Hornet's Nest

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Summary: Truely Cornwell
Review: I have always found pc books to be very real and believable. However, I am not sure that i believe that a large police dept. such as Charlotte NC would have women at the three top positions in the dept. Not that there are not qualified women for the positions but the male society has not come that far yet

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Summary: don't waste your money
Review: I am an Patricia Cronwell fan. I've read all her books from the Body Of Evidence up to The Body Farm. With The Hornet's Nest Patricia is trying to create a whole new set of characters. Based in a southern city Patricia tells the story of several women in the line of command of the cities police and how they try to capture a serial killer. Sound interesting so far? I think not. The script jumps around so fast you have to keep turning back the page to try to connect the character's fragmented lifes together, let alone piece together the plot. You have the police captain, an unfulfilled woman in her 40's who has never had a meaningful man-woman relationship (there are underlying hints of her sexuality/preferences). You have her boss, a driven woman who is married to a manipulative food-a-holic husband. You have the seargant, a woman who has her eye at the main chance of advancement and is having sex with a scum bag reporter where ever and when ever. Sadly enough even the police know enough not to interupt her meetings when they see her on patroll. Then there is the young would-be-cop- reporter who you find out is the son of a murdered cop. He grows up poor and with an alcoholic dysfunctional mother. This pretty boy attracts both men and women, or is be in love in love with the captain or her boss (both women make striking mother figures) and believe it or not after all the tantrums he helps to solve the mysteries. So if you show even a little interest in this book save your money. I wish I had.

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Summary: Would not even be a good first novel
Review: I am sitting looking at an autographed copy of Body of Evidence, wondering if this is the same author. Having lived in Richmond I was, until now, an unabashed Cornwell fan. But, is Hornets Nest a first novel written years ago and brushed up and just now published? It is so poorly written when compared to the Scarpetta novels it should have been an embarassment to Cornwell, her publisher and her fans, of which there are many. Don't waste your time reading it

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Summary: A book that never really gets going--a big disappointment.
Review: Having read just about everything Patricia Cornwell has written, I was extremely disappointed by this book. It seems as though the author had a hidden agenda (included is much speculation whether certain characters are homosexual or not and how many people make snap judgments about them) and never had the time to develop the characters themselves. It seemed that the plot itself disappeared for long stretches of time and only popped up when the author remember she was suppossed to be writing a book. Also, it was very confusing having two, strong women protagonists and one man who has sexual fantasies about them both--I was never sure who was who--and I still can't understand why Andy Brazil kept fantasizing about them both and why he didn't wake up and get a life. The only suspense in the book was the question of whether Andy would turn into a pervert or a hero. Alas, he was neither. If you really want to experience the best of Patricia Cornwell, don't read this book. And if you already have, don't give up on her other books--they are really good

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Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: I truly didn't believe that Patricia Cornwell could write a book I wouldn't love. I have all her Kay Scarpetta books and even bought the last one in hardback--something I almost never do--because I couldn't wait to read it. When I saw Hornet's Nest in the bookstore--in hardback--I grabbed it and took it home for a good read. As I started into the book, I was disappointed in the characters, but assured myself that I just needed to read a little further before I found something admirable about them, or at least appealing. I never did. Not only were the characters disappointing, but the plot left a lot to be desired. It seemed to wander around trying to find itself. As far as I could tell, it never did. The more I thought about the book, the more I wanted to write Ms. Cornwell and ask her how she could do this to her loyal following. I'm awaiting the next Kay Scarpetta book that's due out this summer, and I'm sure I'll buy it in hardback. But I'll have to admit, I'm waiting nervously and not with the same confidence I had before reading Hornet's Nest

