I'd like to give this a 2 12 star rating. I had a bit of a hard time getting in to it but the last 14 of the book was okay and made up for the slow beginning (and this is a very short book). I got this at the library used book store for 50¢. I am so glad I didn't pay full price for it. I used to love Patricia Cornwall books until she got so strange in her Kay Scarpetta series. I thought having a book with a new character would be good. I found the main characters love for designer clothing and the finer things in life a big distraction from the story especially with the constant commentary on how he was able to afford those items. I felt that the discrepancy between the "haves and have nots" was also constantly thrown in my face. It was necessary I guess to give an insight into the main character's psyche but I like to like the people in the books I read. There is so much anger and jealousy in the story. I will be reading the next in the series because I got it at the same time I got this one.

‘At Risk’ was given to me by a friend. It had an interesting synopsis, and Patricia Cornwell has a reputation for being good at her craft, so I gave it a go:

Win Garano, a crime investigator, is called home from the U.S where he is immersed in a course at a forensics academy. His female boss, Lamont, a district attorney, wants him to work on an unsolved 20 year old murder. But Garano finds that Lamont is driven by personal interests. She’s planning to run for governor and uses a new crime initiative called ‘At Risk’ - using the motto ‘Any crime, any time’. If they were successful at solving the 20 year old murder it would make her office look good. She hoped it would win her votes and she would achieve her political ambitions.

The premise of the story had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, I found it disappointing.

As the story unfolded it became confusing. It was so complex it was hard to follow. The convoluted, labyrinth of a plot, finally ended with what I thought was a contrived denouement.

What should have been a thriller held no suspense for me. I read it to the end because I was curious to know who the perpetrator of the murder was.

I've read a lot of reviews of this book, and I don't see what people's problem is. I enjoyed the story, and I thought the characters were fairly well drawn. My favorite is the tarot wielding nana. It was a quick and pleasant read.

I've read almost all of Patricia Cornwell's books, and this one goes down as possibly the worst.

Well so begins my introduction to Patricia Cornwell - I will admit I am not sure if there is a "starting point" in her work or even if this is part of a larger series - I should really do some research but as a randomly picked book to try I did enjoy this - I did feel in places, especially the start that I was watching a story unfold I was not necessarily invited to watch - and that I was in fact as a result only seeing snippets of what was really going on. However as confusing as it felt at times it did all fall in to place - and even the early blocks and points of confusion were explained if rather suddenly and rushed at the end. This was an interesting read more than a fun one - it certainly has not put me off her work but I do feel I should have read her work starting with something else.

Patricia Cornwell’s most recent paperback, At Risk, is probably a cautionary title suitable for the reader. Cornwell, who is best known for her award-winning series on the forensic scientist, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, offers a mystery involving a 20-year old murder in Tennessee and the assault of a Massachusetts’ DA, Monique Lamont. Investigating both crimes is Boston detective, Winston Garano. I am leery of saying more as I don’t want to raise any reader’s hopes that this is a good mystery.

I wish I could say that the various twists and turns make for fascinating reading, but the characters are mostly unsympathetic and hard to relate to. This is a real shame as Cornwell’s Scarpetta novels were fascinating reads in their early days. I don’t know what has happened. It seems that Cornwell has somehow slipped off the track. In general, I go into reading particular authors favorably disposed towards them. However, the last few of Cornwell’s books, and in particular, At Risk, do not hold one’s interest, much less invoke much interest to begin with. I think there was potential here for a very good political thriller. However, neither Cornwell nor the reader can muster much passion for these characters. That is sad. What makes this even more tragic is that the writing is spread out and enlarged for a small paperback. This could easily have been rewritten as a short story, or at most, a novella. I cannot in good conscience recommend the book, even if one is a Cornwell fan.

All the 1-star reviews notwithstanding, I thought AT RISK was pretty darn good. Not classic Cornwell, but a perfectly decent effort nonetheless. It feels very different from her early work: punchier and more sparsely written, but lacking in immersive detail. Also, the main character seems flat compared to Scarpetta. The story is good--albeit rather contrived in some places, especially when the hero has to rely on fortune-telling to dig up clues. It's a quick read and very hard-boiled in tone, closer in spirit to a Hard Case crime novel than a CSI whodunit. So I was quite surprised to see this got turned into a Lifetime Original Movie (!).

