Black Notice

Rating:
Summary: Not a Good Choice for your First Cornwell
Review: I was startled at some negative reviews of "Black Notice". I "read" the audio version and found it superb, as I have several of her other works in the Scarpetta series. How I love Kay Scarpetta! A physician, lawyer, scientist and person of intellect - AND a "real" person with heart. To get into "Black Notice", one needs some familiarity with the characters - Dr. Scarpetta's beloved niece, Lucy, the now deceased Benton, and the all-too-believable Marino (what a great character!). You MUST have the stomach for sometimes excruciating forensic detail (I can't help it - I find it fascinating), but start with two or three other books in the Kay Scarpetta series first to become familiar with the characters. Please keep writing, Patricia!

Rating:
Summary: Badly done repeat of earlier work.
Review: There was little original in this book. The subplot of a power struggle that involves the sabotage of Kay's career by computer- was straight out of Postmortem. Kay's identifying a genetic disorder in the villian by a description of how he smells, straight out of Postmortem again. The final showdown as the killer invades Kay's home aftr she stupidly opens the door- straight out of Body of Evidence. And pretty close to the final scene in Postmortem. Frankly, its an insult to the readers memories- the only new thing here is the younger man/older woman romance and thats a pretty minor part of the book since the character development of the man is so shallow. Don't waste your time reading this, Postmortem tells the same story but does an infinitely better job. In that book the characers are fairly well developed and likable, here all the characters are just pale shadows of their incarnations in previous works.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time!
Review: Sadly lacking, Ms Cornwall either needs to improve her own spirits or at the least, improve the spirits of her characters. Not only are they depressing but, even worse, they are boring. This book reads like a poor quality soap opera with little to redeem it. Suggest the author pass the antidepressants around or find lives for the good doc, Marino and her agonizingly nasty niece.

Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for the next one!
Review: I just discovered Cornwell this year and have now read every book in the Scarpetta series. I loved this book except for the ending - too predictable. I love reading the Scarpetta books because of the detail in forensic evidence. I also have grown to care about the characters and how their lives are progressing. In a series it's important to have a strong foundation within the characters and Kay, Marino, and Lucy are all interesting, complex characters that I enjoy to read about. I especially am enjoying Kay's new romance with the Interpol stud. Hope to see more of him in the future. Looking forward to November's release!

Rating:
Summary: LEADING UP
Review: I love to read Patricia Cornwell books. Her writing is amazing. Everyone says that her book was really bad but l think that she was just trying to totally get rid of the last story line with Benton and stuff. It seemed that this book was focusing mostly on the charactors and not on the murder. I think she was trying to make this book as a bridge to another hopefully more interesting story line. That's probably why the murder was so rushed. Yes I really hope her writing will get back to its usual style - exciting, edge of your seat. I think you should read this book just so you can follow the characters personal lives. I really hope she is using this book to lead to a better more interesting story line. I say read the book :)

Rating:
Summary: Take a pass....
Review: Take a pass on this one. I've only read one other book by P. Cronwell, "From Potter's Field." "Black Notice" doesn't hold a candle to that one. Cronwell spends two-thirds of the book analyzing Scarpetta and her loss of Benton, and allowing Marino to give everyone a lot of lip. By some very tedious twists and turns, she connects the dots in the last fifty pages. Sending Scarpetta on a trip to Paris was nice, and the INTERPOL idea is pretty good; however, these are used in a quick-and-dirty fashion, sort of thrown into the mix for good measure. An easy read, if you're interested in reading about someone's personal problems. Don't bother if you're interested in reading a murder mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Try a different book
Review: This is the first Patricia Cornwell book I've gotten, and I bought the audio version. I'm glad to see from the other reviews that she has written good books in the past. Perhaps I'll try one of them. This book is not one I would recommend. It has excessive and gratuitous profanity (yelled at you in the audio version - constantly), the characters are unlikeable (especially Marino) and react in an illogical manner (Kate opens the door even though she suspects that the "werewolf" is out there, and then tries to protect him from being shot even though he has horribly murdered several people and in the process of doing her too). The profanity was tiring - Kay, Marino and Lucy could have outdone the toughest foul-mouthed gang member in this one. Are we to believe that people talk like this, and often? I don't think so! The so-called "werewolf" syndrome the bad guy has is actually a rare genetic disorder called "congenital general hypertrichosis" and is basically confined to an extended family in Mexico that has black hair. (You can find the information - and pictures too - in just about any genetics book.) How she came up with a blond werewolf is beyond me. Lucy and Marino contribute little to the story - they could have been left out of this one. The parts where Kay does her medical examinations are good. Gross, but very realistic and believable. The story had a lot of potential, but fell far short of it.

