Rating: 
Summary: You've got to be kidding
Review: Evidently Patricia Cornwell believes that content doesn't matter anymore and environmentalists everywhere should be up in arms that even one tree was sacrificed to print this book. Ghosts from the past are resurrected so that new characters need not be created, the plot is contrived, bloody and boring, Kay is almost beyond redemption and Lucy should be in prison. I will not read the next book if this plot is continued and I have read them all.
Kay Scarpetta fans everywhere need to send a message that we want the original tough, smart, forensic marvel back.
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I was very disappointed by the story line. This was not up to the usual standard of the previous Kay Scarpetta novels that were created. It seems the author is lacking ideas to continue the trials of Dr. Scarpetta.
Rating:
Summary: Oh Please!
Review: One of the most disappointing books I've ever struggled to finish. Characters that had been nicely developed in previous books were portrayed poorly. I believe, though I can't be sure, that there is an attempt here to tie up loose ends from a prior book. I didn't feel anything was tied up, just dusted off so that there could be another book about them. Yes, there is a clear indication that another volume about the Chandonne family will be forthcoming.No stars at all if that were possible. There was absolutely NOTHING worthwhile here.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T READ THE REVIEWS if you plan to read the book!!!!
Review: If you've been reading the Kay Scarpetti books you'll read this one, too, despite the negative reviews. I have not read it, but I am sending a caution to those who plan to read it to STOP READING THESE REVIEWS, or to only read a couple and then stop. Why? Because some so-and-so gives away a major plot twist, that's why. I appreciate people who don't like a book and express their reasons without spoiling the plot for the rest of us, but I have zero patience for those who must be the first to tell the world WHAT HAPPENED! Please think before you write reviews for Amazon. Some us want to discover the twists and turns on our own.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good - ties up a lot of loose ends.
Review: I was leary of reading this because of all the negative reviews. My devotion to the series won out and I am really glad I read it. Cornwell takes a slightly different track, narrative-wise, in this book. We get to hear the thoughts of Lucy and Pete, as well as a few other characters. Through these narrations past behaviors are explained. Characters' actions in past books begin to make sense. As a result, I did not mind the trips the book takes down memory lane. Overall I felt they were very satisfying. This is definitely more of an action novel. Not much is written about science-wise. There are some stunning actions taken by some of the main characters and I can't wait to see what the consequences will be in future novels. Believe it or not, I recommend this one. Very satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointed
Review: I couldn't wait to read this book.(I have collected every one). I felt that the whole book was a huge disappointment in every way. Expecting the reader to believe that Kay's nearest and dearest would have treated her in such a fashion was laughable. Patricia, you should have let sleeping dogs lie. My advise - borrow it from the library. You will have wasted your money if you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Where are you going?
Review: I remember the time when the first "Kay Scarpetta" novel was on my coffee table and I couldn't resist to read one page, two pages, three pages ... until, like a drug addict ! I had to resist the temptation .... to finish the book in "almost" a few hours !! She was the incarnation of forensic sciences. She was the one (with Doctor Ryan of the BBC series Silent Witness) who later gave a female presence to crime scenes (think of all the tv series now) and, to me, Kay Scarpetta was a pioneer. Now, I am looking for her in the last novel written by P.Cornwell. She is there and at the same time she is not. I don't know if P. Cornwell wanted to write her book using the 24 Hours series structures. Imagine a screen divided into 4 parts and your have 4 stories narrated simultaneously. Where are you going Patricia ? I was asking myself. Where do you want to go with all that brutal language and cruel psychology ? NO ! That's not what makes a GOOD story. Don't need to read graphic perverse sexual aberrations (and I am open minded !), don't need to read gratuitous coarse language (don't worry, I use it myself). What I wanted was a solid plot, with intelligent crime solving techniques or hints, precise forensic presentations (notice please the plural). What I got was a implosion (not explosion!!) of old ideas, old plots, almost no surprises and a finale ,,, well that I had to read twice so I can realize that yes, I had understood the first time and, as we say in French, plouc ! fell like a rock in the water. Speaking of French, I am a French-speaking person and I was amazed, baffled, surprised, astonished and overall, I couldn't believe that there were so many mistakes in the French that was used in the book. I am no writer, so be indulgent with my English but if I were to write a book and get hundreds of thousands of dollars for it, I would check in a simple dictionnary that the word "cave" in French is a feminine word LA CAVE and not LE CAVE and that the word "imbecile" in French is written with an accent "imbécile" ,,, and I could go on ...