Nunca había leído nada de esta autora antes, así que pensé que sería una buena oportunidad para explorar. El desarrollo de los personajes es lo suficientemente buena y la historia fluye sin problemas, aunque parece ir a la deriva en algunos puntos, como si no hubiera nada que la mantuviera unida y ningún ímpetu para llevar la historia a áreas no previstas.

Es una historia lenta al principio, pero luego los personajes se vuelven lo suficientemente interesantes como para saber cómo termina. El personaje principal, Winston Garano, mantuvo mi interés a medida que las líneas de la historia se entretejían y conducían a atar todos los cabos sueltos al final del libro. No es una novela policiaca pesada, solo con los suficientes giros para que sea entretenida, pero no tantos como para ser confusa. Definitivamente me ha gustado lo suficiente como para querer leer más libros de esta autora.

Het risico is géén Kay Scarpetta-verhaal. Zo, de kop is er af. De hoofdpersonen in dit verhaal zijn rechercheur Winston Garano en openbaar aanklager Monique Lamont. Winston is zeer getalenteerd en daarom enige tijd geleden door Monique naar Knoxville in Tennessee gezonden om een extra opleiding te volgen aan de 'National Forensic Academy'. Vlak voor het eind van deze opleiding roept Monique Winston plotseling terug naar een regenachtig Boston. Ze vertelt hem dat ze in het kader van haar nieuwe programma 'At Risk', dat inhoudt dat geen misdaad ongestraft mag blijven, een speciale opdracht heeft voor Winston. Hij moet een 'cold case' gaan onderzoeken, de moord op een rijke vrouw. Waar heeft die moord plaatsgevonden? In Knoxville, Tennessee. En wanneer? Al ruim twintig jaar geleden. Winston begrijpt er niets van, behalve dan van het feit dat Monique dit foefje uithaalt om in een beter blaadje te komen bij haar kiezers. Monique wil namelijk graag gouverneur worden. Wie haar daarvoor in de weg staat is echter de huidige gouverneur, en wie haar helpt is ene Huber, hoofd van een forensisch laboratorium.
Het verhaal rond de moord op de oude dame is deze keer, in tegenstelling tot de latere Kay Scarpetta-verhalen, 'klein' gehouden. Alles speelt zich af in het tijdbestek van een paar dagen en er wordt ook niet zo overdreven veel heen en weer gereisd. Wat natuurlijk onbegrijpelijk blijft is het gemachineer van die Amerikaanse overheids'dienaren' die allemaal zo verschrikkelijk graag steeds hogerop willen klimmen. Ook Monique Lamont is zo'n overheidsdienaar die meer oog heeft voor de verkiezingen dan voor het werk dat ze eigenlijk zou moeten doen: misdadigers aanklagen. Winston is een aardige hardwerkende rechercheur die echter ook niet altijd weet wat hij met Monique aan moet. Rust vindt hij bij zijn oude grootmoeder, wat de noodzakelijke luchtige inbreng geeft in het boek.
De plot is in dit redelijk dunne boek (180 pagina's met groot lettertype) uiteindelijk toch wel interessant, al kost het de lezer wel weer wat moeite om de kronkels in het verhaal glad te strijken en uit te vinden wie wie is en wie wat doet. Met een scherpe pen geschreven maar toch niet echt diepgaand, is dit boek een aardig uurtje vermaak maar het brengt niet de verwondering en het ontzag van de eerdere boeken van Cornwell.

Nice and fast thriller, a bit disappointing in the last pages but it's a series so it makes sense. 3.5☆

At Risk by Patricia Cornwell is the first book in the Winston Garano series and I think this could be the first book I’ve read by this author.

I’ve had this book sitting on my bookshelf for such a long time, so I thought it was about time to read it. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first started this book and I must say I found it easy enough to follow the storyline had me intrigued, but for me, it wasn’t a page-turner as such even though I was interested to know how it would come together at the end.

I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Read this over the last 2 months and finished it two days ago. On the whole not bad, but it was a “taste test” of what to expect from Patricia Cornwell, going into Autopsy, before realising that was “book 22” in a series. So instead, a “taster” for Post Mortem, the other book I was originally intrigued by 2 years ago.

At Risk is mostly a story of police investigation mixed with political beuracracy. Ironically, “At Risk”, is the name of the next-generation DNA testing program Washington DC., DA Monique Lamont, an aspiring politician, wants to put in place for making murder cases more easier to solve. And make for a good start on the campaign trail. In doing so she pulls in Special Investigator, Winston “Win” Garano from Massachusetts down to Knoxville, to solve a 20+ year old murder case. And “At Risk” will be the lifeline to make it happen.