The Scarpetta Factor

I've found since the "death" of Benton Wesley that the books have taken a very dark turn. There doesn't seem to be any joy in them at all. Even when they win there is no sense of triumph. Any sense of happiness seems to be out of obligation rather than emotion. I'm not buying this version of Marino at all. He has had such a sense of honor and duty in previous books that to accept this version is a stretch. There needs to be a book of healing to bring the characters back to life.When I started this book, I thought this could be the one but was disappointed to find I was wrong.NO healing began until the last 4 pages.

Again, I am sorry to say that in my opinion, this like the last, Scarpetta novel falls short. This series was once fun, engaging and scary, all one wants from a mystery I think.
But here for more than the first 3/4 of the story, the author has us listen to charcters who do nothing but bicker and complain. Benton now can't seem to speak more than 10 words without using the F word (I'm no prude, but this is totally not like this charcter AT ALL). And finally in the last maybe hour we get some action relating to the mystery and other charcters, and this is where the book finally gets interesting, but then.... zip it's over, end of book.
Really, I wish I hadn't wasted my credit, I'm sorry to say because I used to look forward to Conrwell's books. Oh well.... maybe next time.

I used to absolutely love Kay Scarpetta stories. I couldn't get enough and eagerly awaited each new book - but the last two....well...they wouldn't have hooked me. This one is better than Scarpetta but no where near as good as the earlier books. The characters have gotten "thin", have lost a lot of their personalities, and it now seems that technical details are included just to show off the authors knowledge when they don't add to the story at all. Yeah, I'll listen to the next one, but with the spirit of hope more than eager expectation.

cornwell has gotten away from telling a good story about a crime and spends too much of this book with her characters in angry, destructive internal dialog that really goes no where. her prior books followed an interesting crime with a different twist on solution. in this book it's hard to find the crime and focus on the bad guys - was there really a crime at all? my last cornwell book.

I've always been a big Cornwell fan and especially like the Scarpetta series. For me, this one was just awful. Part of it was the narration - so flat and monotone and depressing. All the characters were either depressed or angry. And there were too many subplots - it took forever to see how any of them tied together. The last book was similar, but this one was sleep-inducing - I kept switching to music in the middle of the book, which I rarely do. Everyone needs to lighten up - all the characters and the narrator.

I give up. I used to love her books. The narrator's manner of reading is so frustrating to listen to that I want to scream at her. Just speak naturally. Don't try to sound like a man. She really does a terrible job with that. Don't try to make Scarpetta sound like such a depressed prima donna. Her voice drones and drones and her inflections make no sense. And, don't tell the story like a prigish school marm. And why is everyone so angry and dysfuntional in this book. They all hate each other and complain about their behavior. Who wants to listen to that. I have noticed this occurring in her other recent books. There is no joy in the story. I feel like I'm wearing cement boots and I am exhausted.

The pervasive theme for the last 3 books from this series has been angst. In each book the characters have become progressively angrier and the dialogue is more tinged with bitterness. More time is spent describing how angry everyone is than is spent on the actual mystery of the novel. It may be time for Ms. Cornwell to retire Kay Scarpetta and her cohorts.

and I haven't even finished! Apparently, I am not the only one. I don't know if the reader contributes to the "darkness", but I believe it is mainly the writing. I hope Ms. Cornwell has not "jumped the shark" with the series. Sorry I used a credit on this one. Psychoanalysis seems to have replaced forensics or at least pushed it to the side.

I don't know what has happened to Cornwell's writing. I wasted $$$ buying her latest book. My wife and I couldn't get past all the usage of f..k...g and its derivatives. It really was a major distraction from the story. I've read other books of hers in the past and they were riveting. Sorry to say, this one missed the mark. No more Cornwell for me.

It's worth working your way through the middle of the story. There was too much anger in the middle of the book but it does end well.