| Title | : | The Mephisto Club (Rizzoli Isles, #6) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0345476999 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780345476999 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 355 |
| Publication | : | First published September 12, 2006 |
The Mephisto Club (Rizzoli Isles, #6) Reviews
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This is probably my least favorite of Rizzoli and Isles series. I suppose it is all the demon possession parts of the story. I prefer regular old fashioned sociopaths.
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Ever since Maura Isles got the spotlight in this series, I've been complaining how pathetic she is when it comes to her love life. Seriously, she keeps on trying to fall in love to every attractive guy who looks at her. How come a logical and level-headed medical examiner can make such stupid moves is beyond me.
Anyway, The Memphisto Club is the sixth book in the Rizzoli and Isles series. We got some stabbings here, some bullets flying between the good and the evil, a weird club and a ton of medical terms that either makes me a little bit smarter or confuses the hell out of me.
Tess Gerritsen managed to cure my reading slump and even if I want to slap Maura a few times, this book is a good read. -
Homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are called to the scene of the brutal murder of a young woman. Strange symbols and a cryptic message are clues that lead them to an even stranger group of people who are members of the Mephisto Foundation, a group of scholars who believe in and study the history of evil. Even more disturbing is the discovery that Dr. Joyce O’Donnell is a member and evidence suggests the killer is somehow connected to her.
This was a creepy story that focused on one of my least favorite topics. Mythical demons and their spawns are not my cuppa, which negatively influenced my rating. So, if this is a subject you find intriguing, I highly recommend the story as it’s well researched and written. There’s a secondary storyline involving Maura and Daniel Brody that I did find interesting as well as the story surrounding the killer who is identified at the beginning.
The narrator, Kathe Mazur, was outstanding as she adeptly grasped the nature of each character, providing distinction and resonance. She also added a creep factor to match the story. Even though this wasn’t my most favorite of the stories in the series, it still was pretty interesting and had an exciting climax. 3.5 stars -
"You can study a face all you want, but you never really know what lies beneath the mask.”
The sixth book in the Rizzoli & Isles series. I have enjoyed reading the books in this series but this is probably my least favorite. It was still an enjoyable read but it was too
Dan Brownish. Too much demons / the devil, the bible, secret societies, etc. I understand how Jane Rizzoli felt in this story.
It is Christmas Eve and both Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles draw the short straws when they are called out to a brutal murder scene. Even the cops are stunned by the brutality. Lots of blood and body parts. PECCAVI (I HAVE SINNED) is written in blood ... along with upside down crosses. And there is a link to Dr. Joyce O’Donnell, the celebrity psychiatrist and Rizzoli's nemesis. Naturally Dr. O’Donnell gives Jane a hard time and won't say where she was or who she was with at the time of the murder. Only that she was with friends. Turns out the friends were members of the Mephisto Club.
The Mephisto Club is a secret society that studies evil. Do demons walk among us? Does it have a physical presence? Using historical data and mysterious religious symbolism they aim to prove that Satan exists among us. Their leader, Anthony Sansone, is mysterious and wealthy. He also seems to have connections at very high levels. Jane has no choice but to work with him. Jane doesn't believe in demons, the devil, or symbology. As far as she is concerned the Mephisto Club is nothing more than an amateur crime fighting club. Maura Isles finds herself being drawn into the club accidentally. Guilt by association. That association being that she was at the crime scenes.
In addition to the gruesome murders, demons, biblical references, and symbols there are personal issues for Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles. Jane's problems are with her parents and in some ways it was humorous. Maura's problems are with her feelings towards Father Daniel Brophy. This in turn causes conflict between Jane and Maura. Not the best book in the series but still an enjoyable read. As long as
Tess Gerritsen doesn't turn into
Dan Brown. That would be evil. Back to basics please! -
The least Christmas kind of story line for a Christmas vacation read. An unspeakable crime on Christmas Eve gets the action rolling in this Rizzoli and Isles novel. Lots of blood, victims, evil and plenty of creepy flashbacks.
One of my favorites so far as there’s a mix of ancient mythology and modern demon hunters at work here. Multi-layered story plus a few personal dramas at home for Maura and Jane.
