The Last Precinct

Rating:
Summary: No Where Left?
Review: The motto of the Last Precint ("where you go when there is no where left") may as well be the motto of this rather disappointing excursion into the life of Dr. Kay Scarpetta. I'm starting to wonder if there is any where left for Cornwell to go.

Scarpetta finds herself involved in a heated battle to regain her credibility as a medical examiner after the end of BLACK NOTICE. Normally this would sound like a wonderful plot to me, however what this book seems to turn into is more of Kay whining and complaining about how her life has turned out. More time is spent analyzing her thoughts than analyzing evidence and Kay starts to appear powerless and weak by the end of the book. This is not the Scarpetta I followed doggedly through CRUEL AND UNUSUAL and BODY OF EVIDENCE. Rather this is a shadow of her former self, one that is by turns pitiful then meloncholy then annoying.

I'll pick up the next Scarpetta novel to see where Cornwell takes Kay and Lucy and Marino, but I won't be buying it. And sadly enough, I won't be expecting to like it either.

Rating:
Summary: I TRIED TWICE BUT......
Review: I slogged through "Black Notice" and skimmed "The Last Precinct" and all I can say is GOOD GRIEF! What a juvenile style of writing. Every statment is wreathed with emotion: "raging, seething, trembling, anger, fury, resentment, incensed", etc. Reads like a 9th graders attempt at punching up an essay using a thesaurus. Yuck! I picked up "Black Notice" at the library and the premis sounded interesting but all that emotional emoting with a slow story threw me for a loop. What the heck, I thought I'd give Ms. Cornwell the benefit of the doubt and try one more time. I picked up a second book "The Last Precinct" and after about 20 pages gave up and started skimming. The overall plot between the 2 books was somewhat interesting but unfortunately it was obscured by the noisy, histrionic writing. I will not waste my time with her books again.

Rating:
Summary: Is there an editor in the house?
Review: This is the latest in the adventures of Kaye Scarpetta, Virginia State's chief medical examiner. As usual, Cornwell keeps her characters off-balance by both events and the horrific nature of those events. Much is revealed about some of the continuing characters, including Benton, who died a couple of books ago.

There is always a bizarreness to Scarpetta's life, but never more than in this tale. She is stalked by a man known as Le Loup Garou (the werewolf) whose real name is Jean Baptiste Chandonne. There are a number of murders, that may or may not be related. And Richmond's cowardly DA arranges to have Chandonne tried in New York City, where only one of his crimes is known to have occurred. More outrage for Scarpetta.

As usual the story is as much about Scarpetta as it is the criminals and victims. The descriptions of the forensic science is detailed. Sometimes too much so. It's as if Cornwell wants to let us know everything she has learned about the field. With a recorded volume, it is more difficult to just skim over the wealth of detail. A good editor could have tightened up the exposition in many places.

Ms. Reading, the reader, has a gift for accents, but occasionally loses them as dialogue becomes lengthy.

This is an apt continuation of the Scarpetta story and Cornwell's vast following will enjoy it. The gruesome world of forensic science is a fascinating one for those of us who can visit for a time then move on. In many ways Cornwell's books featuring Scarpetta have been a great addition to police procedurals and thrillers.

Rating:
Summary: Last Precinct is the last straw for me...
Review: After reading the Kay Scarpetta series over the years I've finally decided I've had enough. The last good book in the series was "From Potter's Field". Anything since then has been junk. Everytime I buy one of Cornwell's new books I hope that her writing and imagination will be as good as she was in her early days, but she has lost it. The Last Precinct is basically her feelings on lesbianism, not homosexuality, but lesbianism. She's really trying to push the issue with her readers, and that is not why I read her novels. I suppose Kay Scarpetta will come out of the closet soon. No thanks....There are plenty of other good authors out there to choose from, although I will miss the old Kay Scarpetta. The Last Precinct was the last straw for me.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a new plot!
Review: Kay Scarpetta has been stagnating as a character for at least the last two novels. Her dark, self-destructive charactaristics have become less and less believable in a character that is supposed to be a busy, intellegent professional. The Last Precinct finally sees Dr. Scarpetta confronted with her past and the psychologically damaging experience of her lovers death and of her particular profession. Now if she could just be portrayed as a relatively healthy person, this series would become highly readable again.

Rating:
Summary: Scarpetta is her own victim
Review: As a long time fan of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series, it was almost refreshing to see Scarpetta in a new light.

When I finished reading BLACK NOTICE, I knew Scarpetta was in for a change because of the tragedies she'd encountered. Cornwell didn't leave me hanging -- changes and more changes for my favorite heroine, Kay Scarpetta.