Sorry for the long post but if you want a suggestion Amazon, sell this book with a 50% off. That's its value , and I am so sorry for that.
Rating:
Summary: blow off
Review: This book was engaging but annoying. Too much like the Dallas season opener where we find out it was a bad dream. Resurecting past characters they way Cornwell did was silly. But I would have still said read it if it hadn't been for the ending. I was listening on tape and at the end I felt maybe I had skipped a tape. Was I missing something??? I still feel like I didn't get my "monies worth" in this novel.
Rating:
Summary: I'm Sorry I Spent the Money to Buy This Book
Review: I have been an avid fan of the Scarpetta series and enthusiastically recommended these books to friends. My only word of caution was "They are so good, you'll have to keep reminding yourself that Scarpetta isn't a real person." Now I have to ask...did Patricia Cornwell write this book? Where are these beloved characters? I couldn't find them. What happened to the intelligent, strong, opinionated, decisive Kay Scarpetta? Where is the brash Lucy who's secure in her sexuality, something thrown about here like dice in a craps game. And an assassin? Please. Then there's Marino, less than his methodical yet sure self. All, though, pawns in the hands of Jean Baptiste Chandonne and Wesley Benton. Ms. Cornwell can do us all a favor and dispense with Jean Baptiste, Wesley and Rudy in the first couple of pages of the next book. I won't even mind if she describes the weaponry ad nauseum. Wesley is a boring, plodding character who has betrayed Kay in love and life, someone undeserving of so much as a passing glance from her. I'm beginning to wish for a Scarpetta/Marino pairing. He is, I'm convinced, the only man who has ever truly loved her. Has Cornwell also paid no attention to her timeline? In "Postmortem", Kay is 40 years old, established when she's traveling to Lori Peterson's crime scene and thinking about the killer most likely being less than her (Scarpetta's) 40 years. Lucy is 10. By "Blowfly", however, Lucy has aged 18 years to her aunt's 6. How is that? Will someone point me to that fountain of youth? Lucy pointedly tells her aunt in "Blowfly" that she (Lucy) is 28, and in another place reminds Kay that she (Scarpetta) is still a "package" at 46. Shouldn't Kay be 58 years old? I understand artistic license, but shaving 12 years off Scarpetta's age is unbelievable. If these were stand-alone novels, this wouldn't bother me at all, but Ms. Cornwell has decided to write Scarpetta in serial fashion. Given that 6-year time span, Wesley Benton would have had to have been "killed off" in "Postmortem", since in "Blowfly" he's been "dead" 6 years. Ah well, since there is nothing consistent with these individuals in "Blowfly" when compared to their previous characterizations, one cannot expect consistency with smaller details. I will add my voice to others when I say I will wait to read the reviews of the next one before I waste another dollar. Ms. Cornwell, did you simply think "it was time" for another Scarpetta novel? Is that why this one was knocked off? Next time - please wait until you hear the strong, sure voice of Kay Scarpetta speaking to you before you attempt to put her story to paper once more.
Rating:
Summary: Cornwell's worst yet
Review: If you loved the "old" Kay Scarpetta novels by Cornwell (as I did!), you will find this one the biggest disappointment yet. I kept reading, thinking that it HAD to get interesting, but no dice. It was almost as if the author had to adhere to a set number of pages, then suddenly realized she only had 5 pages to go, so wrapped up the story quickly & inefficiently. The book was a waste of my money & time. I think I'll just stick with Kathy Reichs and determine that Cornwell has "lost" her past talent.
|
