Rating: 
Summary: Whine Whine Whine
Review: Once again Cornwell has reduced women to soul searching and ineffective part of human kind. Spending 2/3rds of the book getting to the story is asking a lot. I personally won't go down that road again. Give it up, the Gen x, Thirty something moaning is just plain a pain.
Rating: 
Summary: Love Scarpetta!
Review: I was totally shocked when I saw the average review for this book (only three stars)! Jeez, I loved it! I can never get enough of Kay, Pete, or Lucy (even though she is still a childish brat). Ms. Cornwell has done a wonderful job of breathing life into these characters, and devising plot lines that keep me interested and on the edge of my seat. I do recommend that if you haven't read Black Notice yet, go read it now before you start The Last Precinct. TLP starts right up where Black Notice ends. As a matter of fact, if you haven't read any of the previous Kay Scarpetta books, I really, really, really advise you to buy them from Amazon.com (or check them out at your local library) and make some time for some serious reading!
Rating: 
Summary: It's time to retire the formula
Review: I have to say, I was looking forward to a new Patricia Cornwell book so much that I actually forgot what was starting to get on my nerves about her previous books.Fortunately enough (or more appropriately, unfortunately enough), Last Precinct was nice enough to remind me. While I haven't read any of her books outside of the Scarpetta series, it's time for her to either retire this series, or simply retire the same old stale formula. You know the one. Build up to big climax, shocking revelation that changes the history of the previous books, and climax all tied up neatly in the last 10 pages. Seriously, this trick of rewriting previous Scarpetta history to insert her new characters retroactively in old storylines just smacks of such laziness to me. It's nice to have characters that continue from one book to the next, but it seems to have turned into a crutch that allows her to get away with not actually moving and and growing the characters/storylines/etc. I hate to say it, but this is probably the last of her books I will read. 18 months ago, I had all my friends reading Cornwell. Now I feel like apologizing.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-Indulgent Saga
Review: I have a friend who once had a popular but tiny hole-in-the-wall lunch counter. As his customer base grew, so did he..to a bigger restaurant, and finally to a posh themed giant. Unfortunately, as the size grew, the quality lessened, and before long he was out of business. Same with Cornwall. Those first tightly-drawn novels were the best. But The Last Precinct is a weighty, themed giant. The plot goes nowhere except down the worrisome, twisted paths of Kay Scarpetta's self-indulgence and ego-centeredness. In the end, it's a bust: mediocre food on fancy dishes. Not much of a novel, I'd say.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable Even for Scarpetta Newbies
Review: Despite having never read any previous stories in Patricia Cornwell's 'Kay Scarpetta' series, I was in the mood for a good old-fashioned best-seller type of murder mystery and decided to give The Last Precinct a try. The promise of a good mystery supported with fascinating forensic science was too good to pass up. Being unfamiliar with the previous adventures of Ms. Scarpetta, I had some trouble following the story at the beginning. Undoubtedly, things would've come together faster had I already been familiar with characters such as the grotesquely disfigured wolfman-like murderer Jean-Baptiste Chandonne, Diane Bray (one of Chandonne's recent victims), and Anna (Scarpetta's trusted old friend). However, a little perseverance on my part paid off and I was able to quickly become engrossed in the story. It starts with Dr. Scarpetta, chief medical examiner of Virginia, having just survived a horrifying attack by Chandonne. From there, Scarpetta investigates other seemingly unrelated murders and finds herself all too closely involved in one of them. Like all good murder mysteries, the heroine must figure out which of her associates she can trust to help her solve the mystery and escape danger and which she cannot. Although the formula may be familiar, Cornwell's ability to hold the reader's attention throughout (especially by the use of graphic autopsy details) makes it an exciting read. Having gotten completely caught up in the story, I anxiously awaited the end so all of my questions could be answered and I could relax again. Of course, I should've known better than to expect a nice neat ending in the 11th installment of such a popular series. Some of the questions were answered but answers to plenty of others will apparently have to wait for the next installment. All in all, The Last Precinct is fast-paced and enjoyable, even for Scarpetta newbies.
Rating:
Summary: This is a marvelous book
Review: I have had the pleasure of reading all of Patricia Cornwell's books and I found The Last Precinct to be every bit as exciting, entertaining and enthralling as the others. Her writing style keeps me keyed up, I never fall asleep while reading her work. After reading one readers review of this book I was a little worried that I would not enjoy it, but I needen't have worried, I was pleasantly "on the edge of my chair" throughout the book. I can't wait for the next one. Bravo!!!
Rating:
Summary: This is one Patricia Cornwell¿s very best!
Review: After reading Southern Cross recently, I was hesitant to waste any time or money on this one, but I sure am glad that I did. The Last Precinct ties up a lot of loose ends in the Kay Scarpetta saga, and this one makes Kay more human. I liked her so much better in this book, because the hunter becomes the prey, and she has feelings that Patricia Cornwell describes beautifully. I absolutely loved detective Marino in this story. As a ten year friend/coworker/homicide detective with Kay Scarpetta, in this novel his frailties are exposed, his life explored, and he becomes the man you hate to love but have to. Lucy, Kay Scarpetta's niece is also well defined in this story, and having "accidentally" shot her partner and nearly killing Kay Scarpetta's intruder, her judgement is questioned and she may be forced to leave her lifelong career. This spurs her to come up with an idea, an idea called "The Last Precinct", sort of her own law enforcement agency, where when all else fails, unsolvable crimes land in The Last Precinct. More than capable Lucy, her friend Teun, and maybe even Kay will try to enravel what the world's best law enforcement people could not. It is an interesting idea, and Patricia Cornwell weaves the story around it. Kay's ex-lover, horribly murdered, is a post mortem member of this last precinct already. The descriptions of Kay at her best, in the morgue, are unbelievably graphic. The weak of heart will definitely squirm throughout this book, but the descriptions are what attaches the reader firmly to the story. This is, without a doubt, one of Patricia Cornwell's absolute best ever. You will turn page after page with increasing intensity, missing the story when you are unable to be reading, and contemplating it's dilemmas all day. Don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: reality and emotions
Review: I've always found Kay Scarpetta somewhat straight up and down, or buttoned up too tightly, but in TLP, we get to see a more emotional side of her that makes me like this series even more. We finally get to see how she coped with Benton Wesleys death, and how her relationships have always fared badly because of who she is. I felt that the future novels and the characterisations will be stronger for this insight into Kay's character. I was getting bored with Kay, but now she has piqued my interest again.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry, but I loved it
Review: I read several of the reviews and did not understand the hostility. I for one loved the book. The characters are all there, something I find troubling in other series. I like to know that when I pick up a book, all my friends will be there. If you enjoy the Scarpetta series of work and Patricia Cornwell, you will not be diappointed.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Cornwell
Review: As a mystery author with my first book in its initial release, I have been an admirer of Patricia Cornwell for years. Kay Scarpetta is a marvelous creation, and in this novel, Kay struggles to resolve numerous unresolved issues. Her therapist puts it that way, as will the typical reader. THE LAST PRECINCT grows directly out of the events of Ms. Cornwell's most recent novels. This book has everything the Cornwell fan has grown to expect from Kay and the series. All the usual characters are on hand, even a certain deceased man, in a certain way. The plot twists and turns, and THE LAST PRECINCT is a winner.
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