The bestselling author of The Surgeon returns - and so does that chilling novel`s diabolical villain. Though held behind bars, Warren Hoyt still haunts a helpless city, seeming to bequeath his evil legacy to a student all-too-deadly. It is a boiling hot Boston summer. Adding to the city`s woes is a series of shocking crimes, in which wealthy men are made to watch while their wives are brutalized. A sadistic demand that ends in abduction and death. The pattern suggests one man: serial killer Warren Hoyt, recently removed from the city`s streets. Police can only assume an acolyte is at large, a maniac basing his attacks on the twisted medical techniques of the madman he so admires. At least that`s what Detective Jane Rizzoli thinks. Forced again to confront the killer who scarred her - literally and figuratively - she is determined to finally end Hoyt`s awful if it means receiving more resistance from her all-male homicide squad. But Rizzoli isn`t counting on the government`s sudden interest. Or on meeting Special Agent Gabriel Dean, who knows more than he will tell. Most of all, she isn`t counting on becoming a target herself, once Hoyt is suddenly free, joining his mysterious blood brother in a vicious Filled with superbly created characters - and the medical and police procedural details that are her trademark - The Apprentice is Tess Gerritsen at her brilliant best. Set in a stunning world where evil is easy to learn and hard to end, this is a thriller by a master who could teach other authors a thing or two.