Cornwell twisted this tough medical examiner inside out, upside down, and all around until she resembled a discarded latex glove. With THE LAST PRECINCT, we see all sides of Scarpetta, including a deeper look into what makes her tick and what ticks her off.

With the world against her, her job on the line, being framed for a vicious murder, and old memories getting in the way, Scarpetta must finally do what she's never been able to do before, lean on others and let them help her. Unfortunately, even those who only have good intentions for Scarpetta, end up hurting her -- friends, family, and even her co-workers all discover a newer, more vulnerable Kay.

I'm excited about this new direction for Kay Scarpetta and you will be too, when you read THE LAST PRECINCT.

Rating:
Summary: I picked the wrong Cornwell book to start out with
Review: My mistake (or actually that of the person who recommended this book to me) is to have chosen THIS book to introduce myself to the writings of Patricia Cornwell.

I found myself continually asking, "When is the actual STORY going to begin?" I never finished it, giving up as it went through one retrospective sweep after another.

It's probably a great book if you're A) already a fan, and B) very familiar with the usual cast of characters in this series...

I've not given up faith. I'll try another Cornwell book, but this time I'll put more thought into my choice.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: I hardly ever read a book with a plot such as this one. But, this book held my attention to the very end. I highly recommend it to anyone who reads about mistry,romance and intrigue.

Rating:
Summary: Misery Loves Company, Inc.
Review: The first time I started 'The Last Precinct' was almost 6 months ago. At that time I was simply not able to get past the first hundred or so pages of Kay Scarpetta 's problems. It may just be my perception, but even before Benton Wesley's death, Virginia's Chief Medical Officer has had a tendency towards the negative. Now, with Wesley dead, Scarpetta recovering from a violent attack by Jean-Baptiste Chandonne, and the police firmly in charge of her house and car during the investigation, she is simply devastated. Neither her colleague Captain Pete Marino, her niece Lucy, nor her friend Dr. Anna Zenner seems able to shake her from a continuous flow of angry self pity. As a reader one can only be so sympathetic, and I lost patience with the book far earlier than I usually do.

On this, my second attempt, I knew what to expect and managed to work past the worst of the tirades. Eventually the complex plot begins to overtake the emotional overtones and the story takes on more interest. Scarpetta seems to be assaulted on all sides. She is wrapped up in the Chandonne case, having blinded him with formalin in her efforts to save herself. Buford Righter, the Commonwealth's Attorney is investigating Kay's possible complicity in the murder of Diane Bray. Lucy has been put on administrative leave by the ATF. And a pair of torture murders baffle everyone with apparent links to the Chandonne case. From Scarpetta's viewpoint the world seems upside-down, and very little makes sense.

To make matters more complicated Jaime Berger, the head of New York City's Sex Crimes Division has asked that Chandonne be tried as a suspect in a crime committed three years earlier. A political deal has been cut, and Berger is suddenly in Virginia, and in everyone's face as well. No matter which way she turns, Kay Scarpetta seems to find a layer of half-truths and betrayals. New themes blend with old to create a heady mixture of facts and red herrings. Only gradually does the architecture of the crimes evolve into a pattern that makes sense.

'The Last Precinct' is an ending, and perhaps, a new beginning. As such the reader will find that many earlier Cornwell novels are echoed again. Countless old characters reappear or are remembered as Kay Scarpetta life is led to resolution, and she is forced to ask herself the tough questions she has so far avoided. As a character Scarpetta deepens considerable, as do those of Lucy and Marino. This is not an entirely enjoyable book to read. We must endure a fair amount of Kay Scarpetta's pain to get at the story. Personally I would have preferred a lighter brush. But if the tale is a bit heavy-handed it provides as much material for the future of the series as it resolves. I suspect we have not yet seen the last of Kay Scarpetta.

Kate Reading does a superb job of reading the book in the tape version, capturing a rhythm and clarity that are not as immediately apparent in the book itself. She manages a variety of accents and deliveries comfortably, without going to extremes. Be warned that the tapes represent over 17 hours of listening.

Rating:
Summary: The Last Precinct
Review: The best of the Point of Origin, Black Notice, The Last Precinct trilogy, this book just cries out for another. I need to know more about Moreno's son, Jaime Berger and what lies in Kay's future. I want to know more about Anna, too. These people have become so dear to me since I have become an invalid I would love to see and know more about Kenneth Sparks. Please, Patricia, complete this story or at least advance it so we can anticipate another.