2018.07.23 Meeting Notes

We met this month to discuss I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen, the 12th book in the Rizzoli and Isles series. A lot of people had seen the TNT show starring Angie Harman and Sasha Alexander, but only a few of us had read any of the books. Jumping in at book 12 can sometimes offer up too many storyline spoilers, but we did it anyway—cause that’s just how we roll.
If you weren't there, you missed a fun game I called Name.....That......Serial.....Killer. It was in honor of Maura's Mom and my recent dinner event with an FBI profiler who teaches at Quantico. Each member was given 8 photos of actual serial killers and was tasked with naming them. I don't think anyone got more than 3 or 4, but the lucky winners went home with a copy of the December book. I have 2 more copies to give away so I will think up another fun game.
On the whole, everyone seemed to really like the Tess Gerritsen book. We did a little experiment with the scoring. I usually give my score toward the end and frequently I notice that other people’s reviews make me want to raise or lower my score. Someone might point out something that I found irritating but forgot, or something that I loved and forgot, causing me to want to adjust. At club this month, I had everyone write down their score before we started talking and then we went around the room to discuss the book. When it was time for the round robin and scoring, everyone said they weren’t tempted to change their score. Whether or not it was because they were conscious of the experiment remains to be seen. Next month’s experiment will contain electric probes, so no one wear any body lotion, it messes with the sensors.
In case you forgot what we read (like I did at the actual meeting): Two separate homicides, at different locations, with unrelated victims, have more in common than just being investigated by Boston PD detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. In both cases, the bodies bear startling wounds—yet the actual cause of death is unknown. Soon the investigation leads to a secretive young woman who survived a shocking abuse scandal, an independent horror film that may be rooted in reality, and a slew of martyred saints who died cruel and unusual deaths. And just when Rizzoli and Isles think they’ve cornered a devilish predator, the long-buried past rears its head—and threatens to engulf more innocent lives, including their own.
We scored the book as follows: two 10s, four 9s, nine 8s, one 8.5, six 7s, one 7.5, one 6.5, and Paula rated the first part a 4.1 (because of the eyeballs) and the last part a 9. You SEE, she couldn’t WATCH it happening, she just couldn’t LOOK past it and move on with the story even though we told her that it was over in the BLINK of an EYE. Stephanie on the other hand, well, the book had her at the eyeballs.
We couldn’t help but compare the book to the tv show, which a lot of us had seen and really liked. In fact, Sharon L. gave the book a 9 and not a 10 because she didn’t enjoy the relationship between Jane and Maura as much on the page as she did on screen.
We loved the saints and deaths related to them; that kind of weirdness is right up our alley. Jay got sucked into the story very quickly, Pat thought it was interesting, Denise liked the satanic thread, Terri liked how the story unfolded, Kim enjoyed connecting the characters to those from the show, Jose loved the twists and the eyeballs, and Deborah didn’t figure it all out right away because of all the suspects. It was a light, easy, and fast read overall.
A few things that lowered the scores: Tammy hated the audio book narrator and I agreed, Leslie struggled with the changing perspective from 1st to 3rd, Amy didn’t think it was one of the best Rizzoli & Isles installments, and Allie thought that Jane acted like a horrible detective at times.
We welcomed a new member, Leslie, but I forgot to get her email address so she isn’t copied here. We will be losing two members very soon: Paula and Deborah are moving to be closer to family and we will miss them both!
Thanks to Kim for bringing cupcakes. They were to die for and I loved the Oreo on top AND bottom.
On August 27 we will meet to discuss Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly. I will lead and Kim is bringing snacks again!
Thanks to Stephanie for solving the mystery of the movie title for me. I recommend The End of the Affair with Ralph Fiennes if you’re looking for a good drama.
Kerry