Although I guessed most of the ending, it really was a page turner. Great way to start off the last week of reading in 2019. -
The Mephisto Club is book #6 in the Rizzoli & Isles series and in my opinion its the weakest. I think book 6 was a little too inspired by Dan Brown and his books.
The Mephisto Club is about demons, Satan, secret societies, and lost books of the Bible and it was just less fun then the other books in the series.
I still love this series and I won't let one disappointing book effect my opinion of the rest of the series. -
Peccavi. “I have sinned.” This Latin word, along with three upside down crosses, is found on the wall of a lurid murder scene on Christmas Eve.
The Mephisto Club, Tess Gerritsen’s sixth book in her much-liked Rizzoli & Isles series, features more graphic murder scenes than several of her previous novels. Mephisto takes its name from the legend of Dr. Faustus. Mephistopheles was the evil spirit that appeared to Faustus after he drew secret symbols. The result: Faustus sold his soul to the devil.
Both Detective Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles drew the short straw this particular Christmas and witness the horrific murder scene. “Peccavi.” Who wrote the message?” And for whom is it meant? Soon there is another death, with more symbols. This one strikes close to home. What is the Mephisto Club? Can its leader, Anthony Sansone, be trusted? He seems to be everywhere, to be given wide berth by law enforcement. Yet Jane is wary. She has good reason. One of the members of Mephisto is Dr. Joyce O’Donnell, the neuropsychiatrist who testified in the court trial of Warren Hoyt, the man who tried to kill her and left her scarred for life. She has no love for Joyce O’Donnell, nor does she believe in devils or evil spirits.
There were times when I felt as though I were reading a Dan Brown novel. The plot is filled with Biblical references and pre-Scriptural symbols and traditions. The author presents various interpretations of the messages the killer is sending through his drawings and more disturbing signs. She calls upon her background as an anthropology major at Stanford and her attraction to ancient myths. Beyond that, she once again features the struggle between good and evil. In The Mephisto Club, quite clearly, evil does exist, whether one believes that the source is human or spirit. Not just good vs evil, but the existence of God and the relevance of religion are also themes that tend to recur in these Tess Gerritsen thrillers. I don’t generally like stories that are too heavily invested in cults or preoccupation with demons and so on; this struck me as something altogether different.
Ms Gerritsen’s two female leads, Rizzoli and Isles, both have personal struggles in this book. Jane’s difficulties are with her family. While painful, there is also humor in the way the situation is presented. Maura’s struggles, as in
Body Double, are with her feelings toward Father Daniel Brophy. Will she continue to avoid him? Can she? Can they find a way to be “just friends”?
We do get to see fragments of the villain’s past. There is no mystery as to the identity of this perpetrator. Or is there? Is it one big red herring? Does the killer act alone? I’ll say one thing: Tess Gerritsen writes creepy very well.
I’m not sure that I’d rank The Mephisto Club among my favorites of the series so far, but it did keep me interested, mostly because of the characters, frankly. I did appreciate what the author did with the themes, too. Her enthusiasm and training definitely make a difference!
4 stars -
It amazes me that Tess Gerritsen is able to write such awesome thrillers, time after time. And yet she does, proving that she is, quite simply, at the top of her game--and at the top of the psychological thriller/mystery genre!
Many others have outlined the plot of THE MEPHISTO CLUB, so let me just say a few things: this is a great storyline, original, and handled deftly. The action-adventure is non-stop throughout the book, and although you know, basically from the beginning of the story, who the bad guy is, it doesn't stop the book from being interesting and intriguing.
I loved that Father Brophy and Dr. Maura Isles finally "got together," but I need this relationship to go beyond THE THORN BIRDS!! There has got to be a resolution to this plot line, and soon!
My only complaint with the story is Jane Rizzoli, who I actually love. However, her hard-a**, morally superior attitude in this book ticked me off. I want to see the softer side of Jane, the nurturing mother side, the love of Gabriel's life side--as well as the the tough-as-nails, ball-buster homicide detective.
Believe me, though, THE MEPHISTO CLUB is another winner! -
I really didn't like this one all that much. I was actually able to put it down and walk away from it.
