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    Playing with Fire: A Novel
    Playing with Fire: A Novel
    Playing with Fire: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)4 hours

    Playing with Fire: A Novel

    Written by Tess Gerritsen

    Narrated by Julia Whelan and Will Damron

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In a masterful standalone thriller by New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles series, Tess Gerritsen, a mother is haunted by a very old piece of music she finds in a strange antique shop in Rome.

    The first time violinist Julia Ansdell picked up the Incendio Waltz in a darkened antique shop in Rome, she knew it was a strikingly unusual composition. The minor key and complex feverish arpeggios have a life of their own. But when she plays the piece, Julia blacks out and awakens to find her small daughter implicated in acts of surprising violence. When she travels to Venice to find the previous owner of the music, she uncovers a heart-stoppingly dark secret that not only dates back to the horrors of the Holocaust, but also directly involves a dangerously powerful family who would stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the truth to light.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 27, 2015
    ISBN9781511306997
    Playing with Fire: A Novel
    Author

    Tess Gerritsen

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    Reviews for Playing with Fire

    4/5

    303 ratings45 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Engaging storyline and well performed. I look forward to more from this author

    • 5/5
      I LOVED IT!!! Couldn’t put it down! Great twist ending!
    • 3/5
      Tess garrison’s writing was good but didn ‘t care for the story
    • 5/5
      The music and story will claim your heart. The twists and turns will surprise you.
    • 5/5
      Ok, I really nearly loved this book. Maybe my expectations were too low and that made it better for me. There were twists and turns and a tragic love story and WWII and a possibly murderous little kid. I couldn't stop reading and I very much enjoyed the resolution.

      It's not out until the end of October but if you like mysteries and thrillers, you may want to put it on your list.

