Rating: 
Summary: She's in a rut. It may be over.
Review: It was not long ago that I would look for a new Patricia Cornwell novel with excitement. However when she started to write about people other than Kay Scarpeta things went down hill fast. First I stopped buying any but her Scarpetta books and now I will not buy those books either. This book is as bad as her early books are good, and they are very good indeed. Read the first second or third in the series and stop before you get to ten and you will be fine, nobody has written better, but this one is just plain bad.
Rating: 
Summary: winding down?
Review: If you haven't read any of Cornwell's books before, start with one of her earlier ones first because they (the Kay Scarpettas) run in a sequential manner. I have read many of her books and have enjoyed all of them, some a little more than others. Read the "Black Notice" before you read this one. The last two books have been getting a little weirder and you need to stretch your imagination a little bit. At first you think the condition of the murder suspect is a little absurb and unbelievable and yet... as you continue reading, the author draws you into the story. Because of the ending of the story one wonders if the author has run out of ideas for the Scarpetta stories and is moving on to something new. Scarpetta is a different person than the one we are used to seeing...a more subdued, defeatist and feeling sorry for herself person. She is being accused of crimes and must find the evidence to defend herself and no one, even her friends, seem to be able to help. She has lost the man she loves to a horrific murder and after so many years of catching killers, to be accused as one herself seems absurb. I enjoyed the book even though it was not one of my favorites and look forward to reading her next book "Blow Fly".
Rating: 
Summary: Coming to an End
Review: I just finished reading The Last Precinct and was pleasantly surprised. Based on editorial reviews, I was expecting a disappointing conclusion to the Kay Scarpetta series. But I read it out of loyalty to my favorite series and my "idol", Patricia Cornwell. And I discovered that I liked the new Kay. She's no longer perfectly calm and collected and even more like somebody I could like and relate to. The beginning will likely scare off readers who are in it for the investigations and morgue scenes, as there are few scenes in the morgue at the beginning, but dedicated readers will stick with it and be rewarded in the end. I was slightly disappointed when she skipped ahead two weeks, leaving out most of the motel scene, but I still enjoyed the book immensely. I can't wait to read Blowfly (which I bought and then realized I'd have to read The Last Precinct first) but once it's done, I'll miss the Scarpetta series :(
Rating:
Summary: This Book Should Have Stayed in the Morgue
Review: This is the first book I've ever read by Cornwell and involving Kay. Maybe this was the wrong book to start on but I thought it was boring. Also, why the detail on how Kay is feeling all the time. She's mad, hurt, upset, hasn't been a good friend, etc. The part that I really didn't like is when Berger and Scarpetta are watching the video of the prime murder suspect being questioned. It goes on for pages! Totally unnecessary. If this is how the other books are, then I've read my first and last book by Cornwell.
Rating: 
Summary: Let down
Review: Having read all the books in this series I was very disappointed by this one. I'll give the next book a try when it comes out, but it looks like this series is really going down-hill fast.
Rating:
Summary: better than black notice; pretty decent story, etc..
Review: This adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's The Last Precinct, where one goes when justice can't be found elsewhere, wasn't too bad.
Ms. Maxwell's Southern drawl fits right in with the Virginia setting. Dr. Scarpetta, the heroine of Ms. Cornwell's novels, is in the middle of being investigated. There's the search for a character (cutely named) "the werewolf". There's Ms. Scarpetta's devoted niece, a detective named Marino, and a host of other figures; helping to move the story along. This book is better (at least the audio version is) than Black Notice; which I couldn't get into. (I may try to reread it later.) Pretty decent story. [An aside-if you get to check out Ms. Cornwell on the ABC Primetime special with Ms. Diane Sawyer, investigating some real life homicides, check it out.]
Rating:
Summary: Silly "Psycho Babble"
Review: Boring and silly. Read a Rendell/Vine book and enjoy psychological suspense. I gave up on this one which I always hate to do. However, life is too short to spend on something this tediously "crafted".
Rating:
Summary: The Last Precinct
Review: I was excited to listen to another book by Patricia Cornwell. The book wasn't as complex and adventurous as previous works and this made it dissapointing for listeners. The voices presented by the reader did not possess the range of other readers that listeners have come to expect. Instead of being drawn into the book, often one looks ahead and hopes the next tape will somehow be better. Here's hoping the next installment will be back to the norm.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Ending
Review: Although The Last Precinct is not the first time that Cornwell has revealed a new nemesis for Dr. Scarpetta in an ending rather than the beginning of a book (cf. Temple Gault in Cruel and Unusual), I find the application in this instance, sloppy in the extreme. The abruptness of the revelations at the hotel is completely at odds with the weighty slow-pacing since early in Black Notice. I found this brevity of resolution to old loose ends, unsatisfying in the extreme. To further compound this problem, the resolutions are simultaneously presented with the prospects of future problems for the good doctor, namely how could she possibly confront an entire organised crime syndicate by herself? (okay fine, with a small collection of allies, but still... she's not even tight with the FBI anymore) I was not as bothered by the way this pivotal chapter at the motel ended, as I was dismayed, frustrated, perhaps even angry, at the way that it continued. To just go ahead and fast forward by 2 weeks, past what is potentially THE MOST interesting part of this story, is a travesty! At the very least the story could have ended exactly where it was after the motel scene, with the promise of a rivetting, proper continuation in the next book. If leaving a loose ending was deliberate to encourage sales of the sequel, then wouldn't a sensational ending like this serve the purpose infinitly better? Many readers would have been left wondering and hoping for the sequel. Instead, the conclusion robs us of a proper treatment to the aftermath at the motel, where so much was revealed and so much introduced, all but so quickly. Sure, the sequel(s) will undoubtedly present us with excessive references to this incident, indeed the fallout will probably hang about as persistently as the topic of Carrie Grethen when she was out of sight (locked up / slain), but all the telling will be in the past tense by then, and that's never going to have the same impact as it could've had.
Rating:
Summary: Cornwell getting sloppy
Review: I generally like patricia cornwell's writting, but this story was just plain bad. In this book, she proves she can get gross, a way to avoid a skillful or clever story. I'll really hesitate before reading anything new she comes out with.
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