I was not thrilled with the character development in this one, there was really only two surprising things...
The overall plot wasn't that good. I was not truly scared reading about the boy's perspective, it was interesting only when it came up, but never led to anything. And then Lily constantly looking over her shoulder was a bit excessive to me. And the fact that Gerritsen tried to get on the band wagon of Dan Brown's symbology was just a let down. She needs to stick to her own guns about medical thrillers and not secret societies. I already have favorite authors that write about secret societies, Dan Brown & James Rollins, and I truly wanted Gerritsen to be my new favorite author in my new favorite category all by itself, medical thrillers. Go back to your roots! Don't do what everyone else is doing!
I guess I was not all that hooked on the demon and Devil scenario that was described in this book, especially the character Anthony Sansone. I really did not like him, nor his influence over the government, Interpol, CIA, FBI, and Boston PD. It's like he trumped everyone. I did not like it nor get it. And then he starts this fighting evil club. Not what I thought it was going to be, and not who I thought would typically join this club,
This one just did not do it for me. I'm going to continue on with the series, but I just thought this one fell flat for me. -
The Mephisto Club is the sixth Rizzoli and Isles book, and if I’m being honest it is probably my least favourite thus far. It was still an enjoyable read, but I didn’t love it in the way I loved the five prior books. I’m unsure if this is because it has been so long since I read Vanish or whether it was the story itself but I’m hoping I’ll enjoy The Keepsake a lot more.
The one thing I can clearly attribute to my lowered enjoyment is the attention paid to the private life of Isles. Ever since we started to get glimpses into her private life, I’ve found myself somewhat disinterested in the events outside of the criminal elements of the story. I positively adore following Rizzoli’s life – I’ve become so invested, I always want more – yet I cannot bring myself to feel the same way about Isles. I’m not sure what it is about her in particular, but I’m nowhere near as invested in her life.
In terms of the specific story of this one, it’s quite different to the prior books. The Mephisto Club deals with evil in more abstract terms rather than looking at a single crime. Whilst there is the one single crime story being told throughout, the overall story comes together in relation with the overall concept of evil more than it does the individual storyline. I feel as though the usual hard hitting elements of a Rizzoli and Isles story was lost in the background in this attempt to address evil on a much bigger picture.
I have no issue with such stories. They can be very interesting. They can make for great reads. However, it didn’t quite fit with what I expect from a Rizzoli and Isles story. It almost felt as though the characters were slipped into a storyline that was meant for another, with little bits of their own stories being pulled in and lost in the background of everything else that was going on.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read but it wasn’t all I had been hoping it would be. I’m certainly continuing on with this series, but I’m hoping the future books return to what we’re used to. -
Peccavi
The Latin word is scrawled in blood at the scene of a young woman's brutal murder: "I HAVE SINNED". It's a chilling Christmas greeting for Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli, who swiftly link the victim to controversial celebrity psychiatrist Joyce O'Donnell - Maura's professional nemesis and member of a secret society called "The Mephisto Club."
On tony Beacon Hill, the club's acolytes devote themselves to the analysis of evil: Can it be explained by science? Does it have a physical presence? Do demons walk the earth? Drawing on a wealth of dark historical data and mysterious religious symbology, the Mephisto scholars aim to prove a startling theory: that Satan and his demons actually exist among us.
This book was kind of weird....
With the grisly appearance of a corpse on the Mephisto Club's doorstep, it's clear that someone - or something - is indeed prowling the city. The members begin to fear the very subject of their study. Have they inadvertently summoned an evil entity from the darkness?
Delving deep into the most baffling and unusual case of their careers, Maura and Jane embark on a terrifying journey to the very heart of evil - where they encounter a malevolent foe more dangerous than any they have ever faced...one whose work is only just beginning. -
Tess Gerritsen Fans Group Link
A nice read with Rizzoli & Isles, Christmas Eve is spoiled in Boston. A Latin word "Peccavi" & crosses (written upside down) are left in blood on bodies. The Latin word means "I Have Sinned". Upside down crosses are against "Chtistanity".
Severed body parts from one murder are swap with another part at the next murder. A symbol is left on Maura's door causing her fear.
