Det. Jane Rizzoli has taken on the responsibility of
teenager Teddy Clock after he barely escapes with his life
when his entire foster family are murdered; just like his
real family was two years ago. Young Claire Ward has
endured the same scenario, as has Will Yablonski -- but why?
They all lived in different states and seem to have no
connection to each other. For their protection, counseling
and education, Claire and Will were taken to the highly
guarded Evensong, a school for young people who've been
traumatized by violence, secluded deep in the Maine
wilderness. This is where Jane decides Teddy needs to be,
as well, after an attempt is made on another foster family
he's been placed with.
Dr. Maura Isles is also on the way to Evensong to spend her
two-week vacation with Julian, the courageous young man who
saved her life in Wyoming (ICE COLD, 4/26/11). He is
flourishing at Evensong, doing well in his classes and
coming to terms with his life. Their reunion is
bittersweet, though, when Jane shows up with Teddy and they
start comparing the similar situations of Teddy with Claire
and Will. When chilling things occur in the surrounding
woods that are thought to be so secure and one of the
teachers plunges to her death from a rooftop turret, the
case takes on even more bizarre aspects. Just who can be
trusted when everyone's motives seem suspect? Will Jane and
Maura uncover the key that links the three children and the
reason for so many deaths?
Incorporating narrative from an unknown source concerning
the hunt for and abduction of a crime lord dubbed Icarus
provides backstory for what is currently happening to these
children. The underlying question, of course, is what is
the connection? When that answer eventually comes, readers
are in for a shock, as is everyone involved in the case.
Tess Gerritsen keeps the suspense taut in LAST TO
DIE, a crime thriller sure to please aficionados of this
series and great writing.
For the second time in his short life, Teddy Clock has
survived a massacre. Two years ago, he barely escaped when
his entire family was slaughtered. Now, at 14, in a hideous
echo of the past, Teddy is the lone survivor of his foster
family’s mass murder. Orphaned once more, the traumatized
teenager has nowhere to turn — until the Boston PD puts
detective Jane Rizzoli on the case. Determined to protect
this young man, Jane discovers that what seemed like a
coincidence is instead just one horrifying part of a
relentless killer’s merciless mission.
Jane spirits Teddy to the exclusive Evensong boarding
school, a sanctuary where young victims of violent crime
learn the secrets and skills of survival in a dangerous
world. But even behind locked gates, and surrounded by
acres of sheltering Maine wilderness, Jane fears that
Evensong’s mysterious benefactors aren’t the only ones
watching. When strange blood-splattered dolls are found
dangling from a tree, Jane knows that her instincts are
dead on. And when she meets Will Yablonski and Claire Ward,
students whose tragic pasts bear a shocking resemblance to
Teddy’s, it becomes chillingly clear that a circling
predator has more than one victim in mind.
Joining forces with her trusted partner, medical examiner
Maura Isles, Jane is determined to keep these orphans safe
from harm. But an unspeakable secret dooms the children’s
fate — unless Jane and Maura can finally put an end to an
obsessed killer’s twisted quest.
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