Vanish

July 25, 2005
Retired internist Gerritsen serves up another prescription for bad dreams in her latest thriller to feature Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli (Body Double).
The catalogue of terrors this time out includes sexual slavery, hostage-taking and torture; there are also government bad guys, post–9/11 red herrings and a heart-tugging cadre of young Eastern European women known only by their first names. Fierce Olena, thought dead, wakes up in Maura's morgue, recovers in the hospital, and—with the help of a mysterious colleague—takes a group of hostages, including Jane, who's about to give birth. Jane's husband, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, tries to reason with the hostage-takers, and learns that Olena wants publicity to bring down the Washington bigwig responsible for sexually enslaving, then murdering, her friends. Maura feels a frisson for Tribune
columnist Peter Lukas, and he seems to be the guy to tell the story, but readers will quickly apprehend that he's playing both sides. As usual, the medical details are vivid and read authentic, while the action is just this side of super-hero comic exaggeration. Does it work? The book clubs say yes: Doubleday, Literary Guild, and Mystery Guild have all made it a main selection; the bestseller lists can't be far behind.

True to Gerritsen's reputation as a writer of complex mysteries, this story does not disappoint. The listener is treated to international crime, local and federal police action, forensic investigation, and even a subplot involving a newborn baby and budding maternal instinct. Anne Heche guides the listener along the winding path as each character does his/her job in trying to get to the bottom of the conspiracy. The pace of the story is fast and clipped, convincing the reader of the urgency to solve the crime quickly, before more lives are lost. Heche's film experience portraying a variety of characters is evident in her performance. S.K.P. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine