Rating: 
Summary: Black is the word
Review: This book is thoroughly researched and minutely detailed. The characters spend all their time getting mad.The mechanics of Cornwell's writing is generally good, and she even gets off a couple memorable lines ("toxic waste in tight clothes"). However, some of the writing is stilted. Marino, the angry buffoon, never steps off the page for me; this may be because I've read none of Cornwell's other books. The scene where the young lady pulls up to the store and shouts the murder victim's name (to contrast with Bray's coldness) comes straight from Frosh Comp: Pathos. I've never read a book so full of angry people, and I am including "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" in this appraisal. Cornwell must be an extremely unhappy person, who writes to deal with her rage.
Rating: 
Summary: I cannot see what is wrong with this book
Review: I cannot for the life of me see why people find so much fault in this book. Admitteddly, this is not the BEST of Cornwell's wrok, but that is not saying a lot. After all, only one book is. (For me, that book is "Point of Origin.) The only thing i can see fault with is Scarpetta letting the killer in so readily, but if you'll notice, Cornwell does sort of explain that in the previous chapters, so that offers some redemption from the act. Otherwise, this ook is excellent. it's exciting, very original, and has Scarpetta at it's core, the woman who has been changed by the horrible things which people have wished to do to her, and the things which they have done. Scarpetta has always been an insecure woman, and this time she is fully vulnerable. It is a vulnerability that will come to the fore in PC's next novel. But there is no denying the fact that going through such hell as Scarpetta has will change a person. those who critixise that change are not criticising the actual quality of the books, but just what their own opinion tells them. And when you review books by opinion, you risk a lot. Lucy has changed, naturally so. Disillusioned with the FBI, she has been pushed from pillar to post and targeted by the cruel Carrie grethen. Would this not change you? Would this not uncover in you a desperate desire for all the death to be over? The plot is great, and the further delving into Scarpetta's personality is also great. The simple fact is, some people like it and some dont. Some say she is flawles...that is not strictly true. Her flaw is that she is flawless, and thus us cut off form most other people, is not acessible to them, nor they to her. I enjoyed this book a great deal. The quality of the prose is as great as ever, and for those that like delving into Scarpett'a character, this book is a must.
Rating: 
Summary: Really disappointing for non-loyal readers...
Review: ...if this is disappointing to loyal readers. I liked the first couple of Kay Scarpetta books, but I hadn't read any for a while because they seemed to go down in quality. I finally picked this one up and it's probably the last I'll ever read. I still think that Cornwell has talent, but she apparently didn't feel up to coming up with anything new or worthwhile. This book is primarily about Kay and her private life; only rarely is the "mystery" (a hunt for a particularly vicious serial killer) brought up. I didn't like many of her characters much to begin with, but they've turned into charicatures of themselves now. Marino has become a loathsome bigotted low-class piece of dirt, and Lucy is a crazed lesbian who wants to destroy the world. If you care what happens to Lucy, Marino, Rose, and especially Scarpetta, you probably should read this. To me, it was far too melodramatic and whiny; Scarpetta is to wrapped up in her life to be of any interest, and the rest of the characters were repellent or boring.
Rating:
Summary: Get to the point
Review: I am still a big fan of the Scarpetta series but this one was hard to get through. Cornwell spent too much time on emotional dialogue and not enough time with the mystery. I just started "The Last Precinct" where the story continues right where "Black Notice" left off and I am wondering why Cornwell didn't just cut out all the extras and make them into one story. For readers who have followed Kay's stories from the beginning they will probably find that "Black Notice" repeats explanations from past stories that are unnecessary to the current one. I thought that Kay's relationship to Marino forced and overly done and his story line hard to swallow. I also thought the story line with Chief Bray a bit far fetched considering if she had her way, than Kay wouldn't have a job anymore. It's still the same ole Kay, but she needs to cut out the drama to keep her audience hooked. I'll give it one more try, but then I may have to give up on Kay.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't think of a more annoying character.
