Isle of Dogs

Rating:
Summary: Just plain yucky
Review: Having read no Patricia Cornwell novels prior to reading this I didn't know what to expect. Well, I should say I was expecting quite a lot, since the woman does have a fine reputation as a writer. Man, I picked a dud. I know this was meant as rolicking comedy, but nothing I read made me chuckle or amused me in any way.

If I could've given 0 stars I certainly would have.

Rating:
Summary: An experiment that doesn't quite work
Review: I certainly don't blame Patricia Cornwell for trying something new, but it seems to me that if she's going to go as far as cognizent crabs, it might be a good idea to move out of her usual genre as well. Still, she is such a good writer that I stuck with the book despite its many obvious faults. For example, I was baffled by the content of the Trooper Truth essays, which were part of a web site ostensibly set up to help solve crimes, but seem to be more an opportunity for the author to show off some of the knowledge she's collected over the years. It seemed to me that the editor failed to go beyond copy editing to be sure the story made effective use of its various threads. I'd put this down more to a failure to follow up with care on an interesting idea than bad writing. It would be interesting to see what would happen if Ms. Cornwell took it a step further and changed her venue, sort of like Larry McMurtry does: he uses silly humor to great effect, and doesn't lock himself into the same time period or characters from book to book. She can obviously be funny and insightful, but it doesn't work all that well in the context of morgues and murders, at least in this case.

Rating:
Summary: Who Wrote This, & What Have You Done w/Patricia Cornwell??
Review: I have always been of the opinion that, if Patricia Cornwell published a phone book, it would be an instant best-seller. However, "Isle of Dogs" fared much worse than the proverbial phone book.

Ms. Cornwell is an artful writer of the crime novel genre; her attempts at comedy in this novel fall flat (where did she get the character names??? Windi Brees, Trish Thrash, Ima Clot - uggh!). I love Dr. Scarpetta's novels but the Judy Hammer series seems to not quite get off the ground with the thrust and power that the Scarpetta novels command.

Being a voracious reader, I can zip through Patrica Cornwell's books in 2 -3 three easy sittings. It took me nearly a month to plod through "Isle of Dogs". Maybe it's because I'm a Virginian (and a Richmonder to boot!)that I have come to expect more accurate portrayals of the Commonwealth's residents. But in this particular book, I think she overstated her rendition of what a Tangierian or an African-American resident of Virginia sounds like(yes, she tries to write in the vernacular and with an accent, which never came off quite right in print).

I was happy to finish, put it down and move on to "Blowfly", calling at me invitingly from my nightstand. I just hope that, in it, Ms. Cornwell recovered from whatever was ailing her when she wrote "Isle of Dogs".

Rating:
Summary: Ugh! This was just painful.
Review: I've read 3 or 4 other titles by Patricia Cornwell and found them interesting and creative. This book, however, failed to fall in to either of those categories. The book is full of weak characters and a story line that really never takes you anywhere.

Rating:
Summary: Painful. A total waste of time!
Review: I've read all of Cornwell's books and I really got into them. "Blow Fly" is the exception. What a downer!

"Isle of Dogs" simply blows. I picked up the book a year ago and could only make it through a couple of chapters.

Being a fool for punishment, I went to the local library last week to find a book on tape and I decided to give "Isle of Dogs" another try. What a rotten book! I enjoy listening to books on tape in my truck on the way to and from work and I usually go through a book per week. I have had "Isle of Dogs" for over a week and I have not yet finished the second tape of ten. I listen for a while then I've got to try to catch the baseball game, a talk show, anything. This book SUCKS!

Why? Cornwell is trying to be funny but she's no Carl Hiaasen. It just doesn't work. If you want to read a really good, funny book get Hiaasen's "Lucky You." I was giggling like an idiot while I read it.

The reader on the tape version has an airhead voice and I grow weary of her attempts to speak like black house servants, dumb white guys, or residents of Tangier Island.

I'm tempted to try to finish it to see if it gets better, but judging from most of the reviews I would be wasting my time.