The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen

PECCAVI

The Latin phrase is scrawled in blood at the scene of the young woman's brutal murder: I HAVE SINNED. It's a chilling Christmas greeting for Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli, who swiftly link the victim to controversial celebrity psychiatrist Joyce O'Donnell—Jane's professional nemesis and member of a sinister cabal called the Mephisto Club.

On tony Beacon Hill, the club's acolytes devote themselves to the analysis of evil: can it be explained by science? Does it have a physical presence? Do demons walk the earth? Drawing on a wealth of dark historical data and mysterious religious symbolism, the Mephisto scholars aim to prove a startling theory: that Satan himself exists among us.

With the grisly appearance of a corpse on their doorstep, it's clear that someone—or something—is indeed prowling the city. Soon, the members of the club begin to fear the very subject of their study. Could this maniacal killer be one of their own—or have they inadvertently summoned an evil entity from the darkness?

Delving deep into the most baffling and unusual case of their careers, Maura and Jane embark on a terrifying journey to the very heart of evil, where they encounter a malevolent foe more dangerous than any they have ever faced...one whose work is only just beginning.

Long live libraries who get books early and quickly get them on the shelves.

That said, this is another great entry into the Rizzoli/Isles series. I love that along with the crime, we also get a lot of the personal lives of Jane and Maura. I think almost more than the previous books. Things happen that will have some definite impact on future books. And then Tess kills off a character who I was sure wouldn't die. Yeesh.

As much as I loved the book, I didn't quite like it as much as Vanish. I suppose that immediate threat to the main characters wasn't there. That's not to say it wasn't good, because it was, but just that I didn't have that rush that I did for the previous book.

There are actually a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the book. I don't know if they'll crop up in future books, or if we'll be left wondering just how big all this really is. It all makes you think. Which is good.

Now...how long until the next Tess Gerritsen book? I can't wait.