A Mephisto Club member, Dr. Joyce O'Donnell (psychiatrist), appears but not much "help" - she never liked Jane in the past.
The Mephisto Club leader is Antony Samson (neuropsychologist), additional members are: Edwina Felway, Oliver Stark & Gottfried Baum.
They are devoted to the analysis & history of the Evil & Devils who "walk the earth".
The main character becomes Lily Saul with a "evil" Christianity spirit & a "fallen" angel (Devil) after her? Her parents & Teddy (brother) killed.
Dominic Saul(cousin), best-friend Sarah Parmley & Lori-Ann Tucker missing?
Can Rizzoli & Isles find a murderer -or- the Mephisto Club stop a demon?
At the end, can Lily's donated family house to the town's Fireman, for a training burn, eliminate demons... -
Superbly crafted
this book reads like a horror novel but is a mystery nonetheless. The author does a nice job developing the characters and it is clear that this tendency began earlier in the series. I started with this book and it worked as a stand alone, but there are references to previous books in the series that loyal readers no doubt recognize.
The story begins with a murder on Christmas Eve that appears to be a satanic ritual. A group of amateur sleuths with a lot of money and less experience become involved making the investigation difficult for the police officer Rizzoli. The medical examiner Isles works with her.
Yes, there are undertones of Patricia Cornwell in this but the author is a medical doctor and her knowledge lends an air of authenticity to the story. Overall, I thought it was a good read. I gave it five stars instead of four because I felt the plot was so tightly woven and masterfully crafted that it made it an excellent, rather than simply a good, read. I plan to go back and read the other books in the series. -
Loving these books, very much enjoyed this one.
(I have skipped #5, though, as it involves a crime in a hospital setting with a hostage situation, etc. I don't like those kinds of stories; I find them tedious with everyone kind of holding static in place.)
Anyhow, Jane Rizzoli, homicide detective with a new baby and husband, and Dr. Maura Isles, forensic pathologist, (hope I got that right!) get involved with some rather morbid murders involving demons, the devil, mysterious markings found on victims, the whole shebang. I've read several books recently with similar 'themes,' but as I've said before it's how the writer treats the material which marks it unique or different from others. Ms. Gerritsen certainly does that with this one. Interspersed with Rizzoli's investigation and Isles' interpretation of evidence are scenes of a young woman running from someone - or some thing - over in Europe. There's also a small romance, held on the back burner, between Dr. Isles and a Catholic priest. Wholly shmolley, this one's got it all!
In summary, a bang-up good job and highly entertaining read. My next in this series will be #7. Can't wait!
Four stars -
كوني من متابعي مسلسل Rizzoli & Isles ..
هو ما أوقعني في هذه الورطة منذ البداية .
سعدت حينَ رأيت اسم الكاتبة وقررت قراءة روايتها فوراً ، والرواية أيضاً بطريقة ما ، مرتبطة بالمسلسل .
لكن ، أنا نادمة الآن .
رواية رديئة ، ومع هذا تحتمَ على إنهائها فـ لازلنا في بداية العام والوقت مبكر لترك أحد الكتب بدون إكماله ..
ليست مشوقة أو مثيرة ، فقط مجرد حديث طويل ، طويل ، وغير منطقي .
ولا تتحسن الأمور ولا تتطور ، فـ الرواية تحافظ على مستواها السيء طوال عدد صفحاتها الـ 400 :/
لن أقرأ مرة أخرى لـ تيس جريتسين وسأكتفي بمشاهدة المسلسل .. -
3.5
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Tess man yra detektyvų karalienė 🤩😍 Tad visad labai malonu sugrįžti prie jos knygų ir žinau, jog laukia tikrai įtampos bei jaudulio kupini puslapiai.
Kalėdų išvakarėse detektyvė Džeinė Ricoli yra iškviečiama į siaubingo nusikaltimo vietą, kur žiauriai buvo nužudyta jauna moteris.
Į nusikaltimo vietą taip pat atvyksta ir medicinos ekspertė Mora Ailz. Sename name ant sienų jas pasitinka lotyniškas užrašas : AŠ NUSIDĖJAU. Tuomet dar nieko nenutuokdamos moterys, net neįtaria su kokiu blogiu dar joms teks susidurti ir kiek kraupių žmogžudysčių jų dar laukia..
