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Summary: Renewed Hope: Some People Can Still Write
Review: I must say, this book captured my attention. I finished Black Notice only a few minutes ago and remembered Patricia Cornell's newer books were being slandered. I must say, I find each Scarpetta novel get better and better. Her old works are interesting, especially because Benton is still alive (personally, I thought no one would be able to replace Mark's character.) Though, as the storys progress, Kay's life begin to work in a downward spiral, and people can't stand seeing their heros in such a form.Though there is not much joy in Kay's life anymore, after Benton has died, Lucy is still fighting to become better then her Aunt, and others are trying to ruin her job, it gives the reader more of a 'real' sense. That Kay doesn't have the perfect life we all wish for, it gives us something to relate to. If you've never read a Scarpetta book, I suggest you pick one up, but as far as this one goes, its the best since the three books on Gaunt.
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Summary: The Best of all the Scarpetta Books
Review: The discovery of a decomposed body in a locked container on a cargo ship is going to set Dr. Kay Scarpetta against the most dangerous killer she has ever faced. The container came from France and the killer calls himself le loup-garou which is French for werewolf. Now he's on the loose in Virginia and Kay winds up on the case and the killer winds up putting Kay in his sights. Like the best of Cornwell's books we get insight into the characters we've come to care so much about. Kay is still numb from the lose of Benton Wesley. Someone is trying to ruin her reputation by sending e-mails from her address and she has to deal with that. Marino has been suspended and niece Lucy is doing undercover work that Kay believes is dangerous. Events set these friends against each other even as the killer closes in on Kay. In my opinion this is the best Scarpetta novel to date. Excellent characterization, vivid description and plenty of action. Five stars all the way. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
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Summary: My First Patricia Cornwell Read and I am HOOKED!!!
Review: I am currently in Pre-Med and I am hoping to go into forensic pathology. A classmate of mine told me I must read some of Ms. Cornwell's books. She gave Black Notice and said to give it a chance. It has sat on my kitchen table for about a month now I had not even glanced at it. 2 nights ago I was having troubles getting to sleep and I decided to open the book hoping maybe my eyes would get tired. I wasn't able to put the thing down and I read it straight through. This book is so detailed orientated and kept me on the edge of my seat. This book tied everything together very nicely. The ending was a bit predictable but it was a excellent read!!!
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Summary: Unless you're into frustration, don't waste your time
Review: You never realize how truly disappointing a book can be until you realize that there are approximatley fifty pages left and countless plot lines flapping in the breeze. Cornwell is a master storyteller. Unfortunately, Black Notice if incredibly similar to many of Dean Koontz's books in that the author tells a great story but has no clue how to tie everythign together and end the book. Like Koontz, Cornwell chooses to simply end without tying up many of the plot lines. My advice, don't waste your time.
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Summary: Poor effort
Review: This is a really poor effort by Patricial Cornwell. If this had been the first book of Cornwell's that I had read, I would have been likely to not read any more books of hers. Instead of a good mystery, we are offered extreme details of office politics and a slow moving plot, with a B-movie climax. The characters are extremely caricaturized here, and there also is a lot of self-righteousness and self-declared vulnerability on the part of Scarpetta. Overall, this one can be skipped.
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Summary: Not Cornwell's best effort
Review: I am a huge Kay Scarpetta fan, but this book was in desperate need of an editor. There were several places where I had to flip back and reread, only to find that I was right the first time -- the book referred to facts that hadn't been proven or even discussed, things that hadn't happened, etc. The sad thing is, you have to read this book if you want her subsequent stuff to make any sense. But it really wasn't her best.
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Summary: Excruciating Amount of Detail
Review: I am normally a fan of Cornwell but this one is over the top. There is a LARGE amount of unnecessary detail in this book that makes you want to scream or at least keep turning the page until you get to a part that matters. The various plots jerk you around many times. The characters seem to say the same thing over and over again. I found the whole book frustrating to read and finished it in the hope that it would get better!
