I don't think I would be nearly as hard on this book if it weren't in my "501-must-reads" list.

It's a perfectly fine mystery book, where instead of a cop or a reporter, it's a medical examiner who leads the way. Very Rizzoli & Isles, if you ask me. It's possible that this book was somehow groundbreaking when it first came out, but somehow I don't feel that it was. There were also a lot of open-ended story lines that didn't get resolved. I'm giving Cornwell the benefit of the doubt that these story lines are resolved in the next book in the series, and not just left out to die. Overall, the mystery just wasn't really a mystery though. It was one of those "serial killer on the loose" books except that you aren't given the opportunity to try to solve the case. There are no red herrings. No real clues or suspects and practically no final showdown. It all wraps up extremely neatly in the last chapter with some random character you met in an early chapter and never heard from again. MAYBE if I read the previous 7 books, I would have guessed this random person, but then I think that's a flaw in a book in a series. Each mystery should at least be able to stand on its own.

If I had just picked this up randomly, it would probably have been a 3 because it was entertaining and a quick read. But because I was told it was a "must-read", I must judge it more harshly and I find nothing particularly amazing about it - therefore, it only gets a 2.

Ooooh! A Kay Scarpetta book about murder & biological warfare? Sign me up. Loved the discussion involving epidemiologists (pretty fitting for right now). Felt like the twist was slightly lackluster but this is in competition for my favorite book from the series so far.

Despite the fact that I said I am focusing on characterisation in the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell, I found the eight book in the series, n  Unnatural Exposuren, kind of interesting than books six and seven. At least there is some tension and suspense, as the writer introduces us to biological warfare.

Virginia's chief medical examiner, Kay Scarpetta, is called in to examine the remains of a woman found in a landfill, her body dismembered in the same expert way she'd seen before. And while Scarpetta is investigating, the bold killer contacts her through the Internet, inviting her to download the police photos, and signs off with the chilling name, deadoc. When Scarpetta and her niece discover that the victim was exposed to a rare smallpox-like virus before she died, she realizes that they are up against a killer with access to an incredible arsenal of deadly force -- and now it's directed at her! It is explosive to say the least.

Now, for my characters: Lucy is now an FBI agent, working with the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). She loves rappelling and kicking ass, though her male counterparts don't take it well that a woman is among them. However, just when she is about to get started, she might be forced to leave the Bureau. Why? Her former lesbian lover-cum-serial, Carrie Grethen who is incarcerated in a psychiatric institution is about to go on trial. She will talk about her relationship with Lucy, even though Carrie seduced and manipulated Lucy. The FBI will not take that lightly. They will spit her out. If she doesn't leave the Bureau, it will mean Carrie gets away with murder, because Lucy won't take the stand as a witness. Additionally, if she takes the stand, it will be known that the Bureau is condoning lesbianism in the age of 'don't ask don't tell'. Lucy has moved on, is in a new relationship with her coworker, Janet. If she takes the stand, she will also expose Janet. Well, it seems like Lucy doesn't care much about Janet because Lucy says that she will do everything in her power to make sure Carrie doesn't walk. We see a (bitter) breakup looming. Marino has certifiably decided to kill himself slowly and Doris, his ex-wife who wanted them to get back together, married someone else (and must he drop everything he is doing, even in the middle of the night, to rush to Kay's and sleep on the couch?); our beloved Dr Kay Scarpetta is at her bitching high (come on, can't this woman do anything for herself without calling Marino in the middle of the night? And surely, is Marino such idle to drop everything and rush to her aid? Spare us the drama and the unrealism), she is not able to stand Benton Wesley; and Benton Wesley finally shares an earth-shattering secret that would bring closure for Kay's mourning of her dead lover, Mark - Mark was not Killed in Action while on FBI assignment, he was with another woman cheating on Kay, and he happened to be at the unlucky place at the wrong time when the terrorists bombed London train station.

While the characterisation still sucks, I don't see how Lucy is growing, even Kay points it out - she is hopping into relationships anyhow, screwing her coworkers, and you wonder whether she will move from law enforcement agency to agency until she has served in all because of sleeping with cute lesbian friends but moving on every time anything happens. She is brilliant, the kind of the dream daughter a parent would want or woman a man would love to break her heart.

