Rating: 
Summary: What happened to this series?
Review: I used to enjoy the Scarpetta series, beginning with the first novel, Post-Mortem. I drifted away after From Potter's Field, because I was tired of serial killers. What I enjoyed about those first novels was the realistic setting, characters and scales of the crime. I started reading again with the last novel and now this one. The characters have become unrealistic, jet-setting James Bond types, although James Bond doesn't spend so much time whining and complaining. These are really unpleasant people investigating ridiculously complicated crimes. This book's minor characters and sub-plots make no sense (Diane Bray?) and Cornwell's technical writing skills have deteriorated terribly. She also seems so focused on some kind of personal agenda about women and sexuality . . . I don't understand what's happened to this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Scarpetta has still got it
Review: Black Notice is another great Cornwell novel. As usual, you will find yourself turning pages faster than you can read. However, this book was a little more gore and less scare than her previous novels. It is definitely worth the read and leaves you in limbo eagerly anticipating Ms. Cornwell's next masterpiece!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time on this uninspired nonsense
Review: I felt ongoing instances of deja vu while reading "Black Notice" -- same characters acting the same way, and repetitive plot devices that Cornwell has used ad infinitum. The main characters do not grow or change at all during the course of the novel, and the rest of the cast is as thin as the pages they are written on.Someone needs to teach the author the difference between foreshadowing and telegraphing. I won't reveal the unsatisfying ending, but any reader will know after the first 25 pages where this one is headed. I believe several other Scarpetta books have ended in the exact same fashion. The only thing remarkable about this book is the lack of any type of suspense. And the only mystery is that Cornwell is paid so much to write so poorly. Let's hope she invests some of that cash in taking courses at the local community college. She could use some tutoring on plot and characterization.
Rating:
Summary: The author is falling apart
Review: What a mess. The only explanation for book like this is that the author was facing a contract deadline to crank out one more in a previously sucessful series. Also, maybe that her books have been selling so well that her editor is afraid to cross her. This used to be a pretty good "procedual" series. Procedurals work best if the law-enforcement research and facts are detailed and compelling. The author's forays into psychological depth are amateurish and, worse, are tempting her to skimp on the technical details that were her forte. Like many of the other reviewers, I've lost patience with the one-dimensional depression and paranoia of the Scarpetta character, the rage of Marino (does it have to be pounded out in every single line of dialogue?), and the non-stop chaos of Lucy's life. And for heaven's sake, enough with the serial killers. It's getting hard to find a thriller that doesn't rely on the serial-killer gimmick to generate suspense. When will he kill again? Who cares, if even the first killing just generates a lot of random questions that the author never bothers to answer?
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre to say the least
Review: Patricia Cornwell's books are deteriorating rapidly in terms of quality (i.e. innovation, writing style, research, depth), their characters are gettingeven more tired than their readers and the grisly morgue details fail to arouse anyone's interest as most has been covered in previous books. Patricia should look for another set of characters (at least if she wants to retain yours truly as a reader - and I have bought and read all her books so far).
Rating: 
Summary: Far-fetched and ultimately a letdown.
Review: Black Notice was a tolerable book until about three-fourths of the way through, when all the mysteries are basically solved. After that, we're just waiting for the deranged killer to come after Kay. And then....after toting her gun and worrying about her home security system through the whole book....Kay lets the killer in!! Duh! How stupid is that? My first and last Cornwell book.
Rating: 
Summary: I would like to say thank you PC for another wonderful read!
Review: I just finished Black Notice. It was another terrific book! I have read all of PC's books and the hardest part is waiting for the next one! She has never written a bad book, and if you missed one, you missed too many! I would like the chance to say thank you for the many great hours I have spent with Kay Scarpetta. I was so happy to see a man come into her life again!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!! I LOVED EVERY LINE OF IT!!!!
Review: Patricia Cornwell just keeps getting better and better. With each book I feel closer to Kay, Marino,and lucy. Only Ms. Cornwell can make such characters come alive so well!! This novel keeps your interest from the start, and your heart goes out to Kay, Lucy and Marino while they fumble through their feelings about benton's demise.... But is he really gone? how did Jay find out so much about Kay? With every new novel you learn a little more about it's main characters so they become real..I for one want to feel like I've jumped right into the book and am one of the bystanders along for the ride, and Ms. Cornwell acomplishes that for me each time!!
Rating:
Summary: A thrilling page turner.
Review: I wondered how Dr. Kay would react to her lovers distruction. She is as human as the rest of us. We know that she hides behind a hard shell, only letting those truly close to her see her intense heartache. A modern day herione.
Rating:
Summary: Cornwell Still Off-Track
Review: Patricia Cornwell continues her downhill slide. Although not as bad as her last several books, Black Notice is a big disappointment. The story line is full of holes, questions and unrealistic nonsense. The book also has an unpleasantly misogynistic tone, especially when dealing with the odious Diane Bray. I can only assume Patricia Cornwell's personal issues are spilling over into her work. Bring back the old, intriguing Kay Scarpetta and gang, not this whiny bunch.
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