Thanks to my library I discovered Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles murder mystery thriller series long before it became a popular TV series, so I was excited to see a new title by her.

The Shape of Night delivered a suspenseful thriller with a touch of murder, a dash of romance, and a twist of the paranormal.

I’ve seen this classified as a paranormal romance, but I think it will disappoint those looking for the romantic aspect. Instead, go into this expecting a suspense thriller. The tale is atmospheric with paranormal elements with and a side of dark romance.

Full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer on October 3rd. It will be cross-promoted on all social media, Goodreads and Amazon. Link provided.

I received a digital galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Ballantine Books / Random House Publishing and Netgalley for the chance to read and review!

In THE SHAPE OF NIGHT by Tess Gerritsen Ava Collette is fleeing from a tragedy back home, renting Brodie's Watch for the summer, an old house on the coast of Maine. A food writer, Ava hopes the isolation will give her time to test recipes and push past her writers block to get her cookbook about New England Cuisine completed. Initially the seems cold and austere, but soon it seems the perfect location for her.

It doesn't take long before she starts to notice that something isn't entirely right with the house. From late night noises to full apparitions, it is soon clear that the house is haunted. Seeking out answers, Ava begins to gather information on the house she is inhabiting. The house has more than one skeleton in its closet with a string of accidental and unexplained deaths and Ava's experiences are beginning to take its toll on her.

I have been a fan of Tess Gerritsen for a long time, enjoying many of her past thrillers, so I was very excited to get approved for her newest book on Netgalley. From the synopsis it definitely felt like a great read going into fall and knowing that the main character was a food writer had me even more intrigued!

This book is very well written and delivers a lot of spooky atmosphere in the writing. The mystery about the house was very interesting for me as Ava hears from the locals about past accidents and delves more into doing research about the house's past. I enjoyed the discussions of local cuisine she's working on for her cookbook as well!

My reservations about the book center on Ava. She is running from a serious mistake in her past (one that I guessed fairly accurately very early on, though it isn't really revealed until late in the story). She feels that she deserves punishment, but instead of owning up to what she has done she is led into a situation that feels very Fifty Shades of Gray with a supernatural/ghost twist and this just made this into a book that was not a good fit for me.

This book had a lot going for it even if it wasn't all great for me. I definitely remain a fan of Tess Gerritsen and will be reading more from her in the future!

This review will be posted as follows (links to be provided once posts go live):

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Instagram - an abbreviated version will also be posted to Instagram on 9/25/2019 with a publication day reminder shared in stories on 10/1/2019

Amazon & Barnes&Noble reviews will be posted upon publication.

In this mystery/thriller, The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen, Ava, a food writer looking for some solace and a quiet place to continue writing her new cookbook, finds more than just solace. She finds in Brodie's Watch, ghosts, not just a vision or a hint, but actually a the ghost of Brodie a sea captain who was lost at see, Ava is staying in his house. Amazingly, Ava not only sees Brodie but interacts with him. Is she going insane or is she comfortable with this ghost? She is also running from a deep dark secret which involves her sister, she feels such shame and guilt about this she starts to question what she believes is true. Very intriguing and kept me totally involved with the story! Thank you #NetGalley #TheShapeof Night #BallentineBooks

A little supernatural-ish, a little horror, but overall a good read. I enjoyed this book. The author did a great job of not giving away whodunit until the final reveal. Tied up any loose ends quite nicely and logically, I thought. I would recommend this book. Just be aware this is not a Rizzoli and Isles type of story. Totally different - in a good way.

A young woman is drawn to Maine to "get away" from her past, her sister, her life and the tragedy that has happened to her family. She is hiding. BUT, she is also suppose to be writing. She is a food writer, she pens books about foods and recipes and culture. She is overdo with her current book and she goes to Maine to settle in at a "rental" property so that she can finish writing about Maine Cuisine and specifically the fishing industry and what families in Maine have eaten for centuries.

