Posted on December 13, 2009 by Catherine Orr

I don’t really read an awful lot of books by female authors. In fact, the only one I can think of that I’ve read is Harry Potter! I guess they don’t generally appeal to me. This one did though. I guess being a medical-related horror/thriller I was drawn to it. I bought a whole load of books at once, and this was the second one I picked to read (with the first being The Venus Conspiracy).

The Surgeon tells the story if a female doctor who was almost murdered by a serial killer a few years before. Murders start occurring again in her new location and have striking similarity to the murders of the serial killer before. The problem is though that the serial killer is dead, and that the woman in question is the one who killed him.

The problem I have with the book is that it’s a bit feministy. The doctor is known by the cops for being in some article about “powerful females” or somesuch, and the female cop in the story is bitter at her male colleagues who constantly taunt her. I don’t know how realistic this is, but I could have really done without the feminist message anyway.

Ignoring that, it was a pretty enthralling storyline. Far from perfect, but frightening and gruesome enough to keep me hooked. Like with most books, I thought the ending was a bit rubbish, but it seems there’s some kinda sequel, which I may check out one day. Worth reading if you’re into novels about serial killers. Not worth reading if you want great characters.