Ugh, I should have listened to other reviews, but I thought I should read this before Scarpetta as Cornwell usually builds upon her books.

Unfortunately, this is one of her worst. Scarpetta, Benton, Lucy and Marino have been turned into one-dimensional characters totally devoid of any human emotions aside from anger, paranoia and self-loathing. I don't even recognize Marino anymore - he went from being a gruff but love-able cop to a raging, paranoid tough guy. Lucy who was never one of my favorite characters has become even more unlikeable. Kay and Benton have a rather unhealthy relationship. Each mistrusts the other and are unable to have an adult conversation, yet we're supposed to believe that despite this they love and desire each other. I'm not really seeing that.

In terms of the plot, it was ridiculous the way that the various storylines and characters tied in with each other. The main mystery is resolved in a rather unsatisfactory manner with no real explanation as to why the killer committed the crimes he did. It's indicated he had issues from birth that were exacerbated with Iraq, but it still didn't make sense as to what drove him to do what he did or any explanation as to his actions post murder.

While this book was unsatisfying, I will probably read Scarpetta as it seems that Cornwell has listened to the criticisms and Scarpetta is more like her older novels.

On a side note, there's an interesting battle going on at Amazon.com regarding the ratings for this book. It seems that Ms. Cornwell was encouraging readers to give their "honest" reviews as she didn't think that all the negative reviews was an accurate reflection of her work. Unfortanely, the positive reviews on the site are somewhat questionable. :-)

It pains me to give a Scarpetta novel such a low rating, but this was awful. The story wasn't all that interesting and hinged very little on the forensics. The fact that the culprit was a American servicemember after duties in Iraq made it worse for me. Talk about jumping on the band wagon of current events and doing so badly. She seemed obsessed with profanity and seeing how many times certain words could come out of characters' mouths. I had to finish it so I knew what happened, but it took a lot to do it. I used to look forward to new books of the series coming out.

I gave up reading the Scarpetta series 20 pages into this book when I realized I didn't give a you-know-what about the fate of the characters--didn't care if they lived or died. I gave it 1 star just to give it a rating, but in my opinion, it doesn't even deserve that.

I do think Cornwell has lost her touch - or more probably, doesn't care enough anymore. Nonetheless, the book was an enjoyable read, although I thought the ending was disappointing. There was no explanation of the various weird things the killer did; it seemed like they'd just been added to spice things up and then forgotten about. Similarly, I didn't understand why Lucious was killed too, although I may just have missed that. The plot was, in a way, too incestuous - everyone and everything mentioned was linked in too many ways. And the cliffhanger left by Marino's disappearance seems to be just setting up for the next book.

I saw the same thing as in Sara Paretsky's latest: lots of political "up to the moment" detail that's going to really date the books and just seems cumbersome. And the gratuitous technical descriptions, whether of computers or chemicals, just amuse me in a way they probably shouldn't. There's no need to spell out a "two-hundred-and-fifty-six megabyte" thumb drive. Why does it matter? You know that's a standard size? Bully for you. And you spelt out all the numbers in case we didn't understand what 256 meant.

I'll probably still read her next book, because I know they're diverting enough for me to find interesting, but it's with much less enjoyment and much less suspense than was true for her earlier books. It's a shame.

More of the Scarpetta, Benton, Marino saga has Kay setting up private forensic pathology practice in Charleston assisted by Marino, South Carolina. Lucy is setting a private run laboratory, and Benton is working for a hospital in New England. Benton gives Kay a ring and Marino who is being worked by a TV psychologist and a associate has his long time interest in Kay accentuated by veiled hints and supplied chemicals. Into this comes the gruesome murder of a USD teen tennis star in Italy and the involvement of an Italian Dr. working with Benton as well as an Italian investigator. Stir in some more murders and you have quit a mess that starts slowly but picks up pace as you continue. A bit of chore keeping all the characters straight, but a decent read for all that.

Cornwell's last three books have deviated so much from her regular characters that she lost me as a dedicated reader. However, I am a glutton for punishment and thus picked up this title. I was mildly surprised that I actually didn't loathe this book though I believe that is because I had such a low expectation. Cornwell has strayed from her original brilliance of her characters and tales once again but seems to be at least attempting to get them back on track with this edition. If you can stand to forgive her from her previous errors it is an adequate way to spend some time. Will I read her again? Probably. (I'll read anything in print) Will I spend money on her books? No.

De lo peor que leí. Personajes con acciones inverosímiles, diálogos eternos con exceso de detalles que no hacen a la trama, hechos totalmente desconectados entre sí. Un libro extremadamente largo y tedioso. Promete muchísimo al principio y luego la trama se desvía totalmente para centrarse en la vida personal de los investigadores y no en el caso central que se supone que resuelven. Habla de personajes como si ya los conociéramos previamente, sin dar contexto ni explicar nada.

I have been enjoying this series so much - even though all of the main characters irritate the shit out of me for the most part. I fail to understand why Ms Cornwell created the most annoying arsehole of all - Pete Marino. He has always been an incredible ass-hat, and in this book Ms Cornwell has taken it to a new level.I have seen him come from being a middle-aged, overweight,lazy slob to (feels like suddenly) being a fifty something,badass, Harley-riding gym freak.......yeah, I'm not feeling it..... And now the latest drama?He is too much. When will he be killed off,please?

Από τις καλές ιστορίες της Scarpetta, ότι πρέπει για το καλοκαίρι του 2020.
Απόλαυση το audiobook.

This book is horrible. I’ve not read any other Patricia Cornwell books and I will not be. The characters are not explained, there were many typos, and it was all over the place. I felt like the author may have been drunk while writing this book. Really, really drunk. I’ll never get those 402 pages of my life back

Soooo Benton just happens to work with this guy who just happens to have fathered the main bad guy in this book? And the mother of said child just happens to be a famous psychiatrist who has her own tv show? Oh okay. Not weird at all.
Don’t even get me started on what marino does in this book.

Boring.....i can not finish it!