Blow Fly (Kay Scarpetta Mysteries (Audio))

Rating:
Summary: Cringeworthy
Review: The preceeding reviews did a thorough job covering the plethora of issues with this novel, so I won't belabor the specifics already noted. Speaking as a long-time reader of the Scarpetta novels, this was a huge disappointment. Speaking as a writer, this book was embarrassing. I must disagree with the posting that claimed to feel the presence of a heavy-handed editor; I frequently threw down the book to irritate my husband with rants that started with "where was the editor?!"

The characters were out of character. The plot was implausible at best, incomprehensible at worst. I swear some of the content was lifted directly from the "don't" section of a style manual. ("He sat in a chair that was padded." Not just badly written - this one wasn't even relevant to the scene.)

For readers that turn to Cornwell and Scarpetta for a pleasantly reliable reading experience (I say "reliable" because it's more polite that formulaic), this one does not deliver.

Bottom line for the story: Readers love Scarpetta for a reason, and you can't take the medical examiner out of the morgue.

Bottom line overall: It read like the first draft of what could have been a good book.


Rating:
Summary: Not a great novel
Review: This book is certainly not what one has come to expect from Ms. Cornwell. The earlier Scarpetta novels were more about how Kay meticulously examined evidence to solve whatever crime the plot was about (much like CSI on TV). This style of storytelling is what attracted most readers to this series of books, myself included. In the last few books it seems Ms. Cornewll has gotten away from this and is concentrating more on the personal lives of the characters, the crime(s) being almost secondary to the plot. The result is that the later books are much less interesting. This one isn't actively bad, it's just not the gripping page-turner that previous entries have been.
Add to this the fact that this is written, not in first-person past-tense, but in third-person present-tense and it really feels disconnected from the earlier books in the series. It is as though, by relating the events in third-person rather than having Kay narrate them, the author is underscoring Kay's withdrawal from everything connected to her old life.
To sum up, this is not the worst novel I have ever read (that dubious honor goes to "A Confederacy of Dunces"), but I'm glad I checked this out from the library, rather than actually buying it. I suggest anyone else wanting to read it do the same.

Rating:
Summary: A Man on Death Row in Texas Summons Dr. K. Scarpetta -
Review: This novel has enough intrigue and mystery to hold the interest of any avid reader who enjoys a good chase for clues, a lot of investigative work that takes a person to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Boston, Mass, and Szczecin, Poland, with hints of romance that *could* rekindle from the past, and getting to know the inner workings of a weird twisted mind, the mind of a mass murderer. I have never read a Dr. Kay Scarpetta novel before, therefore I came with an open mind. I really liked this book. It had me reading from cover to cover at one sitting. I was unable to put it down. I expected a lot more gore and description of crime scenes. I was grateful this was done minimally, just enough to let you know it was a 'murder mystery' book. The plot thickens as Dr. Kay Scarpetta's neice, Lucy Farinelli and her partner, Zach, visit a crooked lawyer in Poland who is related to the murder case in Louisiana. They change the dynamics of the investigation through a well planned event they engineered ... except they failed to consider certain tell-tale clues, which could come back to haunt them. I love the way the author writes in a nonlinear fashion, mixing places and events from chapter to chapter, so that you *want* to keep reading ... to discover who the characters are and how they interact to reveal the mysteries woven into the story. This novel is really a work of art ... I recommend it whole heartedly. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Rating:
Summary: Who wrote this?
Review: Who wrote "Blow Fly?" Not Cornwell. She must have people writting for her and not paying any attention. I hate to think that she would have made such tremendous errors. Wish I had time to reread it and make notes, but the glaring ones are 1)they have a blind man driving 2)Why does Marino drive to New Orleans in his shape instead of flying? 3) They hear about the missing woman on the radio but none of them hear about the prison escape!