I adore Tess Gerritsen’s work, and I’m trying my hardest to get my hand onto everything she has written. I accept, however, that not everyone shares this view. I’ll gladly admit that her more recent work is her best, but her older stuff is also fun. However, when it comes to her older stuff you need to enter with an open mind. There is no question that her recent work falls into the mystery and thriller category, whereas her older work falls into the romance. Romantic suspense, even. Due to this, I know a lot of her more recent fans do not enjoy her older work.
Now I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest lover of romance, but I am coming to enjoy it more and more. With Tess Gerritsen, I find myself enjoying her older books – those that fall more into the romantic category than anything else – a lot more than I ever expected. Due to this, I find myself easily giving four stars. When compared to her more recent work – such as her Rizzoli and Isles – they’re a different kind of four stars. Her mystery stories are four stars because of the countless layers she adds, whereas her romantic stories are four stars because they’re easy and enjoyable. The plot is straightforward, the story telling to the point, and they’re generally easy reads.
For me, Whistleblower is a very weak four stars. It was enough to keep me entertained throughout the story, but it was nowhere near as thrilling as some of her other early books. If nothing else, it does work to show how far she has come since her early books.
With Whistleblower, we have the usual romance you would expect of an early Tess Gerritsen book. The romantic aspects are more than a little bit predictable, yet they’re still enjoyable if you’re willing to open your mind to unlikely events. For me, what prevented me from dropping the rating down to three stars, was the thriller aspect. It far from the best thriller tale, but it is a classic notion that keeps you gripped throughout. It’s the age-old terrifying government secret that means bad news for all.
If you have read some of Gerritsen’s older work and you know you enjoy it, then give this one a read. If you have yet to read any of her older work then I wouldn’t recommend starting here. Whilst it is enjoyable, it is so far from her recent work that you may very well be left shocked by the differences and unwilling to believe the same woman wrote the books.