Rating:
Summary: Hornet's Nest via Scarpetta
Review: I was so disappointed with Cornwell's latest. I mean, could we have a more tired plot, sub-plots, and ending? I feel like I just had the lame charaters and story from Hornet's Nest shoved down my throat under the guise of a Scarpetta novel. What is with this young handsome guy falling in love with Kay after a quick fling and talking about moving to VA? And what is with her sobbing over the loss of her beloved Benton, only to then become emotionally entangled with some young whipper-snapper moments later? Umm, could I ask what was Marino's purpose in France? Did they ask him anything? Did he contribute ANYTHING, besides coming along as Kay's escort? Was he even a detective at the time, not to mention the detective assigned to the case? If all these other agencies find him so valuble why don't they freakin' HIRE HIM? And the werewolf - I'm glad we got a good view into his twisted mind - NOT! I know, let's pull in some more obscure and fantastic medical conditions to add to the total stupidity of the story, instead of creating a plot line that is actually interesting and clever. It's like you find out what's going on and say, "Ooops, for a second there I thought we had some neat twists and turns coming, guess not." And Kay's lame attempts at 'profiling' then wondering what Benton would've said. Kay needs to get a grip and take a vacation, and maybe address the problems her disturbed niece is having. And why does her sister or mother always make a little appearance in the story - to fill space? Anyway, how many of Kay's boyfriends are going to get blown up? Maybe Kay needs to find someone NOT involved with law enforcement. Or put Marino out of his misery and just sleep with him. That's obviously what he wants. Or Cornwell is just confused again about where she wants her story to go. And apparently Kay has learned nothing in all her years of risky cases and psychopaths - "I think I'll just open up my door to anyone." And I would have thought there was some chain of evidence rule about taking things home with you that are relevant to an open case. And the whole office problem thing was soooo lame. And her supervisor's whole role in the story was pretty ridiculous. Basically it contributed nothing to the overall story, which is pretty weak to begin with. And what happened to him anyway? I always liked her books because of the realism. But murder scenes with no detective present? Federal agencies not seeing Lucy as the loose cannon she is, and benching her until she gets some psychiatric help? Not to mention the conflict of interest between Lucy's personal and professional life and how inappropriate her behavior is. Sucessful detectives put back in uniform for no reason? No checks and balances on the processing of drugs through a morgue? And what happened to the cartel? Guess that's supposed to encourage us to buy the next book - I think I'll just borrow that one from the library.

Rating:
Summary: I am glad I bought a used version for 20 bucks
Review: Kay and Marino are getting too tedious for words.I bought the unabridged audio version. I rather liked the main plot, it was entertaining, but.....I am beginning to want to slap Marino..he is becoming so obnoxious I could do without him. And as for Kay Scarpetta..get a grip! She is busy feeling sorry for herself for half of the book! Benton is dead..move on! And for the life of me, I can not understand what Jay Tolley saw in her! She is busy being either rude or sappy when they are together. Cornwell is going to lose her following if the next books are of the same quality. (And I used to love all of her stuff.)Now I will only buy used versions..just in case.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best of the Scarpetta series
Review: While I love Patricia Cornwall's writing, this was my least favorite of them all. Considering how brilliant the other books were, this one was still worth reading, but not up to par with her previous works. Ms. Cornwall seemed to take a different vein with this work, but I prefer her previous stategy. Scarpetta just seemed a bit out of character in this book (i.e. having the impromptu fling with the young French man just didn't seem like her at all). All in all, worth reading because even a so-so book by Patricia Cornwall is still a good read, I just expected her usual top of line story.