Rating: 
Summary: Buyer beware, this is NOT a welcome return to Scarpetta!
Review: WOW - I can't believe how poorly written this is. If Patricia Conrwell actually wrote it, she must have been terribly distracted. I'm thinking perhaps a ghost writer did it, someone with none of Cornwell's previously demonstrated skills. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY - get it out of the library if you must, but this is a book you'll want to throw away, not keep! Patricia, we miss you! Come back - with a REAL Kay Scarpetta novel (and never mind Isle of Dogs and all that other stuff.) Just because you may be bored with Kay, it doesn't mean we are!
Rating: 
Summary: Time to kill Scarpetta off?
Review: The worst thing about this book is the gross error Cornwell has made with her main villain, the Wolfman. She is at great pains to point out that he has no eyes and is blind. She then has him looking out of his prison window at scenery, reading notes passed to him by other prisoners, and writing letters in perfectly scripted calligraphy. Without ruining the book, he performs an act at the end that could not be possibly have worked by a blind man acting alone. The aftermath of this event is even more unthinkable if the man cannot see where he is going. It is obvious that Cornwell has simply forgotten that her villain cannot see. There is an incredibly weak sub plot featuring Benton Wesley, which is both implausible and nonsensical. Pete Marino's only contribution to the book is to be fat and miserable. Cornwell's Scarpetta has now disappeared so far into fantasy land (parts of the plot are like something from a fairy story) that Cornwell has lost all credibility in my eyes. Methinks perhaps it's time Ms Scarpetta hung up her scalpel and bowed out before any more damage is done to what was once one of the best crime characters ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Well, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it...
Review: It wasn't a bad book. I've so far enjoyed the tangent Cornwell has been on with the Chandonne cartel...mainly because I like the angst. But this novel was so lacking in structure that it was nearly painful. Benton's re-emergence seems contrived, and certainly doesn't ring true to Marino's actions in earlier books, particularly in "Black Notice." I won't knock the third-person narrative; it was an interesting experiment that I don't blame her for trying, and the present tense format was started in "The Last Precinct." But Cornwell may have been too ambitious in the amount of perspectives that she attempted to cover...the heart of the narrative was lost. If she had kept with the perspectives of the main characters whose acts and motivations her audience is already intimately familiar with--Kay, Lucy, Marino and Benton--this would have worked amazingly well. But the extension of the perspective onto unneeded new characters, ie the astonishingly irritating Nic Robillard, just bogged down the story. I'm not going to lie to myself-- I will read the next Scarpetta book, and any others she puts out, because I care about these characters, especially Marino. But I hope they get better again.
Rating:
Summary: RIPOFF
Review: THIS IS NOT A KAY SCARPETTA NOVEL, AND TO SAY SO IS FALSE ADVERTISING. AS A HUGE SCARPETTA FAN, I CAN TELL Y0U THAT CORNWELL AND PUTNAM HAVE KILLED OFF KAY THROUGH THE FLIMIEST , SADDEST RIPOFF I'VE EVER READ. THIS BOOK IS TRANSPARENTLY AN ATTEMPT TO GET YOUR MONEY, AND MINE, AS SCARPETTA FANS. THE NOVEL READS SO BADLY, LACKS SUCH EXCITING FORENSICS - AND NO SOLID STORY THREAD - THAT ONE MUST ASSUME THAT CORNWELL, GIVEN HER BUSY SCHEDULE, DID NOT WRITE THIS BOOK. CHARACTERS MERELY BEAR THE FAMILIAR NAMES OF KAY AND PETE AND WESLEY BUT NOT THEIR PERSONALITIES. AND THAT THE BOOK IS IN THIRD PERSON TOTALLY DESTROYS THE UNIQUE VOICE THAT IS KAY'S. THE EDITORS AT PUTNAM HAVE TO BE HELD AS ACCOUNTABLE AS CORNWELL IN THIS GREEDY RIPOFF. KAY IS DEAD, AND I FOR ONE WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER CORNWELL BOOK. EVER
Rating:
Summary: A Shadow of Previous Scarpetta Novels
Review: As an avid fan of Kay Scarpetta and her creator, Patricia Cornwall, I had been waiting the newest installment. From the first Scarpetta novel to The Last Precinct, Kay Scarpetta has been a strong and accomplished woman--a role model not only for her niece Lucy but also for all women who aspire for roles traditionally reserved for men. She evolved as her life experiences brought her unbelievable joy and crushing pain and disappointment. And above all she maintained her professional strength and integrity. But this book seems to be written about someone else. She is a shadow of herself. And it is a misnomer to say it is a Kay Scarpetta novel. Throughout most of it her only role is a brief mention in a conversation beween different characters we have all seen in previous novels. And only her last name in mentioned even by those who purport to love her. She really only becomes the main character until the last 70 or 80 pages. I hope there is another Kay Scarpetta novel that is better written and resolves the issues presented in this book. The unity of the Scarpetta team and the loyalty they held for each other despite differences was one of the qualities that kept us hooked as readers. There was not one likeable character in this book. I hope the team reunites and restores the faith in Kay's abilities and the cohesiveness of those who surround her.