One problem. She moves into a haunted house. If you are a fan of paranormal novels, you will love this one. If you are a scientist you view things as paranormal. If you are a Religious person you look at these things as demon possession or influence. Either way, there is a spiritual/fourth dimension abnormal circumstance surrounding this house.

Ava, our writer, has rented Brodie's Watch for the next several months. She is lucky to get it because the woman rented it for the summer just packed up and left in a real hurry. She broke her lease and the realty agent is happy to have someone else come along and pick up the rental.

Ava moves in and that is when things start to happen. Captain Jeremiah Brodie built this home with the money he earned as a sea captain. He never married. He didn't even get to enjoy the house for very long at all because he was lost at sea along with his ship and her crew. In other words, Captain Brodie is dead. Or is he?

Ava believes that Captain Brodie's spirit still walks the halls of Brodie's Watch. Is she nuts? Maybe.

The story is wonderfully written and drew me in. I finished it in three days of off and on reading. I couldn't stop until I found out what was going to happen. Oh, and the bottom line, I was surprised by the ending. But no spoilers here, just a word that you will love this story.

Enjoy!

The Shape of the Night is an eerily atmospheric ghost story set amidst the cliffs of a remote Maine seaside village. The story primarily takes place at Brodie’s Watch, a semi-decrepit house rental that Ava Collette, a Bostonite who is escaping a recent tragedy, has chosen as the perfect place to renovate and seek solace. This inexpensive and isolated fixer-upper, with a picturesque view and calm presence seems the perfect way to get her life back on track and write her next cookbook.

This plan changes, however, when Ava begins to hear noises and comes across the long since deceased sea captain who once lived there and has long since haunted its halls. She soon finds that she loves not only this captain, but also this house with its captivating history. But the house’s history holds deadly secrets of its own.

This story is a romantic suspense novel and is heavy on the side of detailed, explicit seduction. It’s quite a departure from Tess Gerritsen’s previous series, though there is evidence of her graphic descriptions in both. The Shape of the Night will definitely appeal to those who enjoy paranormal and more descriptive romantic suspense stories.

Bestselling author Tess Gerritsen takes a break from her popular Rizzoli and Isles mystery series with The Shape of Night, a standalone thriller about a girl, a house and a very alluring ghost.

Nearly incapacitated by guilt, stagnated cookbook author Ava Collette takes a summer rental in a remote, seaside village in Maine, hoping the fresh air and peaceful country existence will reignite her creative fires.  But her first sight of her vacation cottage is an unpleasant surprise. Travelling up an isolated, fog ridden driveway she finds herself facing not a welcoming, cozy retreat but a foreboding, secluded and strangely unwelcoming mansion. Brodie’s Watch, the home of a former sea captain, seems almost menacing as she approaches it, as though the residence is rejecting her presence. She’s tempted to just walk away and find another place to stay.

That quickly changes when she opens the door and feels an unseen presence assess and then accept her. In that moment, as she takes her first tentative steps into her temporary refuge, she feels as though someone or something has decided to extend the full hospitality of the abode to her. Suddenly, she is enchanted by the thought of staying - and then she meets the ghost.

She recognizes Captain Jeremiah Brodie from the painting of him in the house but he seems more flesh and blood than spectre. She can feel his hands when they caress her, hear his voice as he speaks to her of pleasure - and pain. His sole purpose seems to be a BDSM style of seduction. Night time finds her swooning at his touch,and anxiously awaiting his every visit but the dawn brings doubts, making Ava skeptical and scared of what is happening. Reaching out to Help for the Haunted. Professional Ghost Investigations, Maine, she asks them to find  information on who or what is sharing the dwelling with her. The kindly, efficient Maeve Cerridwyn responds and researches Brodie’s Watch – and makes a disturbing discovery.  Since the Captain’s death, only women have lived there, each of them becoming increasingly isolated from family and friends until they die alone in the manse.

