Tess Gerritsen writes consistently good books. However, for me, the kind of good they are varies depending upon the era they come from. Never Say Die falls into her romantic thriller category, which is my least favourite category for her work. Don’t get me wrong, the books that fall into this category are still great, but there is far too much of a romantic focus (as the category title would suggest).
If you’re a fan of all of Geritsen’s work – by that I mean you have read her early nineties stuff and not just her Rizzoli and Isles books – then by all means give Never Say Die a try. I’m sure you’ll adore it, in its own way, as I did. However, if you have only read her crime thrillers, be aware that you get something quite different in these books.
There is the consistent mystery across all of her books. You are always trying to uncover some hidden facts. When it comes to her romance thrillers, though, you have a predetermined ending in a number of ways. You get the lead male. You get the lead female. You know they’re going to get a happily ever after – together. It ruins quite a few aspects of the story for me, with attention being focused upon forming a relationship between the two. Why does this relationship need to be formed? Because we have a consistent main character initial hatred. Alone the thriller aspects are wonderful, if not short, but with the romantic aspect you have a tale of old that has been done many times before.
This time the tale of old takes place in the shadow of war. Our lead female character is on a search to find the answers regarding her missing-in-action father. Once half the world away, she is thrown into a mystery with many layers – a mystery where everyone seems to be using her to find her father. Does this mean she is truly searching for a living man, or are people mistaken about who he is? Whatever the case, she is not the only one searching for him. With enemies at her heels, and her life in danger, she turns to the only man that doesn’t have a gun to her head (figurate speaking, of course), although this man seems to have mysterious motives of his own.
It’s a storyline that already exists in the genre, but with Gerritsen you’re kept on the edge of your seat throughout as you guess all that is going on. Whilst some of it is predictable, it’s certainly an interesting read.
Overall, we still have a four star book. It is a weaker four stars than her Rizzoli and Isles books – the Rizzoli and Isles books are four stars working towards five, for me, whereas this is a four stars with the occasional slip into three star territory (mainly through my inability to deal with too much romance at once) – but it is still a four star read.
Certainly give it a read if you enjoy Gerritsen or romantic thriller.