Tess Gerritsen: The Keepsake

The Keepsake: B+
Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles series, book 7


Y'all know how much I love Tess Gerritsen and her lovely writing. I got my grubby little hands on her latest novel, The Keepsake, and read the day away - finishing it in something like five hours.

And, of course, I liked it, though her descriptions of psychopaths and sociopaths really scare me. This might be a good place to state that if you're the owner of a weak heart, this is not a read for you.

A mummy is found in the basement of an eclectic museum in Boston. Dr. Maura Isles, semi-reclusive medical examiner, is present at the CT scan to determine more specifics of the mummy. When they discover that the mummified body dubbed Madam X is not 2,000 years old and instead is a modern-day murder victim, the Boston PD step in.

Tough woman and Boston PD homicide expert, Jane Rizzoli steps in with her team to investigate when they find yet another victim, a keepsake of another sort. It's discovered that the killer, the "Archaeology Killer," is obsessed with preserving its victim. It's when a third body is found, along with the disappearance of a beautiful but suspicious Egyptologist that the situation intensifies.


I was engrossed in my novel - the dark scene where Rizzoli is investigating when my sister knocked on my door. My heart tripped. "I'm reading a murder thriller... leave me alone!" (LOL)

I'm a huge fan of archaeology (I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was younger.) The digging, the discovery... Egypt with its pyramids and hieroglyphics - awesome! (Plus, the whole sexy-swagger-of-Indiana-Jones didn't hurt.) It's no surprise that I was entranced by The Keepsake from the very beginning.

...and now, I really want to be an archaeologist! (Similar to how I wanted to be a doctor when I was watching Grey's Anatomy. Me persuaded by media? No way Jose!)

The story moves fast, the characters are complex, and the thrill is disturbing, but enticing.

The further development of Daniel and Maura's illicit and forbidden relationship had me gripping the book even tighter. Dang it, I want to know what happens! Dang it! Dang it! And, I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more interaction between Gabriel and Jane, but that's just me being selfish.

The ending was a little predictable, but good, regardless. If you can stand the blood and gore - and you are thirsting for some good 'ol action, read this one. It's fun, I tell ya!

Lisa Kleypas's SMOOTH TALKING STRANGER excerpt

From the wonderful ladies at the Judith McNaught Bulletin Board, here is an excerpt of Lisa Kleypas's new book, Smooth Talking Stranger, that was printed in the Romantic Times Magazine.

Only twenty-seven more days! Hooray!!


Excerpt

Jack Travis kissed me until the sensations flowed in directions I couldn't go, spilling and sliding darkly. As I felt a desperate ache cambering low in my body, I finally understood that if I slept with this man, he would take everything. All the defenses I had built would be destroyed.

Shaking, I pushed at him and managed to turn my head long enough to gasp, "I can't. No. That's enough, Jack."

He stopped at once. But he kept me against him, his chest moving hard and fast.

I couldn't look at him. My voice was hoarse as I said, "That shouldn't have happened."

"I've wanted this since the first second I saw you. His arms tightened, and he bent over me until his mouth was close to my ear. Gently he whispered, "You did too."

"I didn't. I don't."

"You need some fun, Ella."

I let out an incredulous laugh. "Believe me, I don't need fun, I need--" I broke off with a gasp as he pressed my hips closer to his. The feel of him was more than my dazzled senses could handle. To my mortification, I hitched up against him before I could stop myself, heat and instinct winning out over sanity.

Feeling the reflexive response, Jack smiled against my scarlet cheek. "You should take me on. I'd be good for you."

"You are so full of yourself . . . and you would not be good for me, with your steaks and power tools and your attention-deficit libido, and . . . I'll bet you're a card-carrying member of the NRA. Admit it, you are." I couldn't seem to shut up. I was talking too much, breathing too fast, jittering like a wind-up toy that had been wound to the limits of its mechanism.

Jack nuzzled into a sensitive place behind my ear. "Why does that matter?"

"Is that a yes? It must be. God. It matters because--stop that. It matters because I would only go to bed with a man who respected me and my views. My--" I broke off with an inarticulate sound as he nibbled lightly at my skin.

"I respect you," he murmured. "And your views. I think of you as an equal. I respect your brains, and all those big words you like to use. But I also want to rip your clothes off and have sex with you until you scream and cry and see God." His mouth dragged gently along my throat. I jerked helplessly, muscles jolting with pleasure, and his hands gripped my hips, keeping me in place. "I'm gonna show you a good time, Ella. Starting with some take-no-prisoners sex. The kind when you can't remember your own name after."

"I've been with Dane for four years," I managed to say. "He understands me in a way you don't."

"I can learn you."

It seemed as if something inside me had started to unravel, weakness spreading, all my body tightening against it. I closed my eyes and bit back a whimper. "When you offered me the apartment," I said weakly, "you implied you had no ulterior motives. I don't appreciate the position this puts me in, Jack."

His head lifted, and his lips brushed the tip of my nose. "What position would you prefer?"

It's gonna be good... I can feel it in my bones. :)