“Here in my house what you seek is what you will find,” Captain Brodie tells Ava. But there is peril behind those beguiling words - for maybe, in some dark part of herself, Ava seeks not redemption from her sins but punishment for them. Has she handed herself over to some macabre form of phantasmal justice or is a flesh and blood predator at work, hiding behind a fantasy, preparing to mete out the judgment Ava deeply believes she deserves?

Ms. Gerritsen is a consummate professional whose skillful prose quickly hooks readers into her story and doesn't release them until the last page.  She has created an intriguing heroine in Ava, a smart, talented woman who is also a touch cold and reclusive. We know she did something disturbing in her past - information about this event is slowly doled out in dollops throughout the first part of the tale - and we know she hurt someone she loved badly as a result of her actions. What we don’t know is what she did or why. We also know she has a self-confessed drinking problem and consumes copious quantities of alcohol, mainly at night, to help her sleep. That’s part of what drives her to seek Maeve’s help - could some sort of drunken stupor be causing her to imagine Captain Brodie or worse, could someone be taking advantage of her inebriated state to deceive her? I liked that Ava was practical enough not to immediately accept the idea of a haunted house but also open minded enough to accept the possibility of one.

Complicating the situation is the body that washes up on shore early during Ava’s tenancy. In addition to some of the mysterious deaths that have taken place in the village over the last several decades (which the townspeople seem more concerned with covering up than with solving) the appearance of this corpse has Ava wondering if some  kind of deadly menace is actively stalking the people of this solitary community. And if so, why?

And yet, even with all of that going on, she finds herself mesmerized by the Captain, easily beguiled by his presence and eager to participate in the ‘games’ he invites her to. The part of her that sees the cold light of reason in the day is no match for the enchanting seducer she faces in the night. It was this push and pull that kept me engaged in the tale. I found myself as fascinated by Captain Brodie as Ava was, as eager to spend time with him as she was. He was tantalizing, strong and handsome and drawn with an eerie eroticism that made him irresistible.

The book has only one flaw, which was that the practical, day time mystery sometimes didn’t blend well with the chilling, atmospheric nature of the house and its environs. It disrupted the sense of eminent supernatural danger that typically accompanies the gothic tale. That doesn’t keep it from being a very readable, riveting narrative though.

Part mystery and part gothic, Shape of Night is a spooky tale, perfect for fall reading. The forlorn setting and descriptions of the fog ridden, cool climate will have you reaching for a cup of something hot and the deliciously chilling story will have you snuggling into your favorite comfy chair, secure in the knowledge that you’re safe and cozy, even if the heroine isn’t. This novel is that  perfect blend of scary but not too scary and I think readers searching for a (mildly) creepy Halloween season read will find exactly what they are looking for in this book.

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To be honest, I did not read what the book is about as I have read several of Gerritsen's books and have enjoyed them. I thought it would be fun to read a known author's work before the general public. Bragging rights.

Wow, this is totally different than Gerritsen's previous books. Murders, yes, paranormal, new. The genres I enjoy have not ventured into this realm in years. I have to admit that it was enjoyable as something totally different. The pacing was such I finished before I realized it as I am traveling abroad with not much pleasure reading time.

The premise is that a cookbook author has a mental roadblock and rents a captain's mansion on the coast of Maine. Ava is at first repelled by the house and then drawn into it. This is where the "ghost" appears. Ava digs into its history and learns, starting with the captain and ending with the previous renter, about its deadly past. Of course, there is a love (or somewhat love) interest thrown in for good measure.

I have to say I did not love the book but did not hate it other. I zipped right through it as it held my attention. I prefer Gerritsen's medical thrillers. This would be a good book to fill in that "need to read" gap while figuring out what to read next.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC version in exchange for an honest review..

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

Ava sets out to finish her cookbook of New England recipes. She has stalled out with writer’s block and looks forward to a summer of inspiration in her rental property on the coast of Maine. However, Tucker’s Cove turns out to be different than she expected.

I do not usually read paranormal mysteries. Yet, this book captured my attention and quickly drew me in. A large, foreboding, mist shrouded mansion on the coast can do that to you. Ava feels something supernatural going on in the house. She begins to explore the history of the house and that of the sea captain that built the house. Things become more complicated and more interesting.

