Playing with Fire: A Novel

Front Cover
Ballantine Books, 2015 - Fiction - 250 pages
A gripping standalone thriller by the New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles series

INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS AWARD FINALIST - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY LOS ANGELES TIMES AND SUSPENSE MAGAZINE

In a shadowy antiques shop in Rome, violinist Julia Ansdell happens upon a curious piece of music--the Incendio waltz--and is immediately entranced by its unusual composition. Full of passion, torment, and chilling beauty, and seemingly unknown to the world, the waltz, its mournful minor key, its feverish arpeggios, appear to dance with a strange life of their own. Julia is determined to master the complex work and make its melody heard.

Back home in Boston, from the moment Julia's bow moves across the strings, drawing the waltz's fiery notes into the air, something strange is stirred--and Julia's world comes under threat. The music has a terrifying and inexplicable effect on her young daughter, who seems violently transformed. Convinced that the hypnotic strains of Incendio are weaving a malevolent spell, Julia sets out to discover the man and the meaning behind the score.

Her quest beckons Julia to the ancient city of Venice, where she uncovers a dark, decades-old secret involving a dangerously powerful family that will stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the truth to light.

Praise for Playing with Fire

"Compelling . . . I defy you to read the first chapter and not singe your fingers reading the rest."--David Baldacci

"One of the best and most original thrillers of the year."--Providence Journal

"[A] novel brimming with emotion, literary description, and psychological suspense."--The Huffington Post

"Will make readers drop everything to immerse themselves in its propulsive dual narrative."--Los Angeles Times

 

Selected pages

Contents

Section 1
5
Section 2
12
Section 3
24
Section 4
55
Section 5
74
Section 6
87
Section 7
92
Section 8
99
Section 10
151
Section 11
164
Section 12
211
Section 13
221
Section 14
227
Section 15
243
Section 16
249
Copyright

Section 9
135

Common terms and phrases

Alberto Alda Ansdell arms arpeggios beautiful Blackshirts breath Bruno Calle del Forno camp Cannaregio Capobianco Casperia cello chair Clementina Colonel Complex partial seizures crazy daughter Dianora door Dorsoduro Europol everything eyes face father feel Foscari Francesca French horn gaze Gerda girl glass going grandfather hair hand happened head hear heard husband Incendio instruments Italian Italy Jews Julia laugh Laura Balboni leave Lily Lily's look Lorenzo Todesco luthier Marco melody mother musicians never night notes Padrone Papa piece play Professor Balboni remember Rialto Bridge Rome Rose San Sabba says screams shake shoulder sigh sleep smile someone sound stare stay stop street strings suddenly talk tell Tess Gerritsen There's thing told tonight Trieste trying tune turned Venice Vicodin violin voice waiting walk waltz weeks what's whisper window woman

About the author (2015)

Tess Gerritsen was born on June 12, 1953 in San Diego, California. She received a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction. Her first novel, Call After Midnight was published in 1987. It was followed by eight more romantic suspense novels. She also wrote the screenplay, Adrift, which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson. Her first medical thriller, Harvest, was published in 1996. She is the author of the Rizzoli and Isles series, which was adapted into a television show. She has won several awards including the Nero Wolfe Award for Vanish and the Rita Award for The Surgeon. She retired from the medical field and writes full-time. Her other novels include Presumed Guilty, Harvest, Gravity, The Bone Garden, and Playing with Fire.

Bibliographic information

TitlePlaying with Fire: A Novel
Medical & Crime Thrillers
AuthorTess Gerritsen
PublisherBallantine Books, 2015
ISBN1101884347, 9781101884348
Length250 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Fiction / Psychological
Fiction / Thrillers / General
Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Fiction / Women
  
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