Black Notice

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but a shoddy ending
Review: I loved this book up until the last 30 pages. I was totally sucked in, and then she had to go and blow it by writing a rotten ending. It was almost as if Ms. Cornwell was being forced into the ending. This book is a definate read, but if someone knows Ms. Cornwell tell her to let something bad happen to Kay once in a while, she is only human after all.

Rating:
Summary: Great story, weak characterization
Review: Patricia Cornwell still tells a great story, but her characters are shrinking -- their dimensions are becoming too narrow and unmotivated. Scarpetta is depressed and cranky, Lucy is "acting" strange and stranger and Pete is eating too much, smoking too much and kvetching too much. It's time for some motivated development for these folks. And Talley, whom Kay meets and beds and rejects in a 24 hour (?) period, is too shallow to convince the reader that Kay is getting it all together again by letting him into her life. The book also has a villain who's distinguishing personality feature is his unusually long hair. Hirsute is not compelling and in fact it's not believable. I hope Cornwell can bring her characters to life again, but she needs to discard the paranoia and the depression themes (and we've also read enough about bad folks manipulating the e-mail at the morgue). In the beginning, Scarpetta was a bright, resilient, indefatigable woman who shed her problems and solved the crime; we need to see her in that role again. Send Kay back to the bar at Louies Backyard and let her find herself again.

Rating:
Summary: Awful,far fetched,dull and boring
Review: Ms. Cornwell needs to put her Dr. Scarpetta books to rest. They have become so predictable. Could anyone not figure out the ending? Her new love is so hard to believe that it's ridiculous,and we are constantly being assaulted by Marino's foul mouth and stupid behaviour.When will Ms. Cornwell come up with an origional story? She's rehashing the same old thing over and over. Thankfully I got this book out of the library and didn't waste my money.

Rating:
Summary: The Hardening of Two Women
Review: Cornwell has long been a favorite writer of mine. I have followed her career with a critical eye in a literary sense. I think an odd connection could be made with the progression of her character Kay Scarpetta and the progression of her media pictures on the back covers. Black Notice, which is undoubtedly Cornwell's most overtly hard, sad, bleak novel reflects the woman Cornwell has (at least aestheticly) become. To look at her pictures on earlier novels and then the one on Black Notice and then turning your eye to Kay Scarpetta in Black Notice vs. ealier novels..the women have both hardened...both on the same strange time line. Odd. The thing that most alrams me in Black Notice is the undeniable height that Kay's paranoia seems to have reached. As an intellectual woman, I want Kay to always be strong, able to be compsed concise and clear. I did enjoy this current offering but here's to hoping Kay makes a rebound mentally and emotionally in the novels to come.

Rating:
Summary: I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD, BUT NOT HER BEST!
Review: I'm a Cornwell fan, so you can't expect my review to be non-bias. I like all of her work. But like I said, she has better novels out there. ******* I ordered another novel called, 'THE FIST OF GOD' by A.T. Nicholas, and that book was phenomenal! It's a great supernatural thriller. The plot unfolds through the eyes of a homicide detective. I would recommend both books.

Rating:
Summary: Cornwell Is Back!
Review: Having been disappointed by Cornwell's last few Scarpetta efforts, I was thrilled to read her latest. Benton is gone, Lucy is less of a focal point, and I think the book is better for it. Recent editions have been mired down with too much of Scarpetta's personal angst and not enough of the forensic detail that put Cornwell on the map to begin with. The old Scarpetta is finally back with a VERY satisfying page-turner!

Rating:
Summary: Only average
Review: This is only an average piece of writing. It seems like her books are becoming more and more the same with a sudden resolution to the main plot in the last few pages with many loose ends to the subplots never resolved. And for the "smart" Dr. Scarpetta to make such a mistake to put her in danger just doesn't fit. My concentration was thrown off in the first few pages by the ATF being called the AFT--a typo that an editor should have caught! From that point on it seemed that there were many conversations that were out of sync and I never really got interested enough to find it as gripping as some of her earlier works. Take more time and care with the next one Ms. Cornwell. It's worth waiting longer between books to get a well written book!

Rating:
Summary: Slow down Patricia! Did you have a deadline??
Review: I eagerly await each new Scarpetta novel. I read this one in 2 days, hardly able to put it down. However, I felt this one was aptly named, Black Notice. The mood throughout the entire book was black and depressing! Can someone please put Marino on a diet, and have him stop smoking before Kay finds him on the table in her morgue? I have enjoyed the growing friendship of these two characters in all the Scarpetta series, but in this one they seemed to argue too much. Friends should enjoy each other. Have I just forgotten, or have all the books in the series been filled with the F word? I'm no prude, but really, a few F's are all you need if you are trying to paint a certain personality. I was never a big fan of Benton, so no more grief over him! Enough already. Kay needs someone who can add a little joy to her life, but I don't think Talley is the one. I think Patricia left us hanging at the end of the book because she plans to continue the story into the next one. There were plenty of unanswered questions so the material is there already. Please Patricia, please take a few Prozac before starting your next book. We are ready for a happier Kay, a healthier Marino, and calmer Lucy.

Rating:
Summary: Better than last book but not as good as initial Scarpetta.
Review: This story is better than the last, but not as good as the initial Scarpetta stories. The good doctor is evidencing increasing paranoia, Lucy is overboard with her anger and Marino needs to shape up and get a woman.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable
Review: I like to read the Kay Scarpetta series, but you always know how the ending will turn out - they are always the same and in about the last 2 pages the killer is identified. I mostly like them because there are 2 things she provides great detail on - computer programming and medical knowledge. Apart from that, the characters are not developed at all and the pro-gay comments are unnecessary. It seems impossible that so few people could consistently find (and usually kill) so many serial killers by themselves. And is there something about Christmas that brings them out of the woodwork? In this book, you do get more of an insight into Kay's character, although the other major characters are still mostly mysteries to the reader, except in the instances when Patricia Cornwell uses them to make social comment (like all the pro-gay comments). It is an entertaining book though.