Book Info: Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Romantic SuspenseReading Level: AdultRecommended for: Fans of suspense/thrillers with romance Trigger Warnings: murder; drug use, abuse, and overdoseMy Thoughts: I had a huge problem with a big section of the story, in which Kat takes Adam all over the morgue, shuffles through the corpses, and through the paperwork. This is just not done, even with a Jane Doe. There are also a lot of ridiculous redundancies like “rose/stood to his/her feet” which was driving me crazy, since I was hearing them and couldn't skip over them with my eyes like I do when I'm reading. I was also annoyed by the romance-novel conventions of the main characters, such as them not being able to talk without arguing for no apparent reason, and the constant self-denigration of the heroine, putting herself down, refusing to accept that the hero could possibly truly want anything to do with her... Then she runs away and is angry that he doesn't follow? “Go away I need you.” GAH! These sorts of things make me absolutely crazy. To make matters worse, Ed is an annoying character; I mean, what kind of guy “grins” when he sees his ex-wife has almost had her throat slit? What a jerk! Then to aggravate things more, the women reading the book was all over the place with accents. I think this is supposed to be set in Massachusetts, but one guy sounded like he was from Chicago, another sounded like she was Minnesotan, and not a single one sounded like they were from Boston. Sometimes the accent would run over into the narrative instead of staying with the dialogue. This was all very distracting, which is a major reason I don't like to listen to audio books unless I know the reader and know they are good at it. But I did like Thomas (Adam's butler) a lot, even though he was a minor character. His unflappable demeanor and dry sarcasm was a breath of fresh air. I was surprised by the denouement; I had no idea where the whole thing was going, so it was nicely intricate and lots of great surprises. Not a bad book; I might have enjoyed it more if I'd read it myself. Would not recommend the audio book version.Disclosure: I received an Audio CD edition of this novel from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.Synopsis: THE FIRST BODY IS A MYSTERY. She's young. She's beautiful. her corpse, laid out in the office of Boston medical examiner Kat Novak, betrays no secrets—except for a matchbook clutched in one stiff hand, seven numbers scrawled inside. THE NEXT BODY IS A WARNING. When a second victim is discovered, Kat begins to fear that a serial killer is stalking the streets. The police are skeptical. The mayor won't listen. And Kat's chief suspect is one of the town's most prominent citizens. THE FINAL BODY . . . MIGHT BE HERS. With the death toll rising, Kat races to expose a deadly predator who is closer than she ever dreamt. And every move she makes could be her very last.
Girl Missing is the first Tess Gerritsen book I have ever read, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. To be completely honest, it was much better than I expected. In the introduction to the book, Tess Gerritsen refers to this book as a bridge book between romance and crime. Having not read any of her other books I cannot compare this but I am willing to say that I am happily going back for more, to see what else she has to offer.The story is highly addictive, so much so that I sat and read the book in one sitting. I kept telling myself to put it down and do something else for a while but each time I reached the end of a chapter I told myself ‘just one more’ until I reached the end of the book. Admittedly such a thing was aided by the fact that the book is short, but that does not remove the fact that it is a truly gripping story – if anything, it just makes it a nice quick read that you can complete in a couple of hours.Both the criminal aspects and the romantic aspects were addictive – each in their own way. There is much to find out in relation to the crime, with Kat wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery even though the police seem somewhat unwilling. The deeper she looks the more to the mystery there appears to be. The romantic aspect seems like a somewhat cliché topic but it was much better written than many I have seen and whilst I’m not the biggest of romance fans I was certainly engrossed and there were no groans of protest when something overdone came to light. It is your usual rich guy finds girl who grew up in the lower income part of town who has made something for herself, but with more to it than you will find in many other books.Now whilst I hate working out who is behind the crimes in book, and I did work this one out, I was not at all disappointed. Information, the links between events, is slowly given to you throughout the book. By the time you realise who is to blame the reveal is just around the corner meaning you are not working your way through another hundred pages of the characters being ten steps behind you. As it was not a case of working things out two chapters in, I can say that I’m glad to have found a crime book in which the answers were not screaming at me from the start.Overall, I loved it!
