Rating: 
Summary: Patricia Cornwell, PUL-EAZE--
Review: Let me start off this review with the fact that I have loved the Kay Scarpetta novels from the beginning, but this book just did not grab me. I am used to the heroine being a strong, independent woman, and in this novel, Kay is just plain weak and whiny. She goes from being a depressed woman whose intimate companion has been killed to just plain pathetic. The case is easily closed, and I had it solved within the first 50 pages. I have no empathy for the character anymore. She cries to anybody who will hear her, and is not at all the character she once was-- someone who has a genuine interest in helping her victims obtain justice.Also, while I have no problem with the homosexual views presented in the other novels. Every female in this installment is, or may be gay, which simply does not mirror standard life. While I realize that Ms. Cornwell is gay, having all female characters examine their sexual identity is not at all believable. Kay has always been an individual who is firm in her self-image, and I was disappointed to see her struggle with her idea of herself. What's next? A novel in which Kay comes out? Pul-ease. . . Again, I stress the fact that I genuinely enjoy Patricia Cornwell's novels. I've read and re-read them for the past six years, and have eagerly awaited each new installment, but "The Last Precinct" definitely left me wanting. Ms. Cornwell, please go back to your roots in "Body of Evidence," "Postmortem," and "From Potter's Field."
Rating: 
Summary: Scarpetta Fans Watch Out!
Review: Scarpetta fans beware. Once you start this book you will not want to put in down until you are have it completed. By far Patricia Cromwell's best work to date. This book picks up where Black Notice leaves off. Fans of Scarpetta who have read Black Notice will appreciate this book even more than those who did not read it. The book starts with the Scarpetta in legal trouble. She is accused of the murder of Captain Bray. This book will change the future for Scarpetta. I highly reccommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding suspense and excellent writing
Review: Patricia Cornwell's last book "Black Notice" left me, as many of her other fans, a bit disappointed. There was less of the usual complexity, the unexpected twists and turns in the plot, the richness of the characters. Like her heroine, Kay Scarpetta, the reader had not recovered from Benton Wesley's death, and Black Notice offered no relief, not many explanations and no insight into Kay's dealing with the loss of her lover. In "the last precinct" we finally get all of the above and much more. It is a very gratifying book on every level. We find out many new sides to Kay's character and revisit her relationship with Wesley on the backgound of a harrowing tale that picks up where the last book left off. It seamlessly leads us into a complex darkness we suspected but did not find in "Black Notice" where solutions seemed too obvious to be really true. As the story races on and we are drawn in deeper and deeper we realize that "Black Notice" was really the beginning of another great multi-novel story as Cornwell has crafted before when she created the evil Temple Gault character, Kay's nightmare that ended in a NY subway. Cornwell also skillfully builds new charcters on the good side of events: there is the prosecutor from New York and the psychiatrist friend who we will undoubtedly meet again. At the end of this extremely involving and suspenseful story we are once more, as in her best books so far, left craving for more and wondering where Kay will go next and what darkness lies around the corner.
Rating:
Summary: One of her best yet!
Review: This book is one of Patricia Cornwell's best yet! It does start out a bit slow, however it eventually picks up and takes the reader down an incredibly exciting path. The book provides us with a rare peek into the vulnerabilities and the tortured mind of Kay Scarpetta, could this is any way be a reflection into Patricia Cornwell's mind? Anyways, this book takes the reader in a new direction, one involving Kay Scarpetta(no more hints). You will have to buy it to read it to find out more-it is well worth it! I eagerly await the next installment to see where her life takes us next...
