnant police homicide detective, who's on the verge of giving birth. And that's only half of the plot.

Although there's no clever plot twist to make the reader suddenly sit up, the story's action moves along spryly enough to a tense conclusion. The books biggest flaw, in my opinion, is a surfeit of protagonists: Dr. Maura Isles, the dedicated pathologist who discovers life still in the floater, her good friend Detective Jane Rizzoli, who manages over 336 pages to be held hostage, deliver a baby daughter, and go on, newborn literally in her arms, to solve a multiple homicide stemming from the sexual peccadillos of a high level government bureaucrat, and Jane's husband Gabriel, an FBI agent on paternity leave that manages to be not only Mr. Wonderful but also a Hardy Boy to Jane's Nancy Drew. If I sound slightly mocking, I am; it's a bit much. Perhaps the most intriguing character is Mila, a young Russian girl on the run who holds the key to the whole sordid mess, but who's given relatively little text time.

VANISH is a quick read suitable for a five-hour airline flight. I can't award more than three stars because of the cookie-cutter characters and the author's failure to resist the temptation to throw in Jane's newborn Regina as a handy prop, the latter perhaps making VANISH too much of a chick-thriller for my liking. While the storyline is reasonably entertaining, it's most definitely not lean and mean. With so many other more deserving books on my reading list, I don't think I'll be cracking any more Tess Gerritsen thrillers anytime soon, if ever.