A review by randi_jo
The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

Some things age badly, and this was one of them.
The murder plot in itself was interesting (the calling card, motives, etc.), but I guess the world of 2024 really is a lot different in terms of progression, not only for women, but for victims of sexual assault and police brutality, than it was in 2001.

My 3 main complaints with this one are:
  1. The heavy push on a gender binary; men are this way and women are that. (steak is a masculine food?)Heaven forbid you're neither of those, but okay, okay this was 2001. But this led to the underlying tone that
    all sexual victims are women and that their assailants are all men
    . This really rubbed me the wrong way.
  2.  Police brutality was . . . prevalent? And treated as "normal". A guy literally stomps on the neck of a black man during a house arrest (the man is not even the one they're out to arrest) and it's seen as unnecessary force, but that's just how that detective is. What. Also
    Rizzoli literally shoots a man 3 times in anger, kills him, and then is upset that her partner doesn't lie for her to say that he had a weapon, then has the gall to be mad that her only reprimand is to be put on DESK DUTY. No I don't care that the man was a predator, that doesn't justify shit.
  3. Every character is incredibly unlikable, especially Rizzoli and Moore. And no, I don't think literally doing her job was any kind of redemption for Rizzoli.