Rating: 
Summary: Zero starts -- Failed attempt at character development
Review: A friend & I are both fans of Cornwell's earlier books (e.g., Postmortem, Body Farm), in which she excels at the detail of technical crime-solving. A couple times my friend and I commented that it's too bad that Cornwell can't develop characters, as Kay Scarpetta is an entirely flat, bitter, unlikeable person, although the description of her work is fascinating. Oops. Be careful what you ask for...Apparently Cornwall heard a lot of such comments and took them seriously. I dragged my eyes across the pages of the first two books in this series. In those, you could see the effort she was putting into gags, and the effort fell far short of funny, but you had to kind of give her an A for effort. But this time....suffice to say I've gotten to page 50 or so and just can't put myself through any more of this torture. So bad that it almost defies description. The "Trooper Truth" plotline is the stupidest, lamest thing I have ever read in my entire 39 years. Worst of all, "Trooper Truth," aka the blond and beautiful practically super-humanly wonderful in every way Andy Brazil CAN'T FREAKING WRITE!! But of all her more recent sins, the worst is that she now seems to be using her books to rant on completely unrelated topics. In the prior book in this series, she went on a diatribe against getting teeth capped. Huh? Patricia, take your megabucks, rest on your laurels, start some more forensic centers or whatever, but *give* *up* *writing*. You've become an embarrassment.
Rating: 
Summary: From the Real Tangier Island
Review: To A reader from Washburn, ME - Tangier Island is a real place and not an ivention of Patricia Cornwall's imagination and I resent being referred to as a "hick".
Rating:
Summary: This is an entirely disappointing book
Review: I didn't even finish it. It tries to be funny and just falls flat. I read Patricia Cornwell's books for suspense. Her other books, particularly ones involving Kay Scarpetta, are wonderful. I guess that's even more reason to dislike this book because it is not up to the caliber of her other books.
Rating:
Summary: Isle of Doggs
Review: This has to be one of the worst books I have read. The characters were weak, underdeveloped and unbelievable. I have read a few other books by this author which I enjoyed, but this one was very unpleasant. I had trouble finishing this book. A very boring, dark comedy that just doesnt work!
Rating:
Summary: Why????
Review: I realize that this book is supposed to be funny, witty and a complete departure from PC's usual fare, however, she should have saved herself the effort. Not only did I find it particulary NOT funny, it was flighty and disjointed without even a hint of cohesivness. Should have been billed as sci-fi fare - the animals would at least have had a purpose
Rating:
Summary: Worst. Book. Ever.
Review: I haven't finished the book, and don't think I even will. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil. I was not pleased with the last few Cornwell books but thought I would give "Isle of Dogs" a shot as the praise on the jacket led me to believe that she had parted from the Kay books, which were getting tired, into dark humor. I know humor, and this aint it. I can think of nothing to recommend this book. It was if she was trying for a Nor'Eastern "Confederacy of Dunces" and failed miserably. Where the ugliness of "Dunces" was poignant and ironic, "Dogs" was just ugly. The cumulative IQ of the characters couldn't have topped 100; the use of eponymic and/or onomatopoeic names was hackneyed; and when the dog started narrating the book I let out a blood-curdling scream and threw the book across the room. This book is not funny, ironic, clever, nor well written. The dialog is forced, the characters one-dimensional, the humor nothing more than scat, and the attempt at "edgy" was as pathetic as seeing the President of the PTA trying on bondage gear for the first time. I'm going to go put "Dogs" in the kindling box where it belongs, wash my eyes out, and curl up to reread "Confederacy of Dunces". Patty, baby, I'm done with you.
Rating:
Summary: Black humor ? More likely a brain tumor!
Review: If ever a book deserves a zero---THIS IS IT!! I feel angry that I actually paid for this dismal failure and positively retarded to have invested the time it took to read it! I kept reading it (even though it took over a week to make myself finish it) because I was dumbfounded with the horribly inept writing style. It seems incredible that the person who wrote her previous novels also wrote this book. I noticed that there appears to be tears in her eyes in the photo on the back cover. If I had the talent and skill reflected in her previous works and this waste of trees is the best I could produce, I would cry as well. Then again, perhaps it was tears of shame for ripping off her loyal readers. It will be the last book written by Ms. Cornwell that I will purchase or waste my time reading. I don't think it was an attempt at black humor--- more likely a brain tumor! Please, for your health and safety, Ms. Cornwell get a complete neurological workup at once!
Rating:
Summary: Not Even for Dogs
Review: This is a disaster. I have admired and enjoyed Cornwell's books, but this effort is a catastrophe, the editor should be shot, and the publisher ashamed. Her brand of scatalogical humor went out in Junion High School. A major theme is a Govenor's Press Secretary feeding him chocolate cookies laced with ExLax, followed by lengthy descriptions of the result in graphic detail. This is for adolescents who want to gross out adults. Badly written and badly conceived, Cornwell is the reverse of the Clown who wants to play Hamlet. The loving descriptions of sadism do not help. Awful!
Rating:
Summary: Move over Gore Vidal
Review: this book reminded me of the surreal "Duluth" by gore vidal. what was cornwell thinking?? that her other stuff was getting old? that her characters were getting stale? that she should be writing humor? i don't understand. "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!"
Rating: 
Summary: Isle of Dogs
Review: I've followed Patricia Cornwell since Postmortem was published in 1990. Throughout the last decade, till she published Isle of Dogs, Patricia Cornwell, along with Robin Cook, has set the example for prospective medical thriller writers. Her prose has been clear and sharp but above all, her work is realistic. When I picked up Isle of Dogs, I was expecting something slightly different, considering that this is not a Kay Scarpetta novel. I was unpleasantly surprised when I started reading this story and stumbled upon the scenes with the talking animals. I have to admit that I'm truly shocked. This coming from a writer of very well written, highly praised, bestselling medical thrillers. Putting the book down for the last time, after reading approximately half the book, I thought to myself, "This is not Patricia Cornwell." I am writing this not just to provide a review for prospective readers of this novel. I am also writing this as a bid for Ms. Patricia Cornwell herself. Please, Ms. Cornwell, go back to what you were truly best at. Please go back to the Carpetta novels. I recall that The Last Precinct went unfinished. It went so in the sense that Kay Scarpetta quit her job as a medical examiner. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know what happens next. Please go back to those suspenseful story lines, to that spectacular way of making medical science intersting and highly relevant to the story. Please go back to Kay Scarpetta. Good luck in your future endeavours.
| 
