Rating: 
Summary: Oh, Kay
Review: Well, another Scarpetta has come and gone, and I am left wondering, "where can she go from here?" Hopefully, not off into the sunset with Marino. I hate that Wesley is no longer there, and I, like many others, am also tired of the Lucy deal. She is so boxed in now that nothing she does is very original or interesting. But, don't stop with the Scarpetta novels. No matter what, they are still great. This one was...OK. Not the best, but still better than most out there. I would suggest that Ms. Cornwell drop the Lady Cop novels...just not good...or interesting.....characters or plot lines. On second thought, are all these stories starting to blend, until one looks too much like the other? Read it anyway, especially if you are a Scarpetta junkie, like so many of us.
Rating: 
Summary: Empty Promises
Review: Hi, this is my first review ever and I felt I need to write one to do justice on spending my time reading the Black Notice - to make something fruitful outta it. This is also my first Patricia Cornwell book read.Overall, I felt that more suspense can be built into catching this "werewolf" than to circle around sub-plots which seems to make the book tiresome. When I was onto page 255, I almost gave up as our Dr Kay wasn't making much progess in identifying this "werewolf". The remaining of the pages happened in such a split second, that does not gives me the pleasure of anticipation and excitment (if any, was worn up at page 255). The climax of the book. that is, when the werewolf was capture - 2 to 3 pages? - didn't build up enough suspense to make my money worth...
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the last couple
Review: In general, I enjoyed this book. I think its story line was much better than the last couple Scarpetta stories, though I, like many others, am sick of the Lucy storyline. The main thing that disappointed me was the ending, how the wolfman gets to Scarpetta. Am I the only one who noticed the similarity between this ending and the one where someone is delivering her bags to her house?
Rating: 
Summary: what's everyone so upset about?
Review: I'm having a hard time believing that Cornwell fans did not enjoy Black Notice! I totally loved it. What do you guys expect? These characters are very well developed including all of their problems. That's probably why we love them so much, because they're so screwed up! Ok, I'll admit that the professional relationships between Scarpetta and members of every government law enforcement agency (domestic and foreign) seems a little......ummmm......odd, but it's fun. This is fiction and a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: The last of these I will ever buy
Review: I think it is safe to say that Patricia Cornwell has, in her most recent books, gone far astray from the excitement and originality that were exhibited in her first few Kate Scarpetta novels. In Black Notice she 'treats' us to a basically unbelievable story full of subplots about office politics and her niece's bad attitude that simply detracts from any ongoing narrative thrust. Cornwell long ago went over the top with the seriel killer theme, the neurotic Dr. Scarpetta theme, the lesbian niece theme, and the decline of Morino theme. Readers are wanting, I think, to see some new sense of life in Scarpetta and a fresh direction, but in this book we get bleak, neurotic, angry characters doing equally bleak, neurotic and angry things to one another. No fun. And, isn't the gimmic of making the FBI the bad guys and ATF the good guys a bit much? Given the publicity that has attended Cornwell's real life problems with the FBI, I believe readers would rather not see her carry the feud into her fiction. It cheapens it and just adds another dimension of heaviness the reader doesn't need to deal with. If I were Scarpetta's boss, I would insist she take a sabbatical and seek help. Since a tug of war over her position has been a theme in more than one of Cornwell's Scarpetta books, it ill behooves her to present her heroine so scattered, irrational, and on the edge. Maybe Cornwell should take a sabbatical from Scarpetta.
Rating:
Summary: Black Notice Worst Book of the Year
Review: Black Notice had to be one of the most unpleasant books that I have ever read. I enjoyed the earlier books in this series - they were well written and researched, and Kay Scarpetta was edgy in an interesting sort of way. Unfortunately, she has devolved into a narcisistic, paranoid shrew with delusions of grandeur, and her sidekicks, especially Marino, are equally self-involved and obnoxious. The books are not particularly well written anymore - Cornwell seems to be grinding them out with no editorial guidance. At least she seems to have gotten over her gun fetish, but these books have become nasty and meanspirited, with little to recommend them.
Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately, A Disappointment
Review: I've always enjoyed the Cornwell/Scarpetta books. Unfortunately, Black Notice disappoints on many levels. One other review noted the abundance of angry, bitter characters. I couldn't agree more. There was no relief from the anger. Perhaps this would have been bearable, however, this book simply is not well-written. The plot lines are disjointed, the flow is bad, buildup to certain scenes barely existed. Let's hope the next outing brings back some of the suspense as well as making the reader actually care about the characters again.
Rating:
Summary: disappointed again
Review: Read all of her books except Winter Table, and the first 5 or so I couldnt put down, really couldnt put them down. The last few have been so hard to read, I forced myself to read them, knowing I couldnt love EVERYTHING she wrote, waiting for the old Scarpetta to return. But she only gets more and more arrogant. And like most other reviews, I too, am bored with the Lucy character. And I too, read the reviews on this site before reading the book, but read it anyway, just hoping... What's wrong with Cornwell? Her characters are now shallow, too predictable, and boring where they should be familiar, comfortable, and anxious to solve these mysteries. I dont know if I will read any more of her books. I surely wont BUY any more.
Rating:
Summary: Black Notice
Review: Great! I have to say I had been disappointed by her previous book "Point of Origin" as many other readers, so I started reading "Black Notice" with a kind of prejudice, but how wrong I was! The story was great and kept me reading without stopping till the end. I have to reveiw my opinion I thought Patricia Cornwell was losing her touch, but I was wrong, no matter what other readers say, she is still capable of keeping you on a thread till it's over. I'll be waiting for her next book with patience.
Rating:
Summary: What a story!
Review: The reader reviews are more entertaining and sometimes better written than the book.I got hung up on details like the license plate number on pp 132-133, and the proofreading was bad. But the book read like a cartoon, reminding me of A Man in Full. Southern cartoon characters. Plot? What plot? She got a free ride to France to have the villain handed to her? "Oh yeah, we knew all about him?" I was kind of hoping that Loveable Lucy would just empty her Glock at everyone during the hurry-up conclusion.I also think Talley went after Kay because he was attracted to Lucy and got nowhere. Sloppily written and hopefully not a window into the author's experiences.
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