Rating: 
Summary: Its not the worst, OK?!
Review: ....it's just not quite up to par with the rest of the series. I got the book for christmas, and, as you can see by the date, read it immediatly. If you're a Scarpetta fan, you should read this, because some good things do happen and some things get explained that aren't covered in previous novels.
HOwever, I was disappointed, both by the plot (sorry, the hairy creep is getting old) and by the way all the characters, both new and old were written. Nobody has any fire, or seems to really care whats going on. Scarpetta, she seems tired of it all. Marino, the lovable grouch, is simply sloppy and mean. Lucy, instead of being the super intellegent uber-babe she was before, now just seems lost.
The plot is very spotty, actually kind of hard to follow cause it jumps around so much. The ending was very poorly edited, almost like the editor felt it was taking to long to get to the point and decided to cut a few whole chapters, leaving gapping holes that had the finale feeling flat. The last two chapters were like, after waiting for the fireworks, somebody shoots a popgun with a flag that says "BANG".
I have read everything Cornwell has written (some of it twice) and know how well she can write. This addition to the series seems like she is just trying to please her fans who are hollering for a new Scarpetta novel every 6 months. Personally, I would gladly wait a couple years for a new one, if only for the story to be a little more fresh and thought out, and the characters to be a little more like themselves, or at least growing with the series.
I still look forward for the next Cornwell novel, be it Scarpetta or not. The women has a talent, just not with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: AWFUL! The worst!
Review: I must tell you I looked forward to the release of this book with great anticipation. I was never SO disappointed by a book in my life!! I am (was?) a great Scarpetta fan, and this time I just could not wait for a paperback edition because in the last book I was left hanging with what would happen to Scarpetta after the final upheavals in her life, losing her love, being forced to leave her job and her house at the same time, not knowing what will happen next...well, I'd be better left hanging, let me tell you!
This book does not even TRY to follow the steps of the great, wonderful previous books! Everything is sadly bi-dimensional, the whole thing does not belong to its characters anymore, Scarpetta herself plays a SMALL, sad, wimpy second-hand role, her life does not make sense, friend and foe around her appear flat, lifeless and downright ridiculous most of the time.
Cornwell tries to catch some loose ends from previous plots, messing up everything, trying to tie ends at every cost, mindless of the style of the first, successful books. Old characters whose complex personalities we've learned to love are here introduced with few words and left there, lost and lifeless, almost ludicrously preposterous, meaningless. New characters that show promise are never developed, and remain in the background forever, some old that were considered pivotal before are mysteriously left out.
Plotlines that show promise are abandoned in favour of very silly ones introduced only to squash things together to make them fit somehow: awful.
I REALLY and SERIOUSLY wonder if the person who wrote this book is the same writer of the previous ones: it just does not fit.
I also agree with some reviewers about the ENDING of the plot: this is the most enraging thing of the whole book...where was the editor?!? Did somebody - anybody - realize that a very complex situation, one that previously required *a couple of books* to be successfully delineated is brought to an end in less than 10 pages!!!!! Basically we are left with a list of people who died or were killed (without spoilers for the next unlucky reader, the list contains a repetition of dialogue such "Did you kill him? I had to"), without spending few words on a confrontation that is brewing from two books before (at least)! It was so depressing, I saw the pages left to read and could NOT believe that things would be brought to an end before the last page, but thanks to an appalling editing of what I suppose was a load of pages, all the loose ends are crammed and tied in a couple of pages where a bare, boring list of dead bodies is deemed enough to satisfy the reader's thrilling suspense - what thrill, what suspense, WHAT READER?
I'm still shocked I paid full hardcover price for an appallingly depressing book that did a good job of ruining my fascination with previously well defined individuals I came to love, reducing them to two-dimensional puppets that APPEAR to be named after the characters I knew but actually do not have everything to do with them.
Depressing, I will not buy the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Eh...its ok?
Review: I've been a devoted fan of Cornwell's work from the beginning. With that said, I thought this book should never have been written. The way she brought past events into the storyline made no sense and the characters were superficial. How do you explain the tie-up of the Talley & Chandonne characters? How does Lucy go from being a computer geek to somekind of superspy vigilante? And Marino..he used to have some really good depth to his character, now it seems like he's comic relief. Would someone please explain how can you bring back a character like Wesley on such a lame premise?!? C'mon Cornwell, stay true to your fans, don't just write a book to make money.
