The Surgeon (Spoilers)

[Lu]

A discussion thread for our Feb - March BoM. Spoilers are permitted.

[Lu]

Hosted by: Lu

[Lu]

My copied arrived from Raru! Yay!
I LOVE this tv series and can't wait to read the book :)

[Jax]

Not going to comment just yet. Will wait to see what pops up.

[Liezel]

I read the book and while I liked it, didn't think it was wow. I haven't watched the tv series, so I can't compare.

Rizzoli has quite a chip on her shoulder and even though I understand where she's coming from, it was annoying. Weirdly the parts I found most interesting was the emergency medical procedures being performed although I didn't think it was necessary for them to be described in such detail.

Random question, why is the series called Rizzoli & Isles (who or what is Isles)

[Lu]

My comments are going to be questions :)
I loved the book btw!

1. Have you read the rest of the series? If not, will you? - I will be grabbing the rest of the series asap!

2. To answer Liezel and ask a question - I was also very confused. It is called Rizzoli & Isles, and Isles is nowhere? Now in the show Isles is the medical examiner and Rizzoli and her are best friends. Why did they not even introduce her? Not even mention her? Did I miss something?

3. I also feel that Rizzoli wasn't the main character, even though she is supposed to be?

4. What did you think of the mystery? - I thought it was thrilling and kept those pages turning super fast.

5. Did you ever suspect the doctor friend? I thought it was him for a bit there. And for that matter did you think Catherine had anything more to do with it?

[Lu]

Oh and I wanted to add that I am addicted to the show. I watch each episode as it comes out!

[Jax]

I agree with everything you said Liezel.

I was a little disappointed by Rizzoli's character - but that's mostly because I have watched the TV series, and she wasn't like that - granted TV Rizzoli's brothers weren't such a bunch of asses either...I found I was quite annoyed by her (book)family.

I remember wondering at the time if there was some significance to the medical procedures. As you said - interesting, yet not entirely necessary.

If the TV series has stayed close to the book series story-line then Isles is/will be the medical examiner.

I got the feeling that this was more like a long prologue into the series - mostly introducing the characters, the world etc.

[Liezel]

1. I might, I'll probably read book 2 and then decide. I think Jax is right about this being a prologue of sorts

2&3. Glad I'm not the only one that was a bit confused by that. She probably makes her appearance later in the series after Rizzoli takes on a more prominent role.

It's also likely that her attitude will change going forward now that she's had success on her first big case and I'm guessing that the tv series is based on the 'changed character', guess I'll have to read the next book to find out if there is an improvement.

4. Liked it, especially since I could not figure out who 'the surgeon' was, she definitely kept the suspense going to the end.

5. yes, he made my very short list of suspects. Catherine didn't, I know Moore was biased, but I agreed with him.

[Jax]

Lu,

1. I'm not sure, but I'm definitely willing to give one or two more books to see if I get into them more.

2. I also kept waiting for Maura's arrival - but as I said in response to Liezel, if the TV series has stuck close to the story line then Isles wasn't around for this part - if you recall from the TV series, they had to bring Maura up to date on the case details in the first episode. So it appears that the events in "The Surgeon" occur before Jane & Maura meet. (This is me making HUGE assumptions.)

3. Definitely! And I was supremely irritated by that!
It didn't help that Moore & Catherine got on my nerves either. Guess it was part of what kept me turning pages - to get back to Rizzoli (and hoping to maybe see Maura)!

4. Again, having watched the series, I had an idea of where the story was headed, so I wasn't too surprised - and I figured out the partnership side of it before the characters did. I did not see the whole disguise thing coming though. I thought 'she' may have been another victim.

5. Oddly enough, I didn't suspect him. I think mainly because you get some of the story from the killer's perspective, and from the little that we got from the Doc, he didn't quite match.

Overall I quite enjoyed it - though to be honest, I think that watching the series helped improve my opinion of the book. It helped me ignore or push aside a number of small(ish) issues. :)

[Lu]

I'll grab a copy of the second book and come and come and chat here about it. And let you guys know how it goes :)

Although I still don't see a mention of Maura in the second books summary...

[Lu]

I hope this doesn't spoil anything, but I remembered something about The Surgeon in season 1. So I went to look at season 1 episode 1's summary:

"Det. Jane Rizzoli finds herself investigating a murder that mimics the crimes of Charles Hoyt, someone she had arrested several years before and who is now in prison. She also realizes that this is more than just a copycat killing and that it's likely Hoyt has trained someone to kill exactly he did. The case has particular significance for Rizzoli as she had been captured and tortured by Hoyt before he was finally arrested. When Hoyt breaks out of prison, Rizzoli moves in with her good friend Dr. Maura Isles, the medical examiner. Together they set out to find Hoyt and his apprentice."

This seems to match up with Book 2!