Southern Cross

Rating:
Summary: Southern Cross
Review: This is the eleventh book by Patricia Cornwell that I have read, and can easily say this work is not worth the trees used to print it. The story makes very little sense and is not truly believable. Overuse of the f-word makes one wonder if Cornwell was at a loss for suitable words, and certainly takes away from the book. Ms. Cornwell should stick with Scarpetta and forensics, which she does so well. This particular book is not worth anyone's time.

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Summary: Cornwell vs. Cornwall
Review: I am enjoying reading the Kay Scarpetta series, and I enjoy reading the reviews that people send in, but many people in the reviews I have read refer to her incorrectly as Patricia Cornwall. The correct spelling is Cornwell, I am not pointing this out to be rude, I just thought people might want to know the correct spelling of her name. Thanks.

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Summary: This book has nothing to do with the Confederacy
Review: I bought this book thinking it was another "Kay Scarpetta" mystery, and the title was intriguing since it suggested there was some Civil War angle involved. Wrong! This book has nothing to do with the Confederacy or the Civil War, and the Confederate battle flag has nothing whatever to do with the plot of this book, other than as a bumper decoration on the truck of one of the characters, a pathetic shmuck named (I'm not making this up) But "Bubba" Fluck. There's a sociopathic teenage gangsta named "Smoke" and for most of the book I couldn't figure out if this kid is black or white. Cornwell doesn't tell us. She is in deep writer's POV, and her "white" characters look at this kid and think he is a "clean-cut teenager" but don't notice his race, which must mean that he's white, because white people never notice that other people are white. But, you would think think that one of the black characters, like "Weed", staying in Cornwell's deep writer's POV, would then muse, "why does this scary WHITE kid have such a hold over me?" I guess the mystery of this book is figuring out if this book is supposed to be serious or a comedy. I guess Cornwell wanted to write comedy but can't do it in the Scarpetta series because there's nothing funny about cutting open dead bodies. So she wrote this book, full of dumb pathetic rednecks like Mr. Fluck, teenage hoodlums of indeterminate race and pets who think like humans. This is what happens when an author knows that her book is headed for the top of the bestseller list no matter how crappy it is and she receives an advance that is larger than the combined gross national product of most third world countries. Joke's on us!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: After several tries, I could not finish this book. I have read all of Patricia Cornwell's previous books and expected some continuation of her captivating Scarpetta series. This book seemed like she was working in another direction, many directions, but perhaps I didn't hang in there long enough to see it pulled together. It is rare than I do not finish a book I begin. If this would have been the first Cornwell book I read, it would definitely have been the last. I eagerly await the release of Cornwell's new books, but this one was a real disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: I guess I'm not alone here
Review: This is one of the worst books I've ever read. All i wanted was a quick, entertaining read, and this book couldn't even give me that. Not only is the plot weak, it doesn't even make sense. Pets think, but not for any particular reason. Cornwall gives her characters tragic pasts that have no bearing on the plot and really don't pass as character development. A teeneager who is ignorant outside the disciplines of painting and marching band hacks into a national Com Stat system through AOL (is NYC's Com Stat even national, much less online?). Cigarettes are $12 a pack for some reason. There are meaningless subplots that trail off into the swamps. If this was Cornwall's idea of a joke, it wasn't funny. At least I didn't pay for it, but I did waste a few hours reading it all the way through just to see if it somehow came together. it didn't. If the price slashing for this title didn't clue you in, this book isn't worth the four minutes I just spent writing this review. Consider yourself warned.

Rating:
Summary: Is it a comedy?
Review: The characters were caricatures! Dig the names of the main players....Bubba Fluck (nicknamed Butt Fluck....yes...seriously!)Smudge (BF's friend), Smoke (gang leader), Weed(secret genius disguised as typical neglected kid), Dog, Sick, Divinity, Pigeon? And then the police officers....Hammer, West, Brazil....and what about the 2 lady cop's pets and the human qualities they took on? I couldn't quite figure out if this story was tongue in cheek or finger in throat. Anyway, the story just barely scraped together at the last chapter.....and then there were still frayed edges. I would say if you haven't started this book, move on....

Rating:
Summary: Page Turner
Review: But only so you can try to figure out what on earth is going on with the three simultaneous stories. The result? Bad. Not worth the time to read. I've been a big fan of Patricia Cornwells to date but was extremely dissapointed with this one.

Rating:
Summary: Southern Cross Slow Read
Review: I was very dissappointed in this novel, I found it difficult to finish reading the book. Character development was almost non-existant. One of the worst books I have ever read by Patricia Cornewll.

Rating:
Summary: Not her best work
Review: Unfortunately Corwell is not up to her usual high standard with this book. The characters seem unfeeling and morose, and the plot was thin. It seems to me that this series has hit a definite road block and needs to be re-thunk (sp ?). I have enjoyed every other book corwell has written and will buy others she writes in the future, I just feel this particular book was a waste of time to read.

Rating:
Summary: SOUTHERN CROSS------NEARLY A LOSS!!!
Review: This was very different from the Scarpetta books. It was not what I expected, from reading the fly page I thought it would be about cleaning up a police force with the good officers finally overcoming the bad ones. The book is really about a small time hood and his sorry gang. Smoke is the so called leader. He does very small crimes then he ends up killing and older lady. The last few pages describe how he is caught. To me it does not deal with cleaning up a police force. If you have read other Cornwell books I think you will be not like this one.