Kaip jau supratote, Tess yra viena iš mylimiausių mano rašytojų. Tad iš jos knygų tikiuosi nemažai. Ir šį kartą ji manęs taip pat nenuvylė. Knyga buvo įtempto siužeto, nenuspėjama bei intriguojanti. Taip pat skaitydama šią knygą sužinojau nemažai detalių iš Biblijos, kas buvo iš ties man labai įdomu.Mitologijos įpinimas buvo įdomus autorės sprendimas.
Tess gerbėjai, kas dar neskaitėte - siūlau tai padaryti, o kas vis svarstote ar pradėti pažintį su šia rašytoja, tai net neabejokite. -
This is a series that has almost become a diamond in the rough. I remember, the first book did not really strike me as great, but it was good enough for me to want to read the second one. Ever since, this series has really caught my attention. The setting has been mostly Boston, but this book travels to upstate New York. The Binghamton area, Lourdes Hospital, Norwich and even Syracuse are mentioned. Jane and Maura are tracking an evil force. With the unwanted assistance of the Mephisto Club, they are hot on it’s trail. But the both have personal issues that cloud their minds. Jane’s parents are having marital problems and Maura has fallen in love with a practicing Catholic Priest. The suspense and mystery of this novel are excellent but the personal issues add additional substance to the story. I’m always surprised at how much I enjoy this series and want to find the next book to add to my TBR.
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Wieder ein toller Teil der Rizzoli&Isles Reihe - Die privaten Geschehnisse zu den beiden Haupt-Protagonistinnen kamen mir dieses mal ein wenig zu kurz; ich mag die beiden einfach so gerne. Der Fall war aber spannend und abwechslungsreich, wenn auch ein wenig vorhersehbar. Trotzdem freue ich mich auf die folgenden Bände - Ich bin ja gerade mal bei der Hälfte :)
Tess Gerritsen schreibt einfach toll und als Hörbuch ist die Reihe auch sehr gut umgesetzt! -
Probably my favorite R & I to date!! Weird, creepy, supernatural (or is it?), this book was suspenseful, full of fast-paced mystery and also had me adding some creepy books to my "to read" shelf! Not trying to spoil but the only storyline I was "meh" on was Isles' love . I'm sure it will be pertinent in the next book but it was just cheesy enough to earn a "chic lit" tag from me.
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I hate it when this series focuses on Maura's boring love life. How a smart woman can make nothing but stupid choices where her romantic relationships are concerned is beyond me.
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Loved it! I'm reading these in series order, and this is my favorite so far.
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Este libro de la serie Rizzoli &Isles es uno de los que más me ha gustado por su temática, que bordea lo sobrenatural
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5. Kitap olan Siliniş'e kadar tüm kitaplardan daha durağan geçtiği söylense de benim katılmadığım ve aksiyonu yine bol olan Tess Gerritsen kitabı yılbaşı arifesi bir evde cinayet görülmesi ile başlıyor ve sahnede yine Rizzoli,Frost ve İsles var. Lily Saul ve Anthony Sansone' la tanıştığımız kitap olan Mefisto Kulubü diğerlerinden farklı olarak Şeytan kavramını incelerken Mefisto sözcüğünün de anlamını bize aktarıyor. Kitapta yer yer katilin cümleleri yer alıp kitabın başında katil kendini belli etse de sonu enteresan bir şekilde yine şaşırtıyor ve bu işten ekibi kurtaran usta polisimiz Jane Rizzoli oluyor.
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I still am loving these books! However, this one was a little on the eh side for me. I enjoyed the story, but was a bit lost when the talk about mythology and religion came into play. I felt at times that took over the story when there needed to be more focus on the killer and the investigation.
I know my reviews are vague, but I don't like throwing out too many details that will ruin a reader's decision to read any book. So I apologize for that!!
I'm excited to start the next rizzoli and isles book! Fingers crossed Maura gets her love life in order, she's all over the map in this one! -
This one didn't work for me. The guilty party was identified early and then we go through a history lesson on the myth of demons. The Mephisto Club itself was a group of creepy people. Although I did like a certain character getting in too deep (I won't spoil). I didn't like Maura having the affair with the Priest and wished their relationship hadn't progressed that far. The ending set up at a remote location seemed too much like a plot device versus something that would happen.
