Book Review ~ Playing with Fire

Playing with Fire is a gripping stand alone novel by Tess Gerritsen; 

which asks the question; 

Imagine if you were home alone and your three-year-old daughter violently attacked you?

From the inside jacket:

A beautiful violinist is haunted by a very old piece of music she finds in a strange antique shop in Rome. The first time Julia Ansdell picks up the Incendio Waltz,she knows it’s a strikingly unusual composition. But while playing the piece, Julia blacks out and awakens to find her young daughter implicated in acts of surprising violence. And when she travels to Venice to find the previous owner of the music, she uncovers a dark secret that involves dangerously powerful people—a family who would stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the truth to light. Julia doesn’t understand what is happening to her daughter, but she thinks she knows what’s causing it. She is terrified for Lily, and for herself, but what scares her more is that no one believes her. If she is going to help Lily, she will have to find the answers alone, embarking on a search that will take her half way around the world, to Venice. There, Julia uncovers a heart breaking, long buried tale of tragedy and devastation – a discovery that puts her in serious danger. Some people will do anything in their power to keep the truth silent... whatever the cost. 

We meet Julia in Italy, where she buys an old piece of sheet music titled Incendio by an L. Todesco, whom she’s never heard of.  When she play's the composition at home in the U.S., Lily her 3 year-old daughter appears to go crazy. Does the music possess an evil quality? Or does the problem lie within Julia herself, as her husband, Rob, thinks? 

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. She flies to Italy to try to learn more about the music’s origin.  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.  In a parallel story, we meet the young violist Lorenzo Todesco in 1940's Italy. As the plotlines converge, people die, and Julia places herself and others in mortal danger. 

This stand-alone novel is masterfully written as are many of her other novels. Her imagination that allows her to conjure up depths of human behavior so dark and frightening are a must read for those who love mystery.

Readers who have been debating whether to read one of her novels, or those who are looking for a gripping historical tale, shouldn't worry about being burned. 

 Take Care