The Shape of Night: A Novel

Ava is writing a book about New England cooking, and she has found the perfect place to get away from everyone, especially the unspeakable thing that happened. Brodie’s Watch, a mansion in Maine, located right on the water, came available when the previous renter suddenly and inexplicably left.

Cooking each day and drowning her sorrows each evening, Ava spends her time preparing her book for publication and denying the images she’s seeing, the hands she’s feeling, the voice she’s hearing, because there’s no such thing as ghosts. However, a bit of research at the library and discussions with local residents show her that there may be something more sinister happening, something that feeds on violence and death.

This diversion from Gerritsen’s usual medical thrillers will surprise her avid fans; it is not her usual type of writing. It seems as though she couldn’t decide between competing plot lines, so she meshed them together… mostly successfully. Intimate scenes, both sensual and violent, pepper this lackluster ghost story/thriller mix that falls short of her usual tales. However, it is still Tess Gerritsen, so even though the characters and plot lines may not be memorable, it could suffice as a way to pass a lazy afternoon.