A Tantalizing Thriller

Tess Gerritsen once again brings together Boston PD Detective Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner Maura Isles in this taut crime thriller full of delicious twists and edge-of-your-seat suspense. There is less emphasis on the details of forensic pathology than in other books in this series, with Maura Isles playing a surprisingly different role in the unfolding of the enigma of three twice-orphaned children and the deaths of their parents and guardians. The plot takes one unexpected turn after another in a wild ride through realms ranging from metaphysics to astrophysics and just about everything in between.

Great narration especially in capturing Rizzoli's gritty Boston cop's tone and accent. I had a hard time breaking away from this book and found every conceivable excuse to get back to it as soon as possible!

25 people found this helpful

CSI High School

This reminded me a lot of Heinlein's books for young people. It had really smart kids who handled tough situations and came out on top. There are some gory scenes and scary situations, but after reading Hunger Games by Collins and Rot & Ruin by Maberry, this is exceptable.

I had never heard of the Mephisto Society before, but now I want to find out more and read The Mephisto Club by Gerritsen. Gerritsen is one of my favorite writers this being my 14th book by her.

Gerritsen's writing is often a little simplistic and is especially so in this one. What I usual like is the subject matter she writes about. Her writing is rarely conventional and is usually edgy. She does not go as far as Koontz or King into the weird, but keeps it on the edge of believable.

This is a really good story with a good mystery and some great characters. The last half hour is full of twists within twists. I was a little disappointed in the ending in that it was too many twists in too short a time and the story lost some of it's intrigity. Up until the ending it was a very compelling story. The book as a whole is a five star read and is in my top five of Gerritsen books.

I was not crazy about the narrator, she sounded like she was reading a children's book. She way over did the Boston accent, even putting it in places it did not belong. All of the adult males souned like Yogi Bear. I was waiting for them to ask for Boo Boo and for a Pic-A-Nic Basket.

17 people found this helpful

My inner voice said..' Are you sure you want to?'

Right off, I really didn't care for this book. I read some books a long time ago that involved Rizzoli and Isles, Body Double and The Bone Garden and thought they were good. I spent alot of time on this one saying to myself..Do I really have to listen to the series to understand what is happening now? Too many references to past books and story lines, I think to really like this book you had to have read them all and formed a strong feeling for these 2.
That aside, this story really was uninteresting and more about the lives of the 2 women and not really a good mystery. Found the main idea, although starting off good, falling flat a couple of chapters later and staying that way. I didn't really care about these kids at all. Think the author didn't either.
Tanya Eby wasn't all that bad. I have never listened to her before. I don't think she has a lisp like one reviewer said, it just may be the way it gets annunciated and the recording settings. Either way, it wasn't irritating like stated ( really rather hear that than swallowing or every movement of the mouth). I also didn't have a problem with her accents. Sounded like they came from the east USA for the most part not faltering much at all. I didn't like tho, some of the male voices, i.e. Julians. A female doing a mans voice is hard. A female doing a mans voice and trying to make it sound smart is another. Didn't care for that much. She wasn't the most interesting reader but think everyone on audible has their favorites.
So if you have listened to the whole Rizzoli- Isles series, go for it. You probably will enjoy getting to hear what the ladies have been up to. I personally didn't care, wasn't wanting to form a relationship, I just wanted a good book. I don't think this was it. I am going to try and stop ignoring that little voice.

15 people found this helpful

a narrator with a lisp? really?

Where does Last to Die rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

great story - Tess put out another great book - i loved it!

What didn’t you like about Tanya Eby’s performance?

the narrator has a lisp and I found it EXTREMELY distracting....i had to stop listening to the audiobook and go out and buy the hardback.

Any additional comments?

Whoever keeps hiring narrators with lisps needs to be fired.

9 people found this helpful

Disapointing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I love Tess Gerritsen's series but this one was just not believable - and boring - and relied too much on earlier book (which I had read, but others may not have).

Was Last to Die worth the listening time?

Sad to say, not really. And I love her books!! I guess I would recommend buying it, but not having high expectations.

7 people found this helpful

Tess Gerritsen writes another Masterpiece!!!

The book is excellent, and the narration is just as good. Tanya Eby narrates in such a way that you would think that there was more than one person narrating the story. This book is a must read, even to be re-read again and again. I highly recommend this book!

6 people found this helpful

Loved the story, but narrator was not good.

The story is a good Rizzoli and Isles mystery. But the narrator sounded the same for everyone and would occasionally slip in a Boston accent. It was like "Oh yes Jane is from Boston I need to talk with an accent".

6 people found this helpful

NOT FOR ME! AWFUL & IMPLAUSIBLE

Would you try another book from Tess Gerritsen and/or Tanya Eby?

Not in this lifetime! I find it very difficult to believe that there are actually NINE books which proceed this one!!! One would hope that an author would get better with each successive book in a series. I'd be scared to see what Book 1 is like.

Would you ever listen to anything by Tess Gerritsen again?

Only if she just READS the book.

What didn’t you like about Tanya Eby’s performance?

She cannot do male voices or different dialects except the already grating Boston accent.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Last to Die?

Probably everything from Page 1 until THE END!!!

Any additional comments?

This book might be okay for some listeners but I've read much, much better books in this genre. Everything part of this story is just stupid, improbable, and implausible. Plus the tired old cop duo is just dated. Once again, it's the female homicide detective partnered with - pick one: a) another homicide detective; b) forensic psychologist; c) medical examiner; or d) criminal profiler; or, e) investigative journalist - all female. Then these women do dumb stuff like in D-movies where they see a door that says "CAUTION! Do Not Open! A Killer With An AK-47 Is Hiding Inside!" but they open the door anyway. Or they see blood dripping from every window in a darkened house and instead of running the other way, they slop through the blood, open the front door, and trill all cheerily "Helloooo! Is there anybody there?" STUPID!! In this book, the listener can easily recognize clues and figure out what they mean while these alleged professionals just overlook them. The ending was so ridiculous that I wanted to kick myself for hanging in until the end, hoping against hope that this author would pull this mess together. I'm sure there are people who like what I can only describe as "criminal Dr. Seuss" (this story is sooooo juvenile that "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" made a better crime mystery! In fact, the Grinch makes this killer look like Santa Claus!) There are some people who like a baked potato with nothing on it. Personally, I'm a "fully loaded" kinda gal - gimme me crime mysteries with salt, peppermint butter, chives, bacon bits, shredded cheddar, and a big ole dollop of sour cream on top!!! A totally bland book or baked potato is just not for me!

5 people found this helpful

A Terrific Listen

What made the experience of listening to Last to Die the most enjoyable?

I especially enjoyed the young adult characters. They really made the book for me.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

There was a lot of mystery about why everything was happening; and you didn't find out until right at the end what was driving the story.

Any additional comments?

This was the first Rizzoli and Isles book I have listened to. I've seen the TV series though. I'm going to continue to listen to these because the characters, the plotting and the writing is so good.

5 people found this helpful

Very enjoyable

This book is pure entertainment, from Ms. Gerritsen's weaving of the tale to Ms. Eby's wonderful performance. There were so many intriguing plot twists that I was guessing until the end. In all, lots of fun and recommended (just make sure you have time to listen to it in almost one sitting)!

4 people found this helpful