Rating: 
Summary: "It ain't over till it's over"
Review: That's a quote from Yogi (Lawrence Peter) Berra. I verified it in my Bartlett's Familiar Quotations - which is a really handy book to have around - Who knew his name was Lawrence Peter? - but, unfortunately, that's not what I'm reviewing right now. As I said in a recent review of another book, my quandary with serials is that, unless one is more patient than I - and can therefore wait for all the books to be available to read in one continuous marathon, one must recall who was whom, and who did what with/to whom etc. etc. from the last installment(s.) Waiting for an entire series to be complete is inconsistent with my philosophy that life is uncertain: eat dessert first! - that is, if one is allowed dessert - which I am not - see my review of Dr. Atkins' "New Diet Revolution." But, I intentionally digress again. (When one is reviewing this newest Cornwell, procrastination and digression are a good thing and perhaps the better part of valor.) Patricia Cornwell's latest installment in the saga of Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, family, friends, and various evil-doers is merely OK. I have done other things since reading the previous installment (including reading some of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan and therefore getting my " female Quincy" sagas mixed up.) So, I was frequently left foundering on this heavy, self-introspective and self-indulgent trip. There's more trouble in sight at the end of this book (like the irksome notice on the screen of a TV show that says "To Be Continued") and by the time it comes out I will be equally adrift (sigh.) Gee, I don't remember having this much confusion years ago with the Nancy Drew books!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Yet
Review: I absolutely loved this book. It was wonderful to explore the thoughts and psyche of Scarpetta. I'll admit that it took a good 30-40 pages to hook me then I couldn't put it down. After, I finished reading it I had to go back and read Black Notice again, and now I'm reading this one for a second time. I highly recommend it
Rating: 
Summary: Different, but that's not a bad thing
Review: The latest installment in the Scarpetta series offers a bit of a departure from previous books, which is sure to throw off those fans who want to read about an autopsy in every chapter. Scarpetta is much more vulnerable and for much of the book has little or no conrol over anything going on around her. She is trying to solve crimes while at the same time trying to save her reputation and career. Never before has her life been in such an uproar. She is still dealing with the death of Benton too. The first 150 or so pages are VERY different from what we are used to reading. It's pretty strange to see Kay in such a wreck. Once you get used to this however, she becomes much more interesting as you learn that she is not invincible. It does appear that Kay's life and career may take a new direction on the next book, but that is just a guess. If so, I am sure that Scarpetta's Richmond will be relieved that it is no longer crawling with Serial Killers and plagued with more snowy days than any other town south of Canada (Cornwell has it snowing waayyy too often in Richmond). Disappointments? The ending was wrapped up too quickly. On the other hand, she does trick you for a page or so after the climax. I saw an interview with Cornwell around January or February in which she talked about working on an archaeological dig in Jamestown. She led me to believe that Scarpetta would be investigating a centuries-old murder. I believe that early press releases about the book indicate this too. I just got a Crown book catalog in which it says that Scarpetta is investigating an ancient murder in Jamestown, but in the book Scarpetta doesn't ever go tot he dig. I guess that whole storyline was edited out. Hopefully it will be used later on.
Rating:
Summary: If you don't want to know how the book ends, don't read this
Review: I too have read all of Cornwell's novels and have loved themall. I preordered The Last Precinct and started reading the day itarrived. I enjoyed getting to know Dr. Scarpetta a little betterthrough her conversations with Anna. I think Cornwell spent a littletoo much time talking about Kay's sexuality and whether she wasattracted to various females we've read about in previous books. Ialso don't mind that it was more of a sequel than a stand-alone bookas Cornwell's novels have been. What I didn't like was the end....Maybe I missed something here. I hope Cornwell goes back to heroriginal style of writing with more action and suspense. Overall thiswas a good book. It just seemed to fall to pieces at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Kay humanized and dehumanized, past murders explained
Review: Being a long-time reader of Patricia Cornwell and especially Dr. Kay Scarpetta books, I was waiting with baited breath for this one, as I'm sure a lot of readers were. I was glad for the somewhat slow beginning, but one that shows Kay as a human being, rather than this ultra-perfect, untouchable medical investigator who never sleeps or celebrates any holidays. Murder doesn't respect holidays or human life. After Kay's lover's murder, she just threw herself into work. The Last Precinct gives Kay a beginning where she can cry -- yes, Dr. Scarpetta can actually cry! -- and look inward at her own suffering, instead of only other people's suffering. Murder continues in Kay's life, and she has to continue being a medical investigator, even while she is being investigated as a perpetrator of the very crimes she has to investigate. The surprise ending brings back Benton's murder and police deputy chief Diane Bray's murder, both from Cornwell's last Scarpetta book, Point of Origin. The ending puts the murders and other aspects of Kay's life in perspective, as Kay's professional life changes forever. A must read for those who have learned to love Kay Scarpetta from Cornwell's other books. The book is still a little slow in the reading, and would be a hard read for someone new to Scarpetta, although the end to the so-called Werewolf murders and a look inside Kay's life keeps those familiar with the series moving along in the book. I guessed correctly who was behind the murders about three-quarters of the way into the book, but I didn't make all the connections, and I'm not sure someone unfamiliar with this series would have been able to figure it out. I was a bit disappointed that I was able to guess the ending, but I still liked the book. Cornwell still remains my favorite crime novelist, and Kay my favorite protagonist!
Rating:
Summary: A Shifting of Gears
Review: I really enjoyed this book; some of the things the negative reviews don't like are just what I enjoyed. I think its obvious that Kay is going to begin a new chapter in her life, and this book wraps up a lot of loose ends in Richmond but still has an interesting mystery at its core. Its not surprising that she seems less spunky and spirited and so mentally drained in this novel because, well, she's just been raked over the coals emotionally too many times. How she has survived not only the horror she sees daily but the horror that has occured to her personally has been a mystery, and her "burning out" is a logical evolution of her life. Yet the door opens to a great new chapter in her life in New York (hopefully) and a few strings are left untied, so the auther can completely shift gears and open up many new story lines for Kay. I suspect, or maybe its just wishful thinking, that her new friend Jamie will become a "regular" and we could even see her own books in the future!
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