Rating:
Summary: it SUCKED
Review: This was one of the most self indulgent pieces of garbage i have ever suffered through. her reputation is shattered!. previous novels were excellent (except the Andy Brazil series) but even in the last couple, Cornwell's ego started to dominate her good judgement. this book is filled with needless ego boosts for the characters and the author. it appears cornwell was either intoxicated or lazy. either way do not pick up this book and pray that her editor gets the guts to tell her to clean up her act before she tries writing again. the story was also absolutely incredulous and read more like James Bond. Unfortunately Kathy Reichs will be left to dominate the Genre until Cornwell finds her marbles!
Rating:
Summary: The worst
Review: I read Isle of Dogs and thought it was the worst book that Cornwell ever wrote. Move over Isle, Blow Fly has you beaten by a mile. At least I was able to finish Isle of Dogs, but I will never finish this one. I wish I had read all the reviews first at this site before I wasted my time and money.
Rating:
Summary: In a word: Disappointing
Review: I love Patricia Cornwell, I began reading her books because I enjoy thrillers and live in VA, making it easy to follow along. But the last few Scarpetta books have gone down hill. The latest, Blow Fly was horrible. I could normally get through a Cornwell novel in a day, it took me 2 weeks to get through Blow Fly and then the end felt like it was rushed, as though she was pushing to make a deadline. If this is the kind of Scarpetta novels we can expect in the future, she should just save it, I won't buy the next!
Rating:
Summary: This book is garbage
Review: This is the first Scarpetta novel I've read since Cruel and Unusual several years ago. It stinks. The plot is totally implausible, and none of the characters is developed to any degree. I felt as if all of the important action (with one major exception about halfway through) happened before the book began or offstage. In addition, Cornwell seems to have got into the habit of suffusing every scene between two women with erotic tension. Yet even that theme, if it is one, goes nowhere. Cornwell was either under incredible time pressure when she wrote this or has become sick of her characters. Her editor should have sent this one back.
Rating:
Summary: Who wrote this book ??!!
Review: I will never believe that Patricia Cornwell wrote this book. It went everywhere, yet absolutely nowhere. I'm sick of the Chandonne story line, that we clearly will be hearing from again. I'm also sick of writers having people come back from the dead, just to keep a story going. Not to mention having prisoners easily escape from maximum security prisons, just to make room for a sequal. Do you mean to tell us that prison guards let dangerous prisoners, with "Nothing to lose", out of handcuffs BEFORE they are safely locked in their cell ?? Please....give readers credit.
The new twist with Lucy's behavior was beyond disappointing. I have been a Cornwell fan from the beginning and like another reader said, felt like throwing this book against the wall after coming to it's end, which by the way, was not the end. Will the real Patricia Cornwell please write us another book and dump the Chandonne's while she's at it?
Rating:
Summary: Where Oh Where Has Patricia Gone?
Review: -and my husband went out of his way to get an autographed copy of this novel for me for Christmas! I have loved all of the Scarpetta romps and intrigues but this one left me feeling that Cornwell has done a big injustice to her lead character. I actually didn't mind the first two-thirds of the novel. I thought Cornwell did a fairly decent job of describing the sub-plots and that she intertwined them quite well. But the ending......oh my goodness. I felt utterly ripped off. So much time was spent throughout the book on the Jay Talley and his sidekick, Bev's, gruesome shenanigans and virtually no time given to their come uppins. I, also, thought that the new character, Nic, would and should have been far more developed throughout the story. Ms. Cornwell is going to have to do a much more credible job next time to redeem herself. Perhaps the character who is so ridiculously on the loose at the end of this novel could be knocked off within the first few pages and then a new storyline created. That would be a treat, wouldn't it? Let's get some energy back into Kay as well. I also want to say that it's a shame when reviewers actually give away events in their reviews (I hope I haven't done that). Often reviews are read by people who have not yet read the book and it's too bad when major events are revealed in the reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Too Bad
Review: Always anxiously waiting for her latest novel, I was truly disappointed with this incredibly bad novel. Sorry, it was a disjointed story with an ultimate insult when he walks out of deathrow? So predictable and not even believable. The last two books I read were so disappointing. It'll take a really inspiring tale to get me to buy another one of her novels. Too bad.
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