Tess Gerritsen has written many other books before this stand alone story.
Her characters are interesting. There is a mystery to be solved and the book includes more than one twist.

I suggest reading this book during daylight hours.

The Shape of Night
By Tess Gerritsen
Thanks to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the eARC.
While not what one usually expects from Tess Gerritsen it is nice to see authors step outside their norm and try new things. This quasi-romance, paranormal ghost story is captivating and easy to read. Some of the mystery/thriller techniques are a bit too obvious but not all that distracting.
This will be a wonderful book for cold and rainy days meant for reading.
All in all, readers will enjoy Ava and her cat Hannibal.
Still a Tess Gerritsen fan. Keep them coming.

I loved this book! I normally do not read paranormal books, but I enjoyed this book alot. It was hard for me to put down! If you love ghost stories and romantic suspense, then this book is a must!

I’ve read nearly all of Gerritsen’s books. I love the Rizzoli and Isles series, as well as her stand-alone novels. But her latest release, The Shape of Night, just didn’t do it for me. Accustomed to scientific deduction from this author, this time she offers supernatural speculation, using elements of the haunted house trope – complete with a cat named Hannibal, a dangerous widow’s walk, and townsfolk who know more than they let on. Ava is a food writer struggling to meet a deadline and run from a troubled past. She rents a house on the coast of Maine that once belonged to a deceased sea captain with hopes of finding the solitude necessary to finish her book. Instead, she finds an erotic night visitor. Is it a dream … or not? What about the disappearance of the previous tenant?

While I enjoy mysteries, the elements of unreliable narrator and paranormal romance are not to my taste. Nevertheless, this is a quick, seasonal read. A good choice for Halloween.

What a strange book. I don't really know how to rate it. I expected something similar to the author's other books and instead I got something that would easily fit in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. The blurb I read described this book as a “haunting tale of romantic suspense” so I assumed it would be a book at least somewhat similar to the Rizzoli and Isles series, but what I got felt more like a paranormal romance with a bit of a mystery thrown in to make a story out of it. There are also talks of the disappearance of the previous renter in the blurb, but we don’t learn a single thing about this (except hints) until 60% through. I really didn't feel it was fair to include the talk of this mystery in the blurb when it has such a minimal role in the paranormal romance I just read. There were times (usually during long, boring passages involving “the ghost”) that I felt hoodwinked by this description. I should have taken more notice of phrases like “ghostly visits” but I still never would have expected this author to write this book. I used to count Tess Gerritsen among the most talented writers working today, with her ability to make every one of her Rizzoli books fascinating and readable despite having roughly the same format for every book. After reading this, I may have to evaluate.

It's not just that I thought the book was going to be different. I take a decent amount of the blame for that. If I had had different expectations, I may have enjoyed the book more. But this is still a book filled with extremely boring passages where a lonely alcoholic hallucinates on a daily basis and can't seem to stop searching around town for the truth of her hallucinations. After the first fifteen searches for who or what this paranormal entity might be or what it might want, I started to get bored. I simply never cared. I couldn’t figure out why the main character cared. There really was only enough material here for a hundred page book. Much of the repetitive scenes could have been cut and all the stuff with the "mystery" seemed only added to give some semblance of a story to an otherwise rudderless novel. Even the shocking twist (maybe it wasn't supposed to be a twist? Beats me) was so obvious that I was confused why the author had it written like such a big reveal. It wasn't a reveal at all since the hints throughout made it abundantly clear what big secret the main character was harboring. Just another thing I don't understand about this book.

There were a few things about this book that were decent—mostly the writing quality and some of the spooky scare tactics before we knew what was happening in the house. There were a few times that I looked up at my own house's creaking to make sure no monsters were coming at me. For these things and a bit of writer loyalty, I'll give this book 2, maybe 2.5 stars if I'm being generous. I usually reserve 2 stars for books I can barely finish, and I didn't have a huge problem finishing this, but there were too many times that I had to set the book down and yell "OMG no one cares about your stupid ghost! Do something interesting for a change!" that I simply cannot give this book 3 stars.