Review: Kay is a self centered, whining, career obsessed, materialistic, obsessive compulsive, conceited and annoying character. I was even more annoyed after watching that pathetic attempt on television of Patricia Cornwell trying to convince the world she knows who Jack The Ripper is (this was not new news, though she claimed it was, and Walter Sikkardt has been ruled out as being the killer since he was not even in England at the time of the murders, yet Ms. Cornwell tainted the reputation of an entire family to sell more of her books) in which I realized that kay Scarpetta is a fictionalized Patricia Cornwell, or at least Ms. Cornwell with delusions. The book reads more like a writer who wants to proove how many hours she spent in a forensics lab rather than really tell a story. Every character in the book is shallow and has no redeeming value. There is no reason to like them. Very simply, this is a bad book, bad story and bad writer.
Rating:
Summary: Really disappointing
Review: We have to wait ages in England to get the latest in the series, and so to wait so long and then read this book was a real let down. Kay is self-centered and nasty-she is not the only one who loses people, and after all, she deals with death every day; it is totally self-indulgent to let everything slide. The so-called hidden agendas are laid on so obviously it is a wonder she reamins clueless for so long. Marino and Lucy are two nasty pieces of work, and Lucy's gayness is mentioned every two seconds, as is Marino's homophobia, as if any of it is actually of any interest to people who want absorbing characters. What does any of it have to do with being a good detective or ATF officer? I can't find myself liking any of the characters I once found so fascinating; they are all so self-absorbed and out of control. The book is world-weary, and it shows, and as for the 'criminal' at the end, without giving too much away for those who persist in the struggle to find anything redeeeming about this novel, well, all I can say is, pathetic and stupid.
Rating:
Summary: Goodby Dr. Scarpetta
Review: I have read quite a few of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels and this is the last one! I have finally realized that Kay is definitely a self-centered ......Anyway, this book really was a disappointment. I think that Ms. Cornwell would be well-served to move on to another character in her writing future, if she is indeed to have one.
Rating:
Summary: Tired, tired, tired
Review: I've read several Kay Scarpetta books, and I liked them to varying degrees. This one covers Dr. Scarpetta's mourning of the tragic loss of someone very dear to her. In a way I got the impression that as tired and depressed as Scarpetta was through the entire book, the author herself seems in a similar rut. This is easily my least favorite of Cornwell's books. The plot seems loosely slapped together, the characters are cardboard cutouts of themselves, and the ending is quite (bad). I don't like most of the Scarpetta endings because it always seems the good doctor gets herself or a loved one in mortal danger every damn time, and some of the endings are so over the top, they seem like Glenn Close forever popping out of the bathtub in the final scenes of "Fatal Attraction". This ending, however, is simply (bad). I won't give anything away, but I'll just leave at that: (bad). Oh yeah, and predictable. Not a surprise to be had here. I think it might be best if Cornwell turned to writing something else for a while and maybe returned to these characters after taking a breather. It's clear that they have become stale -- this book seems to have been a real chore for her to write.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing.
Review: I typically enjoy Cornwell's Dr. Kay Scarpetta character, but for some reason this book was a far cry from the usual enjoyable read. Perhaps it was the complete nonsense masquerading as a story, or the unbelievably boring details that constituted the alleged plot. Whatever the reason, upon finally finishing this painful waste of time, I literally tossed the book into the garbage. I not only wish I had my $5+ back, but also the 5+ hours of my life, wasted on this joke of a book. Don't buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: What has happened to Kay?
Review: Black Notice is definitely not one of Patricia Cornwell's better Kay Scarpetta books. In this book, Kay seems even more sorry for herself and mad at the world while dealing with the death of her lover; Lucy is embittered to the point of self destruction and Marino--well, Marino is just Marino. And in this book, the mystery was not as taut as in the previous novels. It begins satisfactorily when a dead and decaying body is found in the cargo hole of a ship, but the plot does not develop. In fact, it becomes rather convoluted, especially when Marino and Scarpetta go to Paris to help the Interpol. The story then evolves into a unbelievable mishmash with spectors of werewolves running amok through the streets of Richmond, Virginia. This is not to say that you should not read this book especially if you are a Kay Scarpetta fan. Despite its faults, it is an enjoyable read, and I recommend it because of that.
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