Playing with Fire: A Novel
By: Tess Gerritsen
Rating: 4 of 5
This is the first book I have read by Tess Gerritsen. I have never seen the television show which is based on her long series of books about Rizzoli and Isles, so I had no idea what to expect in this book. I originally thought it was a mystery thriller but in reading the book, I would classify it as fiction/literature.
The story is told in two parts, one which is set in the near past in the United States and then Italy and one that is set in Italy in the time preceding and then part way through World War II.
In the present story, a violinist, Julia Ansdell comes across an unknown waltz by an unknown composer. She is drawn to it but when she plays it, it seems to have a horrible effect upon her three year old daughter. Julia is concerned that her daughter may be showing signs of being a sociopath – something that Julia is familiar with from tales of her own mother’s horrible past.
In the past, we meet Lorenzo Todesco, who is a young and wonderful Jewish violinist with a promising future – until Italy joins forces with the Nazis and turns against their Jewish population. The story tells us Lorenzo’s struggles during the war and how his music suffered from the things he was forced to do.
The two stories merge into one fairly close to the end. While I appreciate both stories, I really felt that this book should have been longer. It took me a couple of hours to read and I was captivated by the story during that time. After I finished, I had questions left unanswered about characters and scenarios that were brought forward in the story. I feel that with more fleshing out of the characters and more information about the history and story lines, the book could have been excellent instead of merely very good.
I don’t know if Ms. Gerritsen is known for shorter books or not. I will certainly be happy to read more by her in the future but I hope that this book being somewhat abbreviated is the exception and not the rule with her novels.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the publisher.
This is the first book I have read by Tess Gerritsen. I have never seen the television show which is based on her long series of books about Rizzoli and Isles, so I had no idea what to expect in this book. I originally thought it was a mystery thriller but in reading the book, I would classify it as fiction/literature.