Fans of Rizzoli and Isles, don't pick this book up. It is not up to those standards. But for those of you who like paranormal romance, go for it, you might like it, but I’m still not sure I’d recommend it.

This isn’t the thriller I was expecting. Mainly because it’s not a thriller. I guess it’s romantic suspense? I usually don’t go for romance books, so I don’t know how I missed that in the description. But I wanted to try a Tess Gerritsen stand-alone, especially since I didn’t really care for two of her other immensely popular Rizzoli & Isles books that I read previously. But I think at the end of the day I’m just not the best fit for her work.

The main character, Ava, has the most ridiculous LadyJob™ I’ve seen in a while. It’s almost like Halmark movie levels of comical. She’s a cookbook writer that gets huge advances that lets her rent a mansion in Maine indefinitely because...lobster? And her editor is apparently the most understanding person in the publishing industry because she is a YEAR PAST HER DEADLINE and has given him barely anything, but he still drives hours to the house to gal-pal-chat and she actually gets mad at him for asking about the book. Like...come on. It’s a recipe book. Why she needs to ‘find herself’ in a Stephen King book setting and feed lumberjacks stroganoff in order to accomplish her “work” is beyond my comprehension. She’s also super snobby.

And truthfully, I’m not even sure this is considered romance. It’s a sexual relationship with a ghost. There’s a lot of these “sex scenes” littered through the book and they all made me feel...icky? They didn’t feel totally consensual and didn’t seem to serve any purpose to the plot besides the perceived transgressiveness, so I just started skimming them. The paranormal aspect was one of the interesting pieces of the story, but it never actually pans out. So much build up for literally nothing. Also, apparently everyone in this town is an inept townie and only Ava notices when a bunch of people have disappeared or died in the same geographical location for decades.

It wasn’t unreadable, but I didn’t like this much at all. Maybe I’m just the wrong audience. Oh well, it was a quick read, so not the biggest loss of time.

Wow what an incredible departure for this author and I absolutely loved it.
This was such a memorable book, the spooky atmosphere was so real, and I had to find another book to read in the wee hours of the night because this one was scary enough that I couldn’t sleep after being in its pages, which was just delicious to me.
I have to admit I had a little bit of a crush on Capt. Brody, And I’m not sure I’d have wanted to leave his house either.
There was a great mystery that needed to be solved as well and I didn’t see that ending till I was there.
I love it when my favorite authors take a chance on a new genre for them and this author definitely was up for the task. I am a fan!

I really love all of Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli and Isles series, so I was eager to read her new book, even knowing that it is not her usual crime mystery. This book was definitely very different! It is a paranormal mystery, dabbling into being gothic. Ava, the main character, has traveled to a small town in coastal Maine, escaping a tragedy in her past and determined to hit the reset button in her life. She moves into a large old home, Brodie’s Watch, a haunted mansion with a ghost that visits her at night. Ava wants to find out the truth about the ghostly visits so she seeks the previous occupant of the house, only to find that she has disappeared. And more disturbing is the fact that the townspeople disavow all knowledge of the woman. The characters in this novel were not very well-developed, with the exception of Ava and perhaps the ghostly Captain Brodie. This was not a light read and really was not for me, although I did make myself read it since I had committed to do so. There were too many plot elements that just did not seem to come together well. There was the ghost, Ava’s mysterious past, and women’s disappearances and possibly murder. I did like the men working in the turret of the old house; they were well portrayed as New Englanders with a hearty appetite for whatever Ava would cook for them. Ava was writing. a book about New England foods, so that added another plot element. I just was not enthralled with the whole paranormal thing, so I don’t think I want to read this book again or any other like it. Fans of paranormal mysteries may enjoy this book, but be warned that it is not Tess Gerritsen’s best book.

