Rating: 
Summary: RIPOFF
Review: THIS IS NOT A KAY SCARPETTA NOVEL, AND TO SAY SO IS FALSE ADVERTISING. AS A HUGE SCARPETTA FAN, I CAN TELL Y0U THAT CORNWELL AND PUTNAM HAVE KILLED OFF KAY THROUGH THE FLIMIEST , SADDEST RIPOFF I'VE EVER READ. THIS BOOK IS TRANSPARENTLY AN ATTEMPT TO GET YOUR MONEY, AND MINE, AS SCARPETTA FANS. THE NOVEL READS SO BADLY, LACKS SUCH EXCITING FORENSICS - AND NO SOLID STORY THREAD - THAT ONE MUST ASSUME THAT CORNWELL, GIVEN HER BUSY SCHEDULE, DID NOT WRITE THIS BOOK. CHARACTERS MERELY BEAR THE FAMILIAR NAMES OF KAY AND PETE AND WESLEY BUT NOT THEIR PERSONALITIES. AND THAT THE BOOK IS IN THIRD PERSON TOTALLY DESTROYS THE UNIQUE VOICE THAT IS KAY'S. THE EDITORS AT PUTNAM HAVE TO BE HELD AS ACCOUNTABLE AS CORNWELL IN THIS GREEDY RIPOFF. KAY IS DEAD, AND I FOR ONE WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER CORNWELL BOOK. EVER
Rating:
Summary: A Shadow of Previous Scarpetta Novels
Review: As an avid fan of Kay Scarpetta and her creator, Patricia Cornwall, I had been waiting the newest installment. From the first Scarpetta novel to The Last Precinct, Kay Scarpetta has been a strong and accomplished woman--a role model not only for her niece Lucy but also for all women who aspire for roles traditionally reserved for men. She evolved as her life experiences brought her unbelievable joy and crushing pain and disappointment. And above all she maintained her professional strength and integrity.But this book seems to be written about someone else. She is a shadow of herself. And it is a misnomer to say it is a Kay Scarpetta novel. Throughout most of it her only role is a brief mention in a conversation beween different characters we have all seen in previous novels. And only her last name in mentioned even by those who purport to love her. She really only becomes the main character until the last 70 or 80 pages. I hope there is another Kay Scarpetta novel that is better written and resolves the issues presented in this book. The unity of the Scarpetta team and the loyalty they held for each other despite differences was one of the qualities that kept us hooked as readers. There was not one likeable character in this book. I hope the team reunites and restores the faith in Kay's abilities and the cohesiveness of those who surround her.
Rating:
Summary: And I was so looking forward to it...
Review: This book was awful. I was waiting patiently for her next book in the Scarpetta series after being disappointed with the Jack the Ripper novel. Bringing back the "wolfman" character was bad enough (he was BORING) but then to introduce characters that had no life to them, no spirit and no depth only contributed to the downside of the storyline.
I always loved when Kay was in the kitchen...one of my favorite books is her Winter Table. And I love Foods to Die For. Those came from the heart of her character. In this novel she is a lost soul with no roots. And to leave Richmond for what? The Benton situation made no sense and although I always loved his character, the reunion was shallow and definatly non-climatic.
Will I buy her next novel? Probably not.
Rating:
Summary: A fly in my soup would be more enjoyable!
Review: As a fan of Patricia Cornwell, I was really disappointed by this novel. It almost seemed as if someone else wrote the book, and not Cornwell. The characters lacked their usual depth, grittiness, and familial interaction. Lucy, Marino, and Scarpetta seemed cardboard and hollow, almost one dimensional. Half of the book is spent reminding the reader of each character's history (as if we need a refresher course). This lackluster effort comes to a dismal, predictable, and incredibly speedy ending. The finale is probably the worst part of the novel, as it wraps up in about 5 pages, without a hint of suspense, drama, or thrill. Definitely not an "edge of your seat" read. Fans should skip this one and hope the next effort is better.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as I was lead to believe....
Review: Well, I borrowed this book from a co-worker who thought the book was so bad she didn't even want me to read it. She kept warning me "Trust me, your not going to like it - it stinks" But being the loyal Cornwell fan that I am I thought I would give it a shot since I waited three years for his new Scarpetta book! Well, the joke was on my co-worker because I LOVED this book! Although I was a little disappointed in how Cornwell molded Lucy's character, and the fact that she brought back the wolfman, all in all I enjoyed this book. And, I knew Benton was alive!!!!! This just goes to show, you can't take anyone's word for anything...you have to try something yourself to see if you like it.
Rating: 
Summary: What a letdown....