Although this one was a bust, I'm definitely continuing this series. -
Hair raisin. I was scared and spooked reading this.... Great.
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WARNING FOR SLIGHT SPOILERS
As usual, on/off partners in crime-fighting, Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner, Doctor Maura Isles, are having difficulties in their personal lives.
At the start of The Mephisto Club, Isles’s yearning for handsome Catholic priest, Father Daniel Brophy, remains unrequited, but as he is equally attracted to her, how long that status will last is anyone’s guess. Meanwhile Jane Rizzoli, an experienced homicide investigator with the Boston PD, has a happily-married life, but a car-wreck of a family, her brothers useless and her mom and dad increasingly quarrelsome with each other.
With all this going on, and in the depths of a bitterly cold Boston winter, it’s hardly the right time for the twosome to find themselves confronted by a particularly ghoulish ritual murder, the body horribly dismembered and the Latin word PECCAVI scrawled at the scene.
An apparent explanation suggests itself soon enough, the slaying seemingly linked to one of Isles’s former sparring partners, criminal psychologist, Dr Joyce O’Donnell, a woman with whom she has never seen eye-to-eye. It seems possible that the perp is one of O’Donnell’s more disturbed patients, either trying to spook her or leave her some kind of message. But O’Donnell can’t (or won’t) help examine this particular theory, and then more murders follow, with similar mutilations and similar cryptic characters inscribed on and around the corpses.
It seems that it isn’t just Joyce O’Donnell who’s the object of interest, but the whole of the mysterious Mephisto Club, of which she is only one member.
A group of scholarly individuals headed up by the wealthy ex-college professor, Anthony Sansone, and the bullish Englishwoman, Edwina Felway, the Mephisto Club – or ‘Mephisto Foundation’, to use their preferred title – dedicate themselves to a profound and scientific analysis of evil; not just in its obvious form, as in the violent psychosis displayed by damaged individuals, but also the religious and metaphysical elements of it, i.e. its devilish origins, as described in the earliest archaeological records.
To the ever-cynical Rizzoli, all of this feels like hokum, but she’s frustrated to find that, owing to their fantastical wealth, the Mephisto Club exert huge influence over the authorities, even the FBI, and when they insist on helping with the investigation, tacit permission is given.
They don’t exactly interfere, but Rizzoli soon feels that she’s lost her leadership role, and is particularly frustrated by Isles, who is gradually won over by them, especially by Sansone, a descendent of cruel Italian nobility, and yet a man whose good looks are striking, and whose urbane style and intellectual depths make him a real force to be reckoned with.
In a parallel thread, meanwhile, we follow the fortunes of one Lily Saul, a girl whose family, many years ago, had the misfortune to take into their care her abandoned cousin, Dominic. Dominic was a curious boy with peculiar interests, an unnerving manner and a strange knowledge of ‘forbidden’ things.
We don’t dwell too much on that first summer of young Dominic’s residence at the Saul home in rural New England, but instead flit forward in time to find Lily, now an adult (with no family left to call her own!), on the run in Rome, leading a hippie-like existence, moving from one temporary accommodation to the next, doing things she would never normally have dreamt of in order to make money, and constantly looking over her shoulder for fear that he – or should that be ‘it’ – won’t be far behind …
Tess Gerritsen’s blood-spattered crime thrillers have often been said to skate along the edge of the horror genre, and while that may not always be true, I don’t think it can be denied on this occasion. But that’s not because The Mephisto Club is a gore-fest. To start with, it’s not. Oh, there are gruesome murders a-plenty, and the author/doctor, as always, demonstrates her medical knowledge with some unstintingly detailed autopsy sequences, but the real horror in this novel – and the title itself is a bit of a give-away – actually comes to us from a more much traditional direction: its aura of Satanic evil.
The surprising implication in The Mephisto Club, namely that a truly malevolent force walks the Earth, an ancient power traceable right back to the Fall of Man, is not the kind of twist we’d expect in a routine crime thriller, but in this novel we get it full-on.
