Rating: 
Summary: just listen to this on audio tape!
Review: I read the book some years ago and just picked up the unabridged version of hte book, read by Michele Hall. You should hear this woman speak Tangerian!!! OH MY GAWD!! she's simply fabulous. This is an oral book -- like some little houses you see for sale in the newspaper, this is one you have to HEAR to appreciate.
Rating:
Summary: What a wonderfully wacky tale!
Review: And what a shame that the majority of Ms. Cornwall's "fans" have huffed themselves into such a snit because she dared to write a book different from her usual formula.Simultaneously whimsical and dark, Isle of Dogs includes a cast of zany characters that more than once had me thinking of the crew of misfits in Cannery Row, especially once the troop of crabs made their appearance (remember the frogs in Cannery Row?). Cornwall's plot line, aided by *many* misconceptions and poorly drawn conclusions by several characters, encompasses a seeing-eye horse, scheming crabs, a cold-blooded murderess, a gay Baptist Mexican (sort of), pirates, cops, a scamming dentist, and lots of Nascar fans. This isn't a book that was meant to be taken seriously; it's simply a great romp through the inane. Those of you who didn't realize that might have taken a hint from some of the great character names, such as Windy Breeze (the airhead secretary) and the Reverend Paunchious Justice (who led the jailbreak). I listened to the abridged audio cassette version, which is read superbly by Becky Ann Baker. She employs a wide range of accents, tones, and speaking styles for the various characters, both male and female. I even checked the box partway through the first tape to see if more than one person supplied the voices, but it appears to be all her work. This is one of the lowest collective ratings I've ever seen on Amazon for a big-name-author book, and the travesty is that almost all of the very low ratings were bestowed to penalize this book not for what it is, but for what it isn't. It is evident, scanning the review votes, that many readers must have even stooped to voting negatively on any review that lauded the book, regardless of how well written the review was or how accurately descriptive of the book. No, Isle of Dogs isn't another formula Kay Scarpetta novel; but nowhere on the cover of the text and audio copies I saw did it claim to be such. If you are an avid Kay Scarpetta fan who would never dream of reading any other type of book, make sure you avoid this novel. It is far too inventive for your tastes. This seems to be one of those books where there's no middle ground when it comes to opinion. The reactions of readers remind me of The Far Side cartoon-- there are those who love it, and those who don't get it. Rave on, Trooper Truth!
Rating: 
Summary: Isle of Dogs
Review: I love Patricia Cornwell and its hard for me to believe that she wrote this book...is the worst of her books.
Rating: 
Summary: An experiment that doesn't quite work
Review: I certainly don't blame Patricia Cornwell for trying something new, but it seems to me that if she's going to go as far as cognizent crabs, it might be a good idea to move out of her usual genre as well. Still, she is such a good writer that I stuck with the book despite its many obvious faults. For example, I was baffled by the content of the Trooper Truth essays, which were part of a web site ostensibly set up to help solve crimes, but seem to be more an opportunity for the author to show off some of the knowledge she's collected over the years. It seemed to me that the editor failed to go beyond copy editing to be sure the story made effective use of its various threads. I'd put this down more to a failure to follow up with care on an interesting idea than bad writing. It would be interesting to see what would happen if Ms. Cornwell took it a step further and changed her venue, sort of like Larry McMurtry does: he uses silly humor to great effect, and doesn't lock himself into the same time period or characters from book to book. She can obviously be funny and insightful, but it doesn't work all that well in the context of morgues and murders, at least in this case.
Rating:
Summary: Painful. A total waste of time!
Review: I've read all of Cornwell's books and I really got into them. "Blow Fly" is the exception. What a downer! "Isle of Dogs" simply blows. I picked up the book a year ago and could only make it through a couple of chapters. Being a fool for punishment, I went to the local library last week to find a book on tape and I decided to give "Isle of Dogs" another try. What a rotten book! I enjoy listening to books on tape in my truck on the way to and from work and I usually go through a book per week. I have had "Isle of Dogs" for over a week and I have not yet finished the second tape of ten. I listen for a while then I've got to try to catch the baseball game, a talk show, anything. This book SUCKS! Why? Cornwell is trying to be funny but she's no Carl Hiaasen. It just doesn't work. If you want to read a really good, funny book get Hiaasen's "Lucky You." I was giggling like an idiot while I read it. The reader on the tape version has an airhead voice and I grow weary of her attempts to speak like black house servants, dumb white guys, or residents of Tangier Island. I'm tempted to try to finish it to see if it gets better, but judging from most of the reviews I would be wasting my time.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst novels...by my favorite author
Review: I have to concur with all the other poor reviews...this novel was a huge disappointment. I kept reading and reading, waiting for an actual, tangible, and well-developed plot to emerge, but one never did. This book in particular includes exaggerated, banal characters that bored me to tears. From now on, I'm going to peruse reader reviews on amazon before automatically trusting the "bestseller" advertisement on the front cover of Cornwell's books.
Rating:
Summary: could this be a hoax?
Review: I don't believe this was actually written by Patricia Cornwell. This must be the result of a twisted bet she made with some friends that an 11 year old could write a book and if Patricia sent it in under her "best seller" name it would get published regardless of merit. If this were a first novel being sent around without her name on it, it would never have gotten published.
In order for a book to be satirical, it has to have some wit and intelligence. A book about nothing can be saved by excellent writing and a poorly written book can become a best seller if the plot is original and riveting. This is the worst of both worlds. Snoopy's "It was a dark and stormy night..." puts this to shame. I've never been so disappointed in the work of well known author. Many seem to ride on their automatic fan following from time to time, but this is in a class by itself. Isle of Dogs is a "dog."
Rating:
Summary: Dog Day Afternoon
Review: It took only an hour or so of reading this bizarre story before I threw the book in my trash can. As a fan of Patricia Cornwell's, I've always looked forward to reading a new title, but this one is disappointing. Isle of Dogs might appeal to those who enjoy talking fish, conversations of crabs, dog's thoughts and computer skills, and seeing-eye mini-horses, but for that sort of thing I prefer Peter Rabbit, Uncle Wiggly, Winnie the Pooh, or science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother reading this...
Review: This book was not good. It was hard to get through - a real departure for Patricia Cornwell who usually writes books that are at least interesting to read.
Rating:
Summary: No sleeping pill for me...
Review: No sleeping pill needed for me-if I ever can't sleep, I will just pick up this book and try to finish it. I will be asleep in minutes. I tried-(really I did!)- but finally gave up in disgust when the dog started typing on the computer. Give me a break. This book was by far the worst book I have read in a long time. What in the world was Patricia Cornwell thinking? To me,reading a Patricia Cornwell book is like opening a Christmas present-I can't wait to see what is inside. What a disappointment. I wish I had never wasted my money on this one. I hope it is not an indication of books to come. Please, Ms. Cornwell if this book was a joke, don't ever do that again. Your readers are not amused.
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