What do You think about Girl Missing (2009)?
I’m going to be honest. If it wasn’t for the fact I listened to this I don’t think I would have finished it. I have read, and for the most part enjoyed, Gerritsen’s Rizzoli and Isles series. I figured I would give some of her other books a try as I wait for the next Rizzoli and Isles book. This made me realize that I read the R&I series for the characters, and not necessarily the plot. This book had such an interesting description I added it to my digital wish list at the library. When I was ready to read it I was sadden to see it already on reserve. Now my desire to read this only grew while I waited to get the chance to check it out. Once I started listening to it I kept waiting for the moment the story would pick up. That moment never really came for me. There were interesting plot points from time to time, and attempts at twists and turns, but it all seemed anti climactic.
—Chris
Dankzij The House of Books en bol.com mocht ik een voorpublicatie lezen van het boek Meisje Vermist van Tess Gerritsen en dat heb ik met veel plezier gedaan.Tess Gerritsen is bekend geworden door haar verhalen over het duo Rizzoli & Isles, een detective-serie over een stugge politierechercheur en een arts. Deze verhalen zijn altijd goed voor een aantal uren leesplezier.Minder bekend is, denk ik, dat de auteur eerder spannende romantische boeken schreef.Dit boek, Meisje vermist, is zo’n boek. Tess Gerritsen schrijft aan het eind ook dat dit de voorloper is van haar succesvolle serie.Het verhaal begint als patholoog-anatoom Kat Novak voor een collega waarneemt. Een onbekende vrouw is dood gevonden in een niet al te beste wijk, met als enige aanwijzing een luciferdoosje met daarop een telefoonnummer. De doodsoorzaak lijkt een overdosis, maar de drug is onbekend.Als Kat binnen een paar dagen opnieuw een onbekende vrouw op haar snijtafel heeft, ontvouwt zich een spannende zoektocht naar de dader. Is het de eigenaar van het lab waar de drug wordt ontwikkeld, of heeft de vermiste stiefdochter van de eigenaar er iets mee te maken? Of zou het iets te maken hebben met de drugsmaffia? Tja, voor die antwoorden zou ik zeggen: lees dit boek en je weet het ;). Tess Gerritsen heeft met dit boek een actievol verhaal neergezet, met een sterke hoofdpersoon die zich door niets van de wijs laat brengen. Er komt veel aan bod: verkiezingen, corrupte agenten, romantiek, en nog veel meer. Het is een verhaal wat uitnodigt tot lezen. De schrijfstijl is heerlijk om te lezen, waardoor de uren voorbij vliegen.Je leeft mee met de verschillende personages en hun beweegredenen. De medische achtergrond van Tess Gerritsen maakt dat het verhaal geloofwaardig overkomt.Als je in dit verhaal Kat Novak vervangt door Maura Isles, zou het zo een eerste deel kunnen zijn uit de succesvolle Rizzoli & Isles serie. Iedereen die fan is van deze serie en degenen die houden van een spannend boek zonder veel opsmuk, gewoon een heerlijk moordmysterie, zouden dit boek moeten lezen. Ik weet zeker dat die personen er net zo van genieten als ik heb gedaan. Goed gedaan, Tess!
—Hilma
This is one of Tess Gerritsen's first medical mystery/thriller book. She considered it her transition from romance to medical mystery/thriller books. It was entertaining and since the narrator was my very favorite narrator Susan Ericksen I really enjoyed it. At the end of the audiobook was an interview with the author she discussed being the daughter of Chinese immigrants, going to medical school because her parents didn't think writing was a way to make a living and watching horror movies as a child with her mother who didn't speak English well but could understand horror movies.
—Holly Boyd
