'Gerritsen uses prose like a scalpel to slice deep into your mind. Piling on shock after shock and twist upon twist, this is a book best read in one sitting and with the lights full on. A breathtaking and absorbing thriller.'

'If you're home alone, do not risk even the first sentence. Once you've started reading this book, putting it down and saving it till later is not an option.'

'The Surgeon touches the dark places only a hunted woman can know...This is a story that terrifies and heartens all at once. What a ride!'

'If you're squeamish, this book is going to make you squirm...Gerritsen makes it chillingly feasible that the person you enjoy a chat with every day might just be planning the right time to cut your throat. An unpleasant thought, but a valid end result of a taut, well-paced and thoroughly realistic thriller.'

'If you've never read Gerritsen, figure in the price of electricity when you buy your first novel by her, 'cause, baby, you are going to be up all night'

'Ingenious, ultra-gory . . . Hugely efficient, scary and gripping, distinguished from the bloody competition by what feels like sheer rage that such crimes against women can happen in the first place.'

'Remind me not to go to hospital anytime soon. The Surgeon grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go until its hair-raising finish. Deep, dark and very disturbing.'

'The novel is a rare beast, a cautionary peep into the dark recesses of the mind and motivations of a serial killer, and a deep probe into the characterization of his pursuers.'
SHOT MAGAZINE