Black Notice

Rating:
Summary: Kay is Oh-So-Emotional
Review: This is the tenth Kay Scarpetta novel, and it might be time for Cornwell to move in a new direction. The early books were made compelling by the science of the medical examiner, solving crimes based on clues found on the bodies - trace fibers and hairs and intriguing wounds. However, the series has devolved into a Kay Scarpetta pity-party. This seems like about the fourth or fifth book in a row where Kay's deep and traumatic emotional life pretty much drives the story. The monstrous villain with the one-in-a-billion medical disorder is not new, nor are the attacks on Kay's house and office. But her constant whining about her emotional distress, the erosion of the Lucy character to nothing but a gun-and-an-attitude, and the cut-and-paste story line make for pretty tedious reading. Worst of all, the autopsy scenes around which the early stories pivoted have now become mere sidelines, tasks that Kay must perform between her breathless rasslin' matches with the bad guy and her teary memories of Benton. The Scarpetta series is stale, Cornwell needs to move on to a new theme. I've read my final Kay Scarpetta story.

Rating:
Summary: INTERESTING
Review: I have started reading the earlier Kay novels. And now that I have finished this one, I understand the complex personalities. I now realize that all of these characters relied on Benton to reaffirm their position in life. Kay has a really bad issue with trust. Her sister is not a very nuturing parent or sister. Dorothy is completely jealous of Kay. Lucy is stuck in her circumstances and is very needy. Marino is still in love with his wife and Kay. He knows well that Kay will never feel the same way, so he completely smitten with jealousy. The one thing that all these characters have in common, they are all afraid to deal with themselves. Benton was their safety net. I really like the odd twist of this book. I must admit my disappointment with Diane Bray's death. I think Kay really needs somebody to go toe to toe with. Diane and Kay would have been a nice rivarly.

Rating:
Summary: The Downward Slide Continues
Review: In Cornwell's 'Scarpetta' series, drama has increasingly yielded to melodrama, and characters have deteriorated into caricature. Moreover, the characatures have become revoltingly self-important and Self-absorbed. Scarpetta herself spends a great deal of time deploring the extent to which others fail to accord her the deference she deserves. Her attitude is understandable, though, since the world (as depicted by Cornwell) revolves around her. She is the target of all the villains, and is idolized everyone else. It's sometimes difficult to remember that she's only a medical examiner. I've about given up on Cornwell. Her non-Scarpetta books were dismal failures, and her latest Scarpetta books haven't been much better.

Rating:
Summary: AOL?
Review: Cornwell writes light books that are best read "books on tape" style. I like them, they are what they are. She seems to know a lot about forensic medicine, but not much else. Only in her books would Smith and Wesson make a seven shot revolver or an educated person (let alone an entire self respecting health department) use AOL. Outside of these little flights of fancy, it's a cool little book.

Rating:
Summary: An appropriate name for this book.
Review: I have yet to get so disgusted with a series that I actually stop reading it, but this one is getting close. I keep reading them because I am curious as to how the author is going to dig herself out the hole she has created. I am sick and tired of Kay's perfection. She's a doctor, a lawyer, a forensic pathologist, the Chief Medical examiner, a certified scuba diver, etc., etc., etc. She is selfless to the point of being unreal. There are even passages in the book where Kay thinks to herself that she should be worried about what's coming up for her, but all she can think about is her niece's problems and feelings. And speaking of her niece, the author puts way too much emphasis on Lucy's sexual orientation. It is emphasized in some way almost every time Lucy's name comes up. I can understand pointing it out at the beginning of the book for those readers who are just entering the series, but to keep pointing it out throughout the whole book is too much (and the author has done this ever since Lucy joined the FBI). As for Marino, I don't expect the author to change him into a candidate for GQ, but his constant angry attitude, foul mouth, and slovenly looks are getting really hard to bear. How come Kay seems to be the only one who sees any good in him? Despite my rantings, I will go on and read her next book, The Last Precinct. I am curious to see where the storyline goes because she left this one so abruptly, but at this point, I can't give a ringing endorsement and would encourage people to either start at the beginning of this series or don't bother.

Rating:
Summary: Black Notice
Review: I have become hooked on the series and I have enjoyed them all. I am now reading the last of this series (the next one after Black Notice, The Last Precinct) and I find these very fasinating. The writer does a very authentic job with the Medical Examiner part. I am fasinated with the forensic medicine (having been a nurse for 28 years now this stuff is find intriging). I love the characters because not one of them is perfect, not even Kay Scarpetta, they all have their fears and areas they are insecure in. Just like real life. Nothing is ever perfect, and that is why it is so real.

Rating:
Summary: Black Notice
Review: I was disappointed in this book. It wasn't nearly as exciting as some of the earlier ones. It's almost as though her style of writing has changed over the series. I hope The Last Precinct will be better, but some of the reviews I've seen makes me doubtful.

Rating:
Summary: Not a great read
Review: Don't bother with this book. You'll feel you've wasted your time and money.

Rating:
Summary: Why not go ahead and pull the trigger
Review: Reading one of her books gives me the choice to enjoy her style of writing (which is wonderfully rich in prose and descriptive passage) and wanting to reach for Prozac....could her characters get any gloomier? If I were Kay Scarpetta I'd turn the scapel on myself, Lucy should just join the SLA and fat old Marino just collapse from overused arteries....none of them have a good day, a good meal, a juicy relationship ...it's just one miserable moment after another.....come on!! Please!! Let these characters enjoy their life to some degree...each new book is purchased by me wtih the hope that Patricia will turn their lives around and let the characters have some quality of life....I've just about read my last chapter in these lives...it's simply too depressing.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time !
Review: I have never been draged through this author's sordid mind before, and I don't plan on it happening again. Her characters are the most implausible group I have ever encountered. She lumps totally opposite people together and never gives us a single reason why we should believe these people would ever have anything to do with each other. She drags us up and down the narrow streets of her mind splattering us with gore and deceit, but never gives us a reason to feel for these troubled characters. It is seemingly an after thought that she finally creates the main villian in this story. He never actually materializes though, and of course it is next to impossible to believe that he even could exist. All that is bad enough, but suddenly and inexplicably the author tires of the entire charade and ends the story so abrubtly that it took me a few moments to accept the fact that it was finally over, and be grateful that it was. Don't waste your time !