Lily’s flight to Rome serves to underline this almost in itself; Italy, the land of esoteric antiquity, Rome the capital of the Catholic Church.
And then there is the Mephisto Club itself.
For the uninitiated, Mephisto (better known as Mephistopheles) was an arch-demon, a close servant of Satan, who most famously claimed the soul of 15th century occultist, Faust. So once again in this novel we’re working on the basis that evil is not some intangible aspect of corrupted human nature, but a personalised entity, something with a form and a face, which actively seeks the destruction of our world.
The Club, itself, is equally reminiscent of the classic age of horror.
It’s an amusingly old-fashioned concept, consisting entirely of enigmatic scholars and wealthy intellectuals, who spend their time tracing the movements of the world’s most malign beings, attempting to track their ancestry back to mythological days when fallen angels known as the Watchers spawned monstrous offspring, the so-called Nephilim, who dedicated their existence to the death and misery of mankind. Their tireless research has uncovered all manner of eldritch information: references not just to the Watchers and the Nephilim, but to the Book of Enoch (which is real and in which many of these disturbing legends were first written down) and to Lillith – Adam’s first wife, a wanton temptress who walked the Earth long before Eve (and who modern-day feminists regard as the quintessential demonization of women by a patriarchal church).
With all this in mind, it’s very easy to picture the Mephisto Club in a Hammer Horror movie, perhaps with Peter Cushing chairing the meetings.
The big question is … does it work in the context of a crime thriller?
My view – and I’m aware that it’s not shared by all crime fans – is that it does.
Okay, I will admit to having one or two minor problems with it. I didn’t buy totally into the idea that the Mephisto Club, even through the combined expertise of its members, could wield such influence over government organisations like the FBI. I’m sure these secret societies exist, but I’d imagine more as hobbies for the rich and the bored, whom the police would simply treat as well-meaning amateurs. I also thought that one or two moments were a little bit rushed; for example, after effectively and atmospherically building up the circumstances of Lily’s flight to Rome, not to mention the fear she feels at every turn, and the desperate (ugly-desperate at one point!) measures she takes to protect herself there, this whole part of the book seems to end rather mundanely and abruptly, within a page or so in fact. Compare and contrast that to the protracted and ultimately irrelevant break-up of Rizzoli’s parents’ marriage, and you have a quite noticeable imbalance.
But hell, I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy this novel.
Whether I’m reading crime or horror, I’m a sucker for ancient puzzles, and The Mephisto Club is riddled with them. From eerie Latin inscriptions to ritually mutilated corpses, from chalk symbols to assailants who move like shadows, this narrative is chocka with arcane symbolism and olde worlde weirdness. It’s also pretty damn thrilling: Rizzoli and Isles, two independent, modern-minded women, talented practitioners of their respective crafts and domineering forces in their personal lives, find themselves eyebrow-deep in a gory and distressing murder case for which no contemporary textbook could have prepared them.
For all these reasons, The Mephisto Club is a fast, riveting read. But then you have Tess Gerritsen’s skilled penmanship, as well – a great sense of time and place (Boston in mid-winter, brrr), fizzling dialogue, rapid-fire action, a range of extreme and even grotesque characters for us to get our teeth into, though none of them are OTT – and you’ve got everything you really need for an enjoyable thriller.
I can understand why certain crime fiction traditionalists found this one hard to take. The concept of evil as a sentient force, embodied by a single devilish being, or even a group of such beings, may on one hand seem naïve of the author, but on the other hand you’ve got to remember that this is fiction, and fun fiction at that. And it’s not as if the supernatural elements hit us on the nose. Like most good authors in this field, Gerritsen basically leaves it open at the end, leaves certain questions unanswered, and leaves her readers – this one at least – wanting more.
An intriguing thriller with an unusual, challenging and never less than uber-dark premise, The Mephisto Club ticked all of my boxes. -
رواية نادي مفيستو تندرج تحت نوع روايات الغموض والاثارة. فكرة الرواية الاساسية قائمة على الانتقام. النابع من ايمان ومعتقدات ومفاهيم وتصورات اسطورية زائفة تدفع بمعتنقيها كي يقوموا ببعض الاعمال والطقوس خوفاً من سيطرة قوى خفية غامضة خارجية ماورائية .يخشون منها لانهم يعتقدون ان لها تآثير عليهم وعلى سير حياتهم.