I've read many of Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles books and loved every one of them. This is not a Rizzoli and Isles book but it still has the flavor of one. The characters are well developed, comfortable in their settings so readers feel like they know them. The back story....well that's really different for this author. The Maine community, a small, very small, community, serves as the back drop to a Ghost & Mrs Muir setting with a very eerie twist. Tension builds, stories crumble and you will never guess what is going to happen. Great read all around.

Wow! Suspense with a side of creepy, Tess Gerritsen delivers plenty of it in The Shape Of Night. This book is well-written with a fantastic cast of characters. Ava is a food writer working on a new book of recipes. Her guilt has driven her to a different state where she rents a house for the summer. Ava's story is full of moments where readers will be telling her, "Don't do it!" There's lots of humor, spice and suspense along with a paranormal twist. I enjoyed reading The Shape Of Night and look forward to reading more from Tess Gerritsen soon. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

THE SHAPE OF NIGHT by Tess Gerettisen REVIEW posted Sept 11.

The Shape of Night
by Tess Gerritsen (Goodreads Author)

Ceelee Sunshine's review
Sep 06, 2019 · edit

it was amazing
bookshelves: 2019-books, arcs, ghost-stories, popular-fiction, suspense-mysteries

First, I want to thank NetGalley, Ballantine Books publisher and author Tess Gerritsen for the opportunity to read this book! It was a terrific reading experience! I really appreciate you all giving me a Chance to read the digital ARC THE SHAPE OF NIGHT in exchange for my honest review.

I am a huge fan of author Tess Gerritsen! I real everything she writes. Her books are amazing mysteries full of suspense and realistic detail that a doctor would know and understand. I was thrilled to be able to read her new book, THE SHAPE OF NIGHT because I love the purple cover and was intrigued by the story. I was even more excited when i started reading and discovered the novel is a great work of modern gothic which is a genre I LOVE and have been reading since my teenhood and college years. The story is basically about a food writer named Ava Colette who is having trouble with getting her latest book about New England food and cooking written so she goes to a coastal town in Maine and rents an old house called Brodie's Watch that is secluded near the ocean. Ava has her own demons to deal with not only with her writer's block but her guilt over her brother in law's death and a problem with excessive drinking. She loves the mansion on sight and has met some people in town including the resident and very popular doctor. She also encounters Brodie who built the house in the 19th century. He is a ghost (cool) and she begins to have a wild Fifty Shades-like affair whit him. She is also intrigued by the former renter's disappearance and begins to investigate what happened to her as well as others who have lived in the house. Pretty soon she is completely consumed by her sleuthing and her nightly visits with Brodie and she does not see the real danger she is in until it is almost too late.

I LOVED this book!@ It is different from her usual mysteries but it still has the suspense that we have come to expect from Ms Gerritsen. I got so caught up in the story I was staying up way too late reading the story of this woman who is complex and a little bit frustrating that she is so stubborn about talking to her sister and her alcoholism which she is obviously not dealing with and makes you wonder if a lot of what is happening to her is because she spends a lot of her day drinking. Definitely what is happening around her becomes real and dangerous and I won't reveal what happens but I sure didn't see that one coming either! I liked the idea of Brodie and I like to think he was real but was probably a figment of her poor besotted mind.

You all are so lucky to be able to read THE SHAPE OF NIGHT for the first time! It is a perfect read for autumn. I like her Rizzoli and Isles series as much as anyone but I also love seeing an author spread their wings and fly in another direction because it truly shows their gift and depth as an author. The story may be a little different but the great writing is still there, the plot and suspense builds form a ghost story to something threatening and dreadful. I hope you will like it as much as I did. :)

This was not at all what I expected, but in a good way! I am not a thriller/suspense reader usually but my patrons absolutely love the genre and I want to be able to recommend new titles to them, not just the same old ones that you see on all the lists. I love that this is a standalone as a reader and a librarian. Series are awesome but sometimes you just don't want to get invested. I will definitely be recommending this to my patrons. Love the local aspect too!