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Summary: Poorly Written; non-existent character development
Review: Unlike many of your posted reviewers, I was NOT under the impression that this was a Kay Scarpetta novel; frankly, I was hoping that the author, clearly having run out of steam in that series, would be energized with a new set of characters. What a mistake! Originally an author of great promise (her first three Scarpetta novels), she has become bogged down in dysfunctional characters that simply fail to capture the reader's interest or sympathy. Cornwell recovered some of her original taut writing in her last Scarpetta, but has lost it completely in Hornet's Nest. The book, to put it bluntly, is contrived and tedious. It is impossible for the reader to "connect" with any of the three main characters, much less the losers that populate their lives. Brazil is a co-dependent mama's boy whom can't decide what he wants to be when he grows up; he's petulant and unlikable. Hammer's situation is no better; there is absolutely no explicable reason given by Cornwell as to why she wouldn't have dumped her useless, deadweight husband long ago. West's character is so undefined that one is totally lost in attempting to understand her. The most interesting character, regrettably, is the cat, Niles; and, speaking of "contrived," did Cornwell borrow this entire scenario from Lillian Jackson Braun? The CAT brings her definitive clues to a money-laundering scheme? Many Cornwell books ago, I would have said that this was beneath the author; but the recent angst-exploring forays into her characters in the Scarpetta books made this latest, lame effort near-inevitable. At one time, I thought so highly of her that I sought out hardcover firsts, but no more. If Cornwell chooses to go on a voyage of self-discovery, she is welcome to it, but I shan't be financing the trip. Worst of all is the serial killer - "The Black Widow" - a character that could have been deleted from the book with no loss whatsoever - which sums up the entire problem. When the "mystery" is less-than-secondary to the character's personal problems, and is dealt with with no more thought than a character whom might appear as a sideline, something is egregiously wrong with the writer's priorities. Cornwell seems to have been infected by the same malady that has affected both Sue Grafton and Clive Cussler...either a belief that their individual trials and tribulations are of interest to the reader, or, alternatively, some delusion that they are now producing "literature" in the pure sense. None of the above are Michener; (and how many times can you read his tedious bull-fighting as an analogy of life and death without aggravation?); nor are they even Clavell, never mind some of the truly great authors, whatever their period. I am truly sorry for Ms. Cornwell; perhaps her personal problems are contaminating her books. To have commenced with such vibrant talent, and then to descend to this level must be humiliating. I'm quite sure, however, that her pocketbook is not suffering; millions like me will have purchased this book seeking the "old" Cornwell style. But I doubt that they will purchase the next one, unless she revitalizes her work. I would strongly recommend that any reader of this review (if you MUST have this book) either borrow it from a friend or wait for the softcover. It's simply not worth purchasing in hardcover

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Summary: This is Not a Dr. Kay Scarpetta mystery !
Review: With dust cover references to Dr. Kay Scarpetta, and nothing to say she wasnt in the book, I erroneously bought the book. I finished it, it was not a riviting, put everything else aside mystery like the previous Dr. Scarpetta stories. The style was different, broken up, and a little dificult to follow at first. The style was so different from the forensic novels, I'd almost venture someone else wrote this book, because even the sentence structure seemed odd, not like before. Authors have a right to change style and characters. There should have been a big warning label, "No Dr. Scarpetta in Here". This may be a good novel. I however was looking for a forensic thriller, this was not

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Summary: Disappointed
Review: I expected another wonderful book featuring Kay Scarpetta. Instead I found new characters in a plot that held little suspense, action or inherent interest. Is Patricia tired of Kay? Does she want to move away from her as Doyle did with Holmes? I found the book to be very disappointing and would not recommend it

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Summary: Unusual stream-of-conciousness text, not like earlier books
Review: This book is totally different from Cornwell's previous novels. It is set in a different area with different lead characters and starts off rather slowly. It develops into a good, highly detailed, police story. It does seem to be written in a rather vague, jumpy context. Some details seem to get in the way of the subject at hand and not all issues seem to be resolved. After the fact those issues are resolved but not in a way that we are aware of

Rating:
Summary: Poor
Review: Ms Cromwell could not have gotten this book published if it were her first. The characters are flat and unattractive. The story line is sketchy. The apparent mystery that begins this book is forgotten for over 100 pages. Character development is poorly done, often conflicting descriptions are made of the same person. The characters have no humanity