تنطلق الرواية من ماتم دفت وتأبين احد افراد اسرة طبيب في احد المقابر، ويبدأ تسلسل الاحداث وعمليات القتل الغامضة و الانتقام وتشوية الجثث المتعمد لارسال رسائل مشفرة للضحية التالية.
المؤلفة طبيبة متخصصة في الطب الشرعي وقد استفادت من تخصصها و وظفت خبرتها ومعرفتها العلمية والعملية في مجريات الاحداث وفي التفاصيل الدقيقة التي لا يلم بها الا الخبير وكانت مفيدة للقارئ. لعبت الكاتبة دور الطبيبة المختصة في الطب الشرعي والتي كانت ترافق فريق التحري في المدينة عندما تحدث جريمة قتل او انتحار فهي تهتم بفحص الجثة والاثار العالقة بها من اثار الجاني وتساعد فريق التحري في التوصل الى اجابة عن الدافع للجريمة وفك الرموز والغموض الذي يكتنف اي جريمة .
احداث الرواية تجري مع الاستعداد للاحتفال براس السنة الميلادية وبرودة الطقس وانعكاس هذه الاحداث والمؤثرات على فريق التحري و ايضاً الطبيبة الشرعية.
الرواية ممتعة وشيقة ومن الروايات التي تتسلسل فيها الاحداث والسرد فلا تترك مجال للقلرئ لتركها والعودة اليها. بل انسيابية السرد والاحداث تجعل القارئ يلاحقها.
شخصيات الرواية متعددون ومتنوعون، المراهقين والبالغين العشاق والمجرمين . رجل دين، طبيب، رجال ونساء تحري وشرطة، عمداء مدن اكاديميون . الرشوة والفساد حاضر في الرواية وله تاثير على سير الاحداث.
ونادي مفيستو هو جمعية تضم عدد من افراد المجتمع لمكافحة جماعة عبدة الشيطان والتي تقتل من اجل ارضاء لمعتقدات يؤمنون بها.
المفاجاءات كثيرة حتى ان النهاية غير متوقعة وتترك القارئ في ترقب وحيرة ويتهم بعض شخصيات الرواية ولكن في النهاية تظهر من هي الشخصيات القاتلة
الرواية تقع في ٤٢٩ صفحة من القطع الصغير وهي من ترجمات جرير . ليتهم ينصفوا المترجم فرد كان او مؤسسة ويذ��رون اسمه.
رواية جديرة بالقراءة. -
I don't know what happened but this is my least favourite Rizzoli & Isles so far. Maura seemed stuck in her own head for having fallen in love with a priest and worrying whether anything's going to happen or what is going to happen. Ugh, get a grip woman! For a 41-year-old woman she seems a bit too much like a teenager at times.
The crime part of the story reminded me quite a bit of one of the Robert Langdon stories because there was a lot of talk about God, christianity and its symbols. Gerritsen, I beg you, please don't do it anymore. Stick with the medical stuff of things. You're much better at that than at this symbolism stuff.
The only character who remained the same and lovable was Rizzoli, but even she managed to disappoint me a bit by simply not being there. I wish there was more of Rizzoli and less of Maura. Also, I want Gabriel's POV back!
The story was still a bit gruesome, but honestly, it's gotten a bit predictable if Gerritsen is going to include some totally random-seeming POV to the story that this character is going to be pivotal to the entire case and that particular character is going to break the case in some sort of way. If only at least one of these random-seeming characters would get killed just so that it wouldn't be so predictable for the reader. Murderers don't count as these seem to get killed or maimed every time.
The next one hasn't been translated into Estonian, or at least I haven't found any info on it, so I think I will have to read in English if I want to continue. We'll see if there's ever a sale or something for the next boks because I don't think I'm willing to part with 8 dollars for the ebook version just yet. I'm not that intrigued.
You can find both this review and more on my book blog
The Book Challengers.
