Rating: 
Summary: Overblown
Review: Rarely have I found a book utterly distasteful, but this one is the exception. I've read all of Cornwell's novels and have generally enjoyed them--up to this one. I was looking forward to a good read, and all I got was this.Enough mewling about the niece and the dead lover! Get back to basics, Ms. Cornwell. And lay off all the meaningless details. If a good editor had taken about 100-150 pages of padding out of this, it might have been okay, although the plot is just a wee bit far-fetched. Maybe more than a wee bit.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: I just finished its 320 pages in under 24 hours. Her stories are always all-consuming. While a few critics seems to be dissappointed in the emotions of her characters, it seems to make them more real to me. Of course, Kay Scarpetta and all of Benton's friends would grieve. I would have been shocked if Patricia Cornwell had not addressed his death in this way and everyone went on with business and lives as usual. As for the "crime du jour", I loved all the twists, turns and sub-plots and the manner in which Cornwell knits everything together. The ending was brief and somewhat predictible, but hey, how many ways are there really to catch a criminal?
Rating: 
Summary: Kay Scarpetta in back and in great form.
Review: I hated it when PC killed off Benton. He seemed to make KS human and real. In Black Notice Kay became a hero again. She seemed more like a person and less of a bitch. This story line was not consumed with Lucy and I found like her earlier books I could not put it down. Great job PC....I can't wait for your next KS adventure.
Rating:
Summary: This book reads like a body blow to the stomach!
Review: This is a great read! First, it's nice to read about someone who isn't blond, in great shape, and under 30! Scarpetta is more "real" here than in any previous works. So what if there are some untidy loose ends? After reading the reviews, all I can conclude is that this book provokes intense feelings. After reading the book, I conclude that it was "worth the candle."
Rating: 
Summary: get a life!!
Review: ms cornwell's stories are interesting, but lately dr scarpetta has become the most whinny, self centered character to hit the literary pages in some time. as for the ending it seemed (and not for the first time) that ms cornewll got tired of writing and just hurried the ending and left me at least wanting more or at least some answeres to the questions she posed in the book. overall another disappointment in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Whiny, disjointed, would not recommend it.
Review: Kay has deteriorated into a poor storyteller, and seems to have become a very unstable person - was Chief Bray on the right track with her dismissal? The story jumps all over, Marino seems to have become a liability rather than a brilliant detective. Kay can't figure out who is leading the seduction, and we did NOT need the kernal about Benton's autopsy. I really used to enjoy the smooth writing of these books, but it seems to degenerated into some disjointed stream of conciousness. Time to search for a new author!
Rating:
Summary: hmm..who's going next?
Review: While I have really enjoyed the first 3 books of the series, I find myself asking with each subsequent book,"Who the heck will Cornwell kill off next?" Maybe that annoying absentee mother of Lucy's, maybe Kay's long lost uncle, maybe Marino's hairdresser. Patricia! Listen up! You stretch our disbelief to the breaking point with all of these deaths. Mark gets blown up, Benton loses face (groan) and a friend of Kay's is shot mistakenly after her sister is claimed for a serial killer's victim in an earlier book. Other than my overall objections to the series' determination to kill off everyone Kay loves, Black Notice was a fine book. But it didn't scare me like Post-Mortem or engross me like Hannibal. And the prose sometimes gets so dense I feel like I'm launching myself into a brick wall by catapault and sliding right down. I just can't fall into the book in the techical parts.
Rating:
Summary: Just not worth the time
Review: This book compounded the disappointment I felt when reading the last Kay Scarpetta novel. If I wanted to read about love, sex, anger, grief and subsequent angst I wouldn't buy a book touted as a mystery. The real enchantment of the beginning books in these series was Kay Scarpetta as a professional in the fascinating field of forensic pathology. Her character was fleshed out in a realistic way by her relationships with Lucy, Marino and Benton AND there was real mystery to be solved. Now, Lucy is a basket case and so is Kay. Benton is dead and may be lucky at that and poor Marino isn't getting the attention his character deserves. Bray and her sidekick are one dimensional (where in the world did they come from?) and the sub-plots were an annoying distraction. My overall impression is that the author is falling apart. It is my sincere hope that she gets back together. But in the meantime don't waste your time with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Just read it...
Review: Interesting how people feel that fictional characters must adhere to certain standards. Cornwell has decided to show us vulnerability in her strong-on-the-outside characters, which is a refreshing change. Even the "bad guy" was depicted as vulnerable. There are no rules on how Kay, Lucy, or Marino are supposed to be, especially given the situations these characters have been handed, so just read it and enjoy a Scarpetta novel with a little more "edge".
Rating:
Summary: Where has Scarpetta gone?
Review: This series has not gone the way I'd hoped. Kay used to be a great medical examiner completely committed to solving crimes. Now she's an emotional basketcase and I'm forced to read about it. Lucy is dangerous as well as an emotional basketcase, and Marino is half the cop he used to be. The plots are unrealistic and closer to melodrama than gritty crime stories. The series is getting stranger and I don't like it.
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