This series eventually became too unbelievable.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her friends are all over a scary body dismemberment case, suspecting a serial killer. Only the torso is found, at first, in a Richmond, Virginia landfill! Clues from the body indicate there is more going on than bloodlust though. Was the victim infected with a terrible disease? A lot of people soon seem to be dying of 'Unnatural Exposure' in this eighth novel in the series of Scarpetta murder mysteries.

Can the team of FBI agents and forensic scientists headed by Scarpetta, chief medical examiner of Virginia, find out who - and what - is behind the deaths? Is there a terrorist loose?

There are dramas and graphic chills aplenty in the Scarpetta procedural mysteries. However, I recommend beginning with the first book in the series, 'Postmortem', and reading the series in order. The novels have continuing star-crossed love relationships, as well as many interlinked family and work problems, which develop from book to book in the series.

This is another action-packed and suspenseful journey in the life of Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is called upon to examine the torso of a dismembered body and discovers contamination by a virus with the potential to start an epidemic.

It was a great read. I enjoyed every word. Now, it's on to book 9.

This is my first novel from Patricia Cornwell, and I quite enjoyed it. Scarpetta is alluringly attractive and each move of hers kept me on my heels. The constant tussle of women and the world and women with women, a sharp reminder of hostilities faced by women in the work space then and now.

What made Scarpetta a bit annoying at places was her over judgemental analysing of people in the book which perhaps led to the opening of many story lines which the author could not close. And in this multitude of characters we lose our antagonist somewhere, it’s not clear whether Cornwell deliberately pushed the antagonist Phyllis to such insignificance to emphasise on her anger and feeling of nothingness in the world. Rather this adds to the the climax of the story just feeling like a hastened ending, donned with the ever famous rivalry amongst women colleagues.

The story was carried beautifully and the writing of the main characters(Wesley, Marino, Lucy)was incredible so much so that you wanted to slap Ring when he resorts to his dirty doings. The author also forgets to give a conclusion to Ring but maybe that follows in the Scarpetta sequel.

Finally, the book was a thrilling quick read. Author’s eye for technical details was very precise but went overboard in some places which lessened the allure of the story. Would I read it again? Maybe not..

Æj eugh.. eins og að lesa lélegan CSI þátt. Söguþráðurinn ekkert spes, grunaði hver væri morðinginn um leið og sú persóna var kynnt til sögunnar. Fannst höfundur eyða mjög litlu púðri í að skapa spennu eða hræðslu, vantaði allt svona psychological thriller dæmi, eitthvað online chat við morðingjann átti sjálfsagt að ná því fram en virkaði alls ekki. Eina skemmtilega var að bókin er frá 1997 og það var mikið talað um tölvur, ótrúlega fyndið að lesa lýsingar á “the world wide web”, “pixels” og fleiru sem er almannavitneskja í dag.

Man.. all these books have a huge build up and the most disappointing climaxes. Every single one. They just end. This might be my last Scarpetta book.

"'You know, monkeypox has been worrying me for years'" Not a quote I expected to read in a book published in 1997.

4/5

is a serial killer crossing international boundaries or is a cold-blooded copycat replicating the murders to cover up an even bigger crime? that's what scarpetta and her crew must determine in this installment of the kay scarpetta series.

once again cornwell weaves personal issues with grisly murder cases, as scarpetta struggles with commitment in her relationship with benton wesley and her genius niece lucy deals with relationship problems with her fbi-agent girlfriend as well as a reporter determined to out her as a lesbian and damage her fbi career- all while multiple gruesome cases converge on the virginia medical examiner's office.

one thing i admire about the scarpetta novels is that cornwell isn't afraid to throw her characters into the fire, nor is she afraid of killing off side characters who have appeared in previous books; the stakes are always high if you're a character in a scarpetta book. marino also seems to be mellowing out a little bit; for once he doesn't seem to be the primary source of homophobia or microaggressions against the LGBTQ community; that distinction falls to the minor antagonist percy ring, an overly ambitious detective who targets suspected homosexuals for harassment.

I love a Scarpetta novel!