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Summary: It's Never Over in Black Notice
Review: Patricia Cornwell's novel, Black Notice, is a very intriguing read. Kay Scarpetta, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, is given the autopsy of a man found in a freight container on a cargo ship from Europe. This "cargo man" was found with unexplainable animal-like hair all over his body. Kay's next autopsy is a sales clerk who was mutilated by her murderer, and coincidently contained the same strange hair on her body. Through INTERPOL (international police) Kay learns that the murders are linked to similar ones in Italy. Kay has to put her job on the line so she can find out confidential information that is only known to one other. To make matters worse someone in Kay's office is trying to sabotage her identity and ruin her career. It doesn't stop there. The new deputy chief, Diane Bray, is trying to take over the Homicide department and has demoted Kay's best friend, Pete Marino. Not to mention Kay's niece, Lucy, is involved in a undercover drug shooting. Cornwells explicit imagery and thorough explanations help to set a vivid scene throughout the entire novel, "Every inch of skin was dried wipes and smears and swirls reminding me of finger-painting again, her face a mush of splintered bone and battered tissue." Cornwell succeeds in keeping the readers attention throughout the novel, once you think no more problems can arise, something new happens. The ending of Black Notice was very dramatic and unexpected although Cornwell could have tied up a few more loose ends, but I believe that will be explained in her next novel. Overall Black Notice is an interesting, descriptive and suspenseful novel.
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Summary: Mediocre
Review: It was readable and interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying: a pat ending that tried to tie together too many loose ends, somewhat cliched characters, and Kay Sparpetta I found to be almost insufferable. All the women are jealous, all the men want her, etc. I found her "perfect" persona (wealthy, beautiful, brilliant, famous, etc.) a bit much. Even her flaws (somewhat distant, uncomfortable with her own emotions) were meant, it seems, to make her that much more alluring. This is the first Scarpetta book I've read and have heard good things about the series. Maybe I need to go back to the beginning to see what the appeal is (besides the foresensics info, which was quite interesting).
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Summary: NOT JUST ANOTHER WEREWOLF STORY...
Review: This is an intriguing and well crafted Kay Scarpetta mystery, which begins promisingly enough with the discovery of an overly ripe, dead body. Found stashed in a locked and sealed freight container aboard a cargo ship from Belgium that has landed in Dr. Kay Scarpetta's jurisdiction of Richmond, Virginia, the male, mystery corpse is covered with loose hairs. This intriguing beginning sends Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Richmond, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, on a hunt for information that turns international in scope. She discovers that this is just one of a number of murders to contain those tell tale hairs. The murders, themselves, are graphic and the forensic details, as always, are fascinating, and Dr. Scarpetta's critical analysis of the pathology issues are well thought out and highly informative, as she sifts through the forensic evidence in order to profile the killer. Her assessment of the peculiar affliction of this serial killer is intriguing, providing scientific insight into creatures who were called werewolves, but who may have only been persons with a rare and unusual genetic condition, causing them to be especially hirsute, among other anomalies. Moreover, there are a number of subplots afoot. Dr. Scarpetta, who is recovering from the death of her lover, Wesley Benton, faces a number of problems closer to home. It seems that she has been the victim of identity theft, with her internet screen name being used to set up a phony chat room, and personally destructive emails being sent falsely under her screen name. To add fuel to the fire, a new Deputy Chief in the Richmond police Department, Diane Bray, and has managed to demote Dr. Scarpetta's long time friend, Homicide Detective Pete Marino. Having her own secret agenda, Bray has turned her sights onto Dr. Scarpetta, desiring to get jurisdiction over the Medical Examiner's Office. Perfidy also exist among Dr. Scarpetta's trusted staff, and her niece Lucy, who is still not operating with a full deck, is on a dangerous, undercover police mission with her lover in Miami, adding yet another worry to Dr. Scarpetta's already full plate. It is the camaraderie between Pete Marino and Dr. Kay Scarpetta, however, that holds this particular book together. Their repartee and dialogue is wonderful, giving evidence of their comfortable and close relationship, without saying so in so many words. They carp as if they were an old married couple. Lucy, Dr. Scarpetta's niece, however, is still a loose cannon, and it is unbelievable that any police agency would allow her to run around with a gun in her hand, given her record for shooting it off. Mercifully, this annoying character has a smaller role than usual in this novel, and the reader may only hope that she will either be written out altogether or get an attitude adjustment. The ending of the book, however, is a little too pat. Dr. Scarpetta's actions in the book's grand finale are not really believable for such an astute and normally cautious woman. Given what she already knows about the killer, her actions in the end bespeak more of the actions of an unknowing civilian. Still, this book does not fail to entertain and is sure to provide reading pleasure for many Kay Scarpetta devotees.
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