Black Notice

Rating:
Summary: DISAPPOINTING-NOT EVEN CLOSE TO HER FORMER BOOKS!
Review: Patricia Cornwall has managed to turn this reader from one who could not wait for her next book to be released to one who is finished reading them. It may suprise her to learn that the sexual orientation of a person only clutters up a good story unless it has DIRECT bearing on the story being told. Lucy needs to get a life and grow up. I really miss the excitement of the her earlier books. I have found this nagging issue true of her last 3 novels.

Rating:
Summary: I'm hooked on this author after listening to this audio book
Review: This is the first time I have listened to this author's book. I am on the road all the time and audio books is the way to travel. I couldn't wait to get back in the car to listed to it. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 only because at times it was a little unbelievable but it's entertaining!

Rating:
Summary: Exciting continuation of Cornwell's talent.
Review: I had read reviews of this book that were not good and almost skipped this one, even though I have read all of her books/ I'm glad I didn't. This was as good as Cornwell get.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible - Worst Cornwell Novel EVER!!!!
Review: Boring, almost depressing - no suspense like other Cornwell novels, kept waiting for the story to devleop. I actually would have put the novel down except for the fact that I was so angry for buying it in hardcover I was determined to finish it so I could give it a fair review. Don't waste your time or your money on this one. Cornwell should kill off this series and start over with a whole new cast of characters.

Rating:
Summary: Not up to par.....
Review: I have read all of Patricia's books. This book took me forever to get through. I found it very hard to believe everyone was out to get Kay. Lucy needs some new focus........I have always liked all of her characters....but this book just didn't endear them to me. Will be difficult to rush to buy the next book in this series......and I buy many books! I will read the reviews on the next one before I buy another disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: What a satisfying Patricia Cornwell novel!
Review: I don't understand readers' negative comments--this is vintage Patricia Cornwell! The plot was well developed and intriguing, the characters were interesting, and Marino just gets better and better! He and Dr. Scarpetta remind me of a long-married couple in the way they play off each other. I actually caught myself chuckling aloud at some of their interchanges. And when the possibility began to exist that Benton might still be alive, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Just a minor suggestion: Patricia, drop the lesbianic overtones; we know you're bisexual and it's evidently a big part of your life, but it just gets in the way of your stories...they stand up just fine without this digression!

Rating:
Summary: Good story but missing some zip
Review: I love Patricia Cornwell's books. I enjoy reading them because they deal with the same charaters which makes following the story line easy. However, I believe the characters need to be broadened. The have become stale. Dont get me wrong I enjoyed the book I just think it could have been better. I would still recommend it and I will continue to buy her books, at least for now. One last thing, The ending was awful. It just ended. I was really annoyed that I had read this entire book only to have that ending. I was left wanting so much more from this book. It was almost as if she just got tired and said ok THE END.

Rating:
Summary: Well written, poignant, chilling
Review: I read quite a few negative reviews about Black Notice on Amazon.com before I finally managed to get my hands on a library copy a few days ago. I must say I disagree with others' assessments that Cornwell 'sleepwalked through this one'. The first 72 pages gripped my heart and I fail to see how anyone who has read her previous Scarpetta books could not have been impacted by the depth of the character's grief over her lovers' death and impressed by Cornwell's eloquent expression of it. Reading is easy, writing is not. I think she did a marvelous job conveying inexpressible emotions--and in in dialogue, yet! I read more books in a month than most people read during a year, and I read everything Cornwell writes because she writes well. Her Scarpetta books are my favorites, and this one is surely as good as the previous books in the series. Cornwell is the mystery/ suspense author of the 90's. I give it 4 stars. You go, Patricia!

Rating:
Summary: Scarpetta & crew put the FUN back in dysfunctional!
Review: [Beware - cryptic spoiler in last line] Let's see... the usual mishmash of soap opera and technical hogwash overwhelm what might have otherwise made a marginally interesting short story, in defter hands. In fact, it did. Edgar Allen Poe, about 1845, wrote a much better treatment of the subject - the main subject, that is, the "mysterious maniac" - skipping all the histrionics, as well as the inanely convoluted and ludicrous plot elements - "One-Sixty-Fivers"? Yeah, right. GET REAL! Yet, I can't say the book totally STINKS. Not totally, nah. It held my interest, more or less, though there was much irrelevant drivel to wade through - these characters spend so much time bickering, spatting, spitting, spewing, flipping, and flapping at each other, they barely find time to solve the mystery... so they don't. Via "deux ex machina" it solves itself, quite neatly, in the last 20 pages. BTW, Kay - Gaston Glock sez it's okay to tote 'em with a round chambered. In fact, you're supposed to. I know... it's a "crucial plot element" that these highly trained professionals are too stupid to have their guns ready when maniacs attack. But that's always been a Cornwell staple. So why do I keep reading these things? Ah... I think Marino's funny. Isn't it time the big goof got his own series? Now... CRYPTIC SPOILER: It's Secret Squirrels vs JoJo the Dog-Faced Boy.

Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD!!
Review: With exception to the mandatory, but again way too much, gore this was an enthralling read. Beginning the book with the letter from Benton hooked me immediately, and having an evil nemesis like Bray was great. It reminded me of the Scarpetta of old. There was a lot less mulling over Marino's impending death. Basically, I found this book to be great and I am completely back on the bandwagon. Some advice for those who found the very descriptive, and almost nauseating, gore too much. The abridged version of the audio recording cuts it down to a tolerable minimum. Although I loved the storylines in the book, the gore almost, just almost, turned me off. So, for those with a weaker stomach than me, this is a great alternative, and you don't lose anything from the original because I read the book before I listened to it, and I came away satisfied both times