Rating: 
Summary: First Time Reader, and it's got me hooked.
Review: I can't believe the things I am hearing. I picked up this book on a recomendation by a friend. Thinking I wouldn't enjoy it because I've never read Cornwell before. But once I read the first chapter, I couldn't put it down, and for the next seven hours, I was hooked. Just the fact alone that no one seems to like it because of it's humor really says something about the people that are reading this book, not the author who wrote it. This was an outstanding book.
Rating: 
Summary: She Couldn't Have Written Thiss Mess
Review: I have always admired Patricia Cornwell's voice....until this book. It is by far the worst I have ever read. Just when you are getting into one plot, the scene changes and another plot unfolds. You get dizzy from all the moving back and fourth. The Lilia Ehrhart character was not believable....no one of her status could murder the English lanuage like that. I found her unnerving. I hope Patricia Cornwell goes back to writing in the first person about protaganist, Kay Sparpetta.
Rating: 
Summary: Actually a three and a half.
Review: Since this was my first Patricia Cornwell, I had neither any Kay Scarpetta history nor expectations. So I rather enjoyed this one.It has a sense of the Carl Hiaasen/Laurence Shames humor and is an entertaining read. It has a light hearted, ironic and quirky approach. There is also action and movement. Both the good and bad guys have comedic sides and all manage to have their stumbles...the bad guys more so. This novel is what it is, and if not taken too seriously it is a fast, fun, quick read...it's escapism. And for those disappointed not to have a Kay Scarpetta, just think how well refreshed her character will be with this interlude.
Rating: 
Summary: Fire the technical adviser
Review: I liked the satire and comedy. I even liked the talking pets. I did have a difficult time swallowing the explantion of the Web site that was the foundation of the "fishteria" scare in this book. The parts of a Web address (URL) do not specify "gateways" that relay requests to a site, nor do Web sites execute screensavers on client machines. If this particular technical scenario is so wrong, have I been mislead about the details of the Scarpetta post mortums?
Rating:
Summary: Did Patricia Cornwell really write this book?
Review: I was very disappointed in Southern Cross...definitely not up to Cornwell's standards. I kept reading hoping that all the disjointed stories would start clicking together...which they did on about the last page! If you are a Cornwell fan, I would just pass this one up. Either someone wrote it for her, or she's beginning to fall into the write-what-sells trap.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I couldn't put this book down. I wanted to see just how BAD it would get. And I was not disappointed. The book didn't make sense. The conversations were stupid (all those "ten" codes) the plot ridiculous, and characters just kept popping up out of nowhere. I'm glad I bought the paperback. If I had bought the hard cover (like I usually do) I would have had to return it. IT WAS THAT BAD !
Rating:
Summary: Different...but hard to put down
Review: I found the book to be a bit confusing at first, but caught on to the satire of the whole storyline and the ironic connections between every character. For the first time, I thought Patricia was extremely humorous and I felt like she relaxed a little. The detail was not there, but every character had some background info to keep it interesting. I did not realize the connection to the Hornet's Nest becuase I started it but never finished. It did not grab me like this one did I guess. Keep an open mind for something different from the usual Patricia.
Rating:
Summary: Money Hungry
Review: Ms Cornwell must have needed an infusion of cash and thought she could whip out a quick book to balance her checkbook. This spoils her reputation. Particular shame on her publisher for letting this book get to her reading public. Sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Black Humor
Review: From some of the other reviews it seems that some people just don't have a sense of humor. The book is not her usually writting, instead of a serious serial killer story, expect a dark comedy. She takes a pot shot at everybody and hits the nail on the head every time. The most important lesson to be learned from this book is that there are too many people out there hearing things that haven't been said and others who do not pay attention at all. The narrative gets a little disjointed at times. But the cast of characters are tied together in the end. On the serious side, there is a teenage gang leader and the kids he scares into the gang. One note: though very cute, I usually only like talking animals in fantasy novels.
Rating:
Summary: I disagree
Review: I'm sorry, I disagree with the other reviewers here. I loved this continuance of character development from those from Hornet's Nest. The humor and love story (yes, love story) is a terrific respite from the darker Scarpetta novels. I think that we need a bit of a crossover...Kay meets Andy Brazil. Hmmm...
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