Review: I can't believe this book was written by the same author that brought us PostMortem and the wonderful character of Kay Scarpetta. The author has turned her into a minor character in her own series! The plot skipped around entirely too much to keep my attention. The Chandonne characters are tired and old, and I dread their inevitable return in the next book. The plot twists, such as they were, I found to be very uninspired. Still, I feel there are enough crumbs left in the series to make a comeback in the next installment....the author needs to return to her earlier installments to reintroduce herself to her own characters...she has been away from them too long, and it shows. I will read the next installment, but I will not buy it.
Rating:
Summary: You must be joking!
Review: This book was a huge disappointment. I tentatively forgave the author after picking up Isle of Dogs in an airport bookstore. What garbage that was. Almost killed my fan status for good. I echo the previous, negative comments. Scarpetta was missing much of the novel and the characters behaved in an inanely, scripted manner and were completely unbelievable. The conclusion was laughable. Oh, and one last question in my mind: if Benton had to "hide" from the evil Chandonnes...how is he so "free" now that a few of the dirty members are dead? Seems like big daddy's still around and he was supposedly the one to fear, right? Ridiculous! This book is drivel.
Rating:
Summary: The well is dry
Review: I think I have figured it out! Authors, whether brilliant of just plain OK, have only so many good books in them. Once they go beyond that point, it's all downhill. And when the author was brilliant, the fall appears even more dramatic and disappointing for the readers who had once anxiously awaited their next release. I would put Patricia Cornwell in the Tom Clancy category now. Both have gone way past their limit. Comparing Blow Fly to Post Mortem is like comparing Teeth of the Tiger to Hunt for the Red October. In other words, there is no comparison. If they can't or won't give us the quality that were are used to then they should not write at all.
Rating:
Summary: Will the REAL Patricia Cornwell, please stand up!!
Review: A NO star book.. But there isn't a no star option. So I had to give it one star.. This is the first book I have ever pre-ordered. I couldn't wait to read it. I have read the entire Kay Scarpetta Series and disappointed doesnt even begin to describe what I felt after reading it.. About half way through I was wondering if she even wrote it? And by the end I would swear she didnt. It read like a soap opera. Jumping from one scene to the other.. Works for T.V. but NOT for books. And the resurrection of Benton? How much more soap opera can you get? And we even had a body and he still came back?? At least in a soap opera if you don't see a body you know that character can come back some day.. So when they do come back from the dead, it is accepted, you knew it could happen. But if there is a body, that character is gone for good. I returned from a book dicussion group this evening and one of the ladies in the group is a fan also and had read the book. As we were discussing it we discovered that we both had done the same thing after finishing the book. We went to our book shelfs and pulled out our other Scarpetta books because we thought maybe we were just not remembering them right? Could this really be a Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta story we just read??
The writting style was SO different. Which we could probably have gotten over. But the characters weren't the same people we have grown to know and (some) love from previous books.
Ms. Cornwell if you read any of these reviews from fans, I hope you will give up this new writting style for the next book. And we know there has to be one. Please finally get rid of "The Wolf Man" He isn't even one of your best villians. Let's get back to the science, mystery and real endings! And if this was an editor or somone elses idea to try something different. Please fire them and keep as far away from them as possible. They are BAD for your career.. One more like this and I am afriad you wont have many loyal fans left. As for me, my pre-order days for Scarpetta are over! I'll borrow or buy used. I am not even sure what to do with this copy? I am not sure I would even want to offer this for sale used to someone else. And absolutly not for the price you can normally get from a hard cover book. This one is worth about .75 cents. The lowest price you can offer on-line for used books.
Rating:
Summary: Can the Kay Scarpetta series be saved?
Review: Say, for example, we visit Marino in the future. His bad habits have finally caught up with him, he's just had by-pass surgery, he's got emphysema, he's frail and miserable and a shadow of the big guy that, pig that he was, really knew how to work a crime. Frankly, that's not a guy I want to spend time with, and that analogy is pretty much where "the NEW Kay Scarpetta" lands us. Cornwell's got her series on a path of self-destruction. Kay's walked away from the M.E.'s job, she's struggling in a run down rental home in the middle of nowhere (sorry, Delray), she's taking nothing cases, usually pro bono which isn't exactly what you'd think someone unemployed would shoot for.... Benton is weird, paranoid, distant, not to mention creepy; Lucy is certifiable, out committing cold-blooded murder and thinking it's alright; and Kay, who's barely in the book, is as lost as I've ever seen a character who once ruled supreme. Besides all that? The plot stinks. EVERYTHING is artificial. Lucy's secret agent set up, Kay's saccharin friendship with a kid, Benton's resurrection, the idea of Benton running the show after being in witness protection for the better part of a decade, how the Chandonnes are obsessed with Kay, how the hairy one breaks out of jail, how Bev fetches victims for Talley, how they FIND Talley and Bev, and most of all -- there is just no way that Lucy and Marino would have known Benton was alive and not told Kay.
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