Rating: 
Summary: Latest entry in Scarpetta series not quite up to snuff
Review: A new Scarpetta title by Patricia Cornwell never fails to get my pulse humming. I dove into Black Notice confident that I would be adding it to my collection of all the other previous Scarpetta books in the series. Having finished it, I am deflated. Although it held my interest in the early chapters, with Cornwell's as-usual meticulous attention to forensic detail, the story falters mid-way and never seems to get back on track. This installment suffers noticably from the absence of Benton Westley, who was a calming, stabilizing eye for the hurricane of relentless activity that is Dr. Kay. I have not forgiven Cornwell yet for her lapse in judgement in killing him off, and am hoping against hope that she may find a way to resurrect him in the next book. Black Notice also suffers from an overly-ambitious scope, as Kay and Marino find themselves, incongruously, in Paris, chasing a serial killer for Interpol. Oh, yes--the killer. The resolution in this book is by far the weakest yet. After creating the most, uh, UNIQUE, perpetrator of crime since the maple-syrup guy in Postmortem--remember him?--Cornwell devotes exactly one page, the next-to-last, to his appearance and capture. After building the reader up for hundreds of pages, she leads us to expect a spectacular confrontation with the monster--and lets it drop with all the drama of soggy macaroni. It's as if, mid-chapter, she got tired and decided to quit right there. As a multiple-award winning author, she should know better. Her editors should know better. The reader expects, and deserves, a more satisfying payoff than the one she delivers in this book. We have also come to expect a more pscychologically complex villian than the one she delivers here. Scarpetta's nemesis, Diane Bray, is only a secondary character, but she is a much more interesting brand of evil than the one whodunit in this story. Temple Gault he most certainly is not, nor Carrie Grethen, either. One could almost deem him a childish creation, the cop-out of a tired author hell-bent on getting her 10th installment out. He might have retained our interest and even our sympathy if he had been given more humanity. As it is, he is as crudely sketched as a cartoon.I would hold up any other book in the Scarpetta series as ample proof that Cornwell deserves all those awards she's received. However, "Black Notice" falls far short of the high mark she has previously set for herself, and we have come to expect. Dr. Kay is truly a unique creation, and a role model to aspire to, but she deserves better than this. Maybe it's time for her, and Cornwell to retire and go on to more wholesome pursuits.
Rating: 
Summary: Cynically setting us up for a sequel?
Review: I like mysteries that pay attention to and develop their characters' individual psychology. However, in novels so constructed, a delicate balance must be struck between character development and plot. This is difficult, and in this regard, Cornwell is now completely out of kilter. At the beginning of this series, Kay Scarpetta was an intelligent, dedicated, principled, if somewhat rigid professional woman made a trifle paranoid by her cautionary experiences in a "man's world," and Cornwell's early Scarpetta novels were excellent -- balanced, focused, and plot-driven. However, her inability to provide Scarpetta with a believable personality, any insight, or sense of either humor or irony has become increasingly obvious as the series has continued. I hope that Scarpetta is not autobiographical or some sort of idealized role model for Cornwell, because I find myself wanting to scream, "Kay, stop being so uptight and sanctimonious and GET SOME HELP! You've become a total prig!" Cornwell herself certainly seems to be more fascinated with her characters than she has any good reason to be. Kay is not a person whom I would cultivate as a friend; poor Marino has been turned into an unpleasant caricature of Fred Flintstone; neither Mark nor Benton were ever particularly compelling characters; and Lucy is a blight on the landscape (Good God -- all this because she's got an inattentive mother? ) Why the development and perpetuation of all these negative, codependent relationships anyway? At this point I feel rather like a voyeur, because I strongly suspect that I'm really reading about a very self-obsessed author's life, and I'm frankly just not that interested. As for the characters unique to this installment, the Loup Garou is completely one-dimensional. Yet he is arguably the character that should be the focus of the story (as he would be were, say, John Sandford to write this book). I had the whole trite subplot involving Bray, Anderson, and Ruffin figured out almost immediately. As for Talley -- a 30-year-old cultured Harvard graduate millionaire sexual (gay? again?) naif who falls for a middle-aged medical examiner he's barely met? Give me a break! Finally, I am thoroughly weary of both the homosexual issues and innuendoes and the steamy sex scenes more worthy of Jackie Collins. These plot devices are merely distracting and irritating, while adding nothing to good plot development. Cornwell would do her readers a big favor if she would write a psychiatrist into the next novel and have Kay, Lucy, et al start MEANINGFUL long-term therapy. Better yet, maybe Cornwell should collaborate with Nevada Barr -- Kay and Anna Pigeon (with Marino and Frederick, of course) can solve a li'l old mystery, and Molly Pigeon can retire on the related psychiatric problems! Oh, I almost forgot. The story? Better than the last two (when you're actually treated to a few paragraphs thereof), but that's not really saying much. Do as I did, and get it from the library.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly different plot, couldn't put it down!