      I'd give it 4.5 if I could.
    • 5/5
      One of the best books I have read this year! Just read it.
    • 4/5
      Playing with Fire is an amazing read that is hard to put down, with an incredible and emotional storyline.
    • 2/5
      A mothers mental disturbance with a potential haunted piece of music (potentially haunted by the emotional pain of Italian Jewish lovers from the Holocaust), not my favourite Gerritsen.
    • 4/5
      It seems a bit cheap to use the Holocaust as a back story for mysterious goings on, but in fact this sort of sideways glance at it is more interesting than the cover story. I've been to Venice and never really got a feel of the place. This is part of its history. I suppose it feels a bit Dan Brownish.
    • 3/5
      As usual, Tess Gerritsen doesn't fail to engage the reader and suck them into the world created in her pages. I liked the way she formed the characters and detailed their backgrounds. However, I felt that the book seemed cut short. As if she decided to just wrap up the book and left a lot of open ended questions. While the book had a lot of promise in the beginning, I felt it ended too abruptly.
    • 3/5
      Thank you to Librarything for a copy of this book from their giveaway program. Tess GerritSen is always a good read and she does not disappoint with this book.I love historical fiction and a mystery and this book delivers both of these genres. This book takes place both in Italy and the United States. It also takes place in present day and during World War II. The story revolves around a piece of music that was bought in an antique store in Rome. This is not atypical Tess Gerrit Sen novel but as a masterful storyteller it works quite well and kept me turning the pages!
    • 3/5
      I continue to read Tess Gerritson because I liked her early work quite a lot. The Surgeon is the one I remember best. Her most recent books have not appealed nearly as much.In Playing with Fire a child seems to be influenced in a terrible way by a piece of music her mother plays on the violin. Before we can resolve this, we learn of the history of the piece, and mom investigates, presumably to find the truth as well. Then things get crazy - murder and mayhem. The plot takes a ridiculous turn to explain the violence before the final resolution of the original mother and child conflict. It was all too much for me.
    • 3/5
      Playing with Fire is both interesting and thought provoking, although you need to wait until near the end to get the payoff. The story tugs at your emotions. The downside is that the plot doesn't flow particularly well and there lack enough nuggets to keep driving the reader forward. I stopped reading this several times and considered abandoning it at one point. I'm glad I didn't, because the ending was worth it, but it is not a perfect work. Still, it is entertaining and the characters are the best part.
    • 4/5
      Julia buys a book of music while in Italy and in the book is a sheet of music called Incendio. It is a waltz and she is anxious to play it. When she plays, her daughter has a reaction to it. Julia thinks her daughter is trying to kill her. She embarks on a journey to find the author of this beautiful, haunting song. She travels to Venice and finds there is a family who wants to keep a dark secret and will stop at nothing to keep it.
    • 4/5
      I recieved this book in exchange for a review. I love Tess Gerritsens' books. I have never been disappointed and the same is true for "Playing with Fire". This is a perfect read as Halloween approaches. I found the story spooky, intriguing and captivating. I loved the historical aspect as well. The story goes back and forth between today and 1938-1944. It's amazing how great a story that can be told around a single sheet of music. This book is definately worth the time to read.
    • 2/5
      I love Tess Gerritsen books, but unfortunately not this one. It started slow and never picked up. I kept thinking that it would catch my interest, but it never did.
    • 2/5
      Let me just say that I love Tess Gerritsen's writing and have read and enjoyed pretty much all of her books. That said I have to say that I just couldn't get into this book. I found it slow and boring, actually annoying to the point that I didn't get past the 4th chapter.I don't usually like to review books until I finish them but I've picked this book back up twice and just can't get into it so I've given it to someone else as I know I'm not going to pick it up again.
    • 4/5
      I love Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles books so I was excited to read this stand-alone book also. Had I known that this book was so different I probably wouldn't have read it - and that would have been my loss. The book handles a very difficult subject with grace and sensitivity. While I'm not into reading history, this book completely sucked me in. Once I started reading it you couldn't have taken the book away from me if you tried. I'm so glad I gave the book a try. Bravo, Ms Gerritsen!
    • 4/5
      A musician buys a book of gypsy music while in Italy. An unpublished waltz falls out of the book. When she begins to play the music, strange things happen to her. She searches and finds that the music was written by an Italian Jew during WW II and finally gives him his due while trying to escape her own demons and someone who is after her. Well done. Action from beginning to end. You will not want to put it down - I didn't - I read it in one day. The book touches on the fate of Italian Jews during WWII, which is not a group you hear very much about.
    • 5/5
      A love story, yes, but not a romance novel. Set both in modern times, and during World War II, this story is much more. It's a tale about the power of music, compassion, death, love, intrigue to name a few. This is at it's most basic, an excellent book!
    • 4/5
      While I can’t say I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed the other books I have read by her (switching genres can be a smidge strange when you are used to one kind of genre from an author and that kind alone) it was just as well-written as every other book I have ever read by her. Getting into the two plots that run side by side in the story wasn’t as easy as I had hoped but after a bit I got into the swing of it. And while I would definitely warn anyone who liked the Rizzoli and Isles books that this is an entirely different story? I could see myself recommending this book to people who I thought may enjoy the plot.
    • 3/5
      A stand alone book by the author of the Rizzoli and Isles series. It spans back to WWII, so while there's a bit of historical fiction to it, there's some mystery too.
    • 5/5
      I admire an author that steps out of the comfort zone of their popular series to right a free standing book. This one is maybe a tiny bit too "woo hoo" for my taste, but as always with Ms. gerritsen, a very well written book. Recommended for fan and new readers alike.
    • 4/5
      Julia discovers a piece of violin music in a Rome antique shop. As she plays the music, her young daughter seemingly becomes violent, hurting first the cat and then Julia herself. During WWII, a young man is sent to a concentration camp, where he plays music to drown out the noise and screams from the crematorium. As Julia uncovers more about the music’s origin’s she grows more and more unsettled.This was a well written and engaging book. It was hard to put down. My mind kept going back and forth making up explanation for the music and its effect. Overall, well worth picking up!
    • 5/5
      This one of the best tess gerritsen books to come along in a while . I love the story and the charactors. Highly recommend this book
    • 5/5
      I think this has been my favorite Tess Gerritsen novel in a while. This flowed so nicely. Who would think that music could cause someone to do bad things. How would you feel if you thought your own daughter was trying to harm you. This book had a lot of twists and turns. I never knew where it was going to lead next. I loved it. Look forward to more of these.
    • 4/5
      Playing with Fire is about a piece of music...the Incendio waltz. Julia Ansdell finds the music in an antiques shop while visiting Rome. She plays the music when home and it seems to have an effect on her young daughter causing her to act unlike herself. Julie begins to research the origins of the music and finds out about its composer and his tragic story.Such a good read! Loved the story, loved the intertwining of the story of Julia, Lorenzo, Laura, and the persecution of the Jewish people. Great ending!!!
    • 5/5
      An unusual story from Gerritson. Can a piece of music be cursed? Can just the playing of it change someone from sweet and gentle to psychotic?
    • 5/5
      I found this book to be a great read with both mystery and history mixed together in two different countries. While this story is fiction, it weaves a lot of history throughout the narrative. It also helps to give the reader not only a small sense of what it was like to live in Europe during World War II, but what it was like to be Jewish in Europe during World War II. It does all this, while at the same time, mixing in a mystery that connects that past to today's present. A very interesting and thought provoking book.
    • 5/5
      Haughting. A sad story that must always be told.