Title: Freaks.
Author: Tess Gerritsen.
Page Count/Book Type: Kindle. 20-30 pages?
In this free Rizzoli & Isles short story from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen, author of The Silent Girl, a bizarre death comes with a supernatural twist. Homicide cop Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles have seen their fair share of mortal crimes, but the death of Kimberly Rayner may qualify as inhuman in more ways than one. When corpse of the emaciated seventeen-year-old girl is discovered next to an empty coffin in an abandoned church, mysterious bruises around the throat suggest foul play. Caught fleeing the scene is the victim’s closest friend, Lucas Henry, an equally skeletal, pale teenager who claims he’s guilty only of having a taste for blood-a craving he shared with Kimberly. But the victim’s distraught father doesn’t believe in vampires, only vengeance. And now, another life may be at risk unless Rizzoli and Isles can uncover the astonishing truth.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I am fairly biased when it comes to Tess Gerritsen. One of my favourite authors, I know without much shadow of doubt that I will enjoy one of her Rizzoli & Isles books and read it quickly and with fervour. With the exception of a couple that fell a little flatter on me than others, her stories captivate me easily and the twists almost always blind-side me. That is in large part due to Rizzoli and Isles themselves and for me that’s what I enjoyed about this short story. I know it’s a bit of a campy departure from her usual fair, there’s no chilling human killer who gets under your skin as you read, no disturbing take on human nature or the psyche of a killer, there’s an element of supernatural in that the cops on the case get swept up in the symbology of the scene they’re working and the strange counter culture of human-vampirism that Gerritsen touches on but Rizzoli and Isles remain strong.
Here you get their personal and working relationship boiled down to its essentials for new readers; Jane and Maura trade a few witticisms, a few side ways looks at the weirdness of the case (and trust me that have had some weird cases before) and they even share some Chinese food together while mulling over the case, much to Jane’s disgust (really, Maura, discussing body parts over dinner? Gross). Barry Frost makes a cameo, as usual shouting after Jane when she tears off after a perp, and it’s these things that I know and love about the characters, their behaviours, that made this an entertaining read for me. Perhaps not worth it if you don’t know the series, but a great little morsel to tide us over until this Autumn while we, the fans, wait for the next full length novel.
I haven’t seen the TNT show based on the series and I’m not much interested in it, honestly, but whether or not this is meant as a fun little introduction for watchers of that show into the world of the books or not, I enjoyed it, I read it in bed, and I’m glad I did.