Review: Before reading Cornwell's latest thriller, I read the on-line reviews and became a little disappointed. However, after I began reading the book, I couldn't put it down. There were enough twists and turns to keep me interested, and I was delighted to see that Kay did not hibernate alone at home for too long. I lost faith in her when she became sullen and distant one year after Benton's death. I'm glad to see she's moved on. Can't wait to see what Scarpetta will tackle next!
Rating:
Summary: There are too many loose ends and unexplained events.
Review: As usual, she writes with too much detail for my taste, but ifyou scan through the hum drum parts, it can be interesting. I did notlike the ending at all, it left too much unanswered. I did not like Benton dying in the last book and her falling for the young Interpol guy this time around.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat far fetched
Review: I just finished reading the book and found that there were too many ends left unfinished. I also thought that the murderer in the book was just too smart and available for the story behind him. I have read all of her books and this is not the best one.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much bad language!
Review: I had heard that this book was much better so I took a chance and read it and was totally repulsed by the constant bad language. It is totally not needed and distracted from the story. It just shows that the author has a limited language to pull from when the same words are continually used. I do not recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: An exciting, intriguing and fast-paced thriller.
Review: "Black Notice" brings back Kay Scarpetta, who is oneof the best female protagonists ever created for the thriller genre.She is tough when she needs to be and, at other times, quite vulnerable. This book has a fascinating plot and it delves further into Scarpetta's feelings about her family. Cornwell sensitively handles Kay's anguish over the loss of Benton. "Black Notice" held my interest until the end. Kay's relationship with Marino is wonderful; they're like two squabbling siblings who know each other's faults very well, and fight constantly. However, they really love one another (platonically, of course). The dialogue is believable and the forensic details absolutely fascinating. The ending is a bit cliched, but it is not over the top. For Cornwell fans, this is a must.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting, intriguing and fast-paced thriller.
Review: "Black Notice" brings back Kay Scarpetta, who is one of the best female protagonists ever created for the thriller genre. She is tough when she needs to be and, at other times, quite vulnerable. This book has a fascinating plot and it delves further into Scarpetta's feelings about her family. Cornwell sensitively handles Kay's anguish over the loss of Benton. "Black Notice" held my interest until the end. Kay's relationship with Marino is wonderful; they're like two squabbling siblings who know each other's faults very well, and fight constantly. However, they really love one another (platonically, of course). The dialogue is believable and the forensic details absolutely fascinating. The ending is a bit cliched, but it is not over the top. For Cornwell fans, this is a must.
Rating:
Summary: weak effort
Review: I have always been a Cornwell/Scarpetta fan, but this book fell short of the others. The plot takes a long time to develop and the main characters seemed to be falling apart. Lucy's character is completely out of control; maybe it's time to get rid of her. Dr. Scarpetta always makes excuses for Lucy's behavior, when in actuallity, she is basically a spoiled brat. Pete Marino seems on the brink of a nervous breakdown throughout the story, while he usually is a pretty strong character. The worst part about the story was that Kay was mooning over the death of her beloved Benton,(who by the way was one of my favorites, and one of the most well developed characters and never should have been killed off) and then Kay ends up jumping into bed with some kid she meets at Interpol. The book was alright overall, but I would NOT recommend it to one of my friends. Hopefully, the next Kay Scarpetta novel will be much better.
Rating:
Summary: Poor plotting/slow moving
Review: If this were my first Patricia Cornwell book, I would have quit reading a third of the way through. So often editing seems to be a lost art when it comes to well-known authors. (Those of us who read Southern Cross know that for a certainty.) But the Skarpetta series seemed to transcend the numerous aberrations of the Judy Hammer books . . . ah, but not so anymore. Ms. Cornwell, move your stories along. (If you have forgotten how, read the first three or four books in the Skarpetta series for sound ideas.) This one bogged down for practically half the book. Forget department infighting. It's boring and you've done it before. Ditch Lucy, and please do not take this as a homophobic remark as it is not. Little Lucy that we loved and felt sorry for as a child has few redeeming qualities today. Say, you went a bit overboard with the shouted and rude conversations. The Marino that sat in on the VICAP team with Benton and the rest of that group was a top-notch dectective and was generally respectful of where he was. (Yes, he was a little crude, but never to the point that he has become in this book.) He still is a top-notch detective, and he would not have acted so surly during the visit to Interpol. Give him a break now that he (and Skarpetta) must carry the series along. Ditch the colorless (in spite of his extremely dark and handsome looks and, of course, that perfectly sculptured body . . . boy, talk about a cheap romance novel description) Jay Talley. I don't know how you pictured him in your mind, but he came through characterless and verily blah. Would Kay jump into bed with someone she knew for only 15 minutes (all right, a small exaggeration)? I think not! By the by, since when do government agencies use AOL.
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