Rating:
Summary: And I was so looking forward to it...
Review: This book was awful. I was waiting patiently for her next book in the Scarpetta series after being disappointed with the Jack the Ripper novel. Bringing back the "wolfman" character was bad enough (he was BORING) but then to introduce characters that had no life to them, no spirit and no depth only contributed to the downside of the storyline.
I always loved when Kay was in the kitchen...one of my favorite books is her Winter Table. And I love Foods to Die For. Those came from the heart of her character. In this novel she is a lost soul with no roots. And to leave Richmond for what? The Benton situation made no sense and although I always loved his character, the reunion was shallow and definatly non-climatic.
Will I buy her next novel? Probably not.
Rating:
Summary: A fly in my soup would be more enjoyable!
Review: As a fan of Patricia Cornwell, I was really disappointed by this novel. It almost seemed as if someone else wrote the book, and not Cornwell. The characters lacked their usual depth, grittiness, and familial interaction. Lucy, Marino, and Scarpetta seemed cardboard and hollow, almost one dimensional. Half of the book is spent reminding the reader of each character's history (as if we need a refresher course). This lackluster effort comes to a dismal, predictable, and incredibly speedy ending. The finale is probably the worst part of the novel, as it wraps up in about 5 pages, without a hint of suspense, drama, or thrill. Definitely not an "edge of your seat" read. Fans should skip this one and hope the next effort is better.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as I was lead to believe....
Review: Well, I borrowed this book from a co-worker who thought the book was so bad she didn't even want me to read it. She kept warning me "Trust me, your not going to like it - it stinks" But being the loyal Cornwell fan that I am I thought I would give it a shot since I waited three years for his new Scarpetta book! Well, the joke was on my co-worker because I LOVED this book! Although I was a little disappointed in how Cornwell molded Lucy's character, and the fact that she brought back the wolfman, all in all I enjoyed this book. And, I knew Benton was alive!!!!! This just goes to show, you can't take anyone's word for anything...you have to try something yourself to see if you like it.
Rating:
Summary: What a letdown....
Review: I can't believe this book was written by the same author that brought us PostMortem and the wonderful character of Kay Scarpetta. The author has turned her into a minor character in her own series! The plot skipped around entirely too much to keep my attention. The Chandonne characters are tired and old, and I dread their inevitable return in the next book. The plot twists, such as they were, I found to be very uninspired. Still, I feel there are enough crumbs left in the series to make a comeback in the next installment....the author needs to return to her earlier installments to reintroduce herself to her own characters...she has been away from them too long, and it shows. I will read the next installment, but I will not buy it.
Rating:
Summary: You must be joking!
Review: This book was a huge disappointment. I tentatively forgave the author after picking up Isle of Dogs in an airport bookstore. What garbage that was. Almost killed my fan status for good. I echo the previous, negative comments. Scarpetta was missing much of the novel and the characters behaved in an inanely, scripted manner and were completely unbelievable. The conclusion was laughable. Oh, and one last question in my mind: if Benton had to "hide" from the evil Chandonnes...how is he so "free" now that a few of the dirty members are dead? Seems like big daddy's still around and he was supposedly the one to fear, right? Ridiculous! This book is drivel.
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