★★★

A slow burn told largely from the perspective of our protagonist, Kay Scarpetta.

I very rarely - very, very, very rarely - knowingly read a series out of order. This series however, is one that I didn't keep up with but like to dip into occasionally to catch up with the characters. The last book I read in the series was book #16 so I figured that it wasn't too big a leap to move to book #18 - my library didn't have #17 which was really my motivation to move to this one.

For the first 100 pages, I thought I had made a very bad mistake. I was confused about the setting and the backstory didn't sound familiar to me at all. The story is told largely from Kay Scarpetta's point of view so the reader learns things when Scarpetta does which is not always at the same time as the other characters. The feeling is one of anxiety that things are happening behind Scarpetta's back that she can't control.

The story starts to come together however and the reader puts the pieces together at the same time that Dr. Scarpetta does. This one not only has murder where the cause of death is more complicated than originally thought but also is wrapped in a military technology conspiracy that adds to the tension.

I enjoy books that go into detail about skills that are not always directly related to the mystery like surviving and tracking in the woods ([a:Kelley Armstrong|7581|Kelley Armstrong|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1625010968p2/7581.jpg]'s [b:Murder at Haven's Rock|60784588|Murder at Haven's Rock (Haven's Rock, #1)|Kelley Armstrong|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658760332l/60784588._SY75_.jpg|95597986]), spy craft and military maneuvering ([b:The Gray Man|6547865|The Gray Man (Gray Man, #1)|Mark Greaney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335649192l/6547865._SY75_.jpg|6740331] series by [a:Mark Greaney|2961590|Mark Greaney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446347246p2/2961590.jpg]), police procedures (the Harry Bosch series by [a:Michael Connelly|12470|Michael Connelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1539114448p2/12470.jpg]) or in the case of this book, forensic pathology. I enjoy the balance that these authors find between having the detail serve the story but without ever having the reader feel that they have "dumbed it down".

This was an enjoyable read with a good puzzle to solve, even though it started out a bit stressful before I realized that that was the intent.

A good audio book for when you're crossing the country in a moving truck.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is back. This was a strong showing of just how explosive this series can be. I'm glad I stuck it out.

This book got better as it went along. I had trouble getting into this one. The relationship between Benton and Scarpetta didn't seem at all like a husband and wife. I understand that with the nature of their jobs, they can't tell each other everything, but there didn't seem to be any real connection or affection. The storyline was okay, but didn't pick up steam until the end. Not sure it was worth wading through.

Ugh...I just wrote a review and it didn't save. I'll sum up. This book started out better than her most recent books, as it has switched back to the first person told by Kay Scarpetta. Scarpetta is in the dark for a large portion of this book, with information being discovered and doled out at a very slow pace. Then Scarpetta takes an hour drive with Benton that the reader is not privy too, and Benton fills her in on a lot of information. I found the novel a little confusing from this point on, because now Scarpetta has information that is not shared with the readers in a cohesive way. In typical Cornwell fashion, once she hits a certain page count, she decides to quickly wrap up the book. All of a sudden things quickly happen and then the book ends. I think it would have been better if the beginning was faster paced, and spend more time on the discoveries at the end. If you liked her last few novels, you will like this one.

I felt so lost for most of this book, like I missed something in the beginning. It wasn't as clear as most of her books.

So far this book is very good but quite different than the others in this series. It is written in a much more "stream of consciousness" style from
Scarpeta's view point. As I started reading, I kept wondering when the story was going to start until I realized that it had because it is told as the protagonist discovers the issues. It was a little offputting at first, but I am really enjoying it now.

I haven't read a Scarpetta book in years and now I'm reminded as to why. Kay was no longer a smart intelligent woman, but rather a whiner who second guesses herself ever ten seconds. I've never liked Lucy but she was even more annoying. Marino has become an idiot. I got this on cd and this hot mess took three cds to even get to the morgue (so that's three hours).

There was a nugget of a good idea with the death of a young man in the park but it was lost under enough fat to make twenty pounds of sausage. Instead of concentrating on the mystery, we get to listen to Kay whine that Benton is keeping secrets from her, that Marino gossiped too much with her boss in the military, screwing her, and everyone telling her how much Jack Fielding has betrayed her. She uses four descriptions were one will do. We learn every odd and sod on Lucy's helicopter and how to fly it (we get it, you did research and now you're boring us all to death it it).

Instead of honing the story onto that young man whose insides were exploded as if with a bomb and the nano tech spyware found with him (possibly thanks to DARPA) we have endless second guessing. Is Lucy hacking again (who cares), Is Benton pulling away from her (who cares, they has as much chemistry in this as well...a lab with exactly one chemical), What has Jack been doing because no one is doing their job at the new crime lab and people seem to resent her? (and if it was ever addressed why the heck she was working for the military when she's supposed to be the chief of this new lab but she's never really been there, I missed it. That was so stupid though maybe addressed in the previous book).

It was a convoluted hot mess and dull as dishwater and pretty unbelievable to boot. There's this interconnecting old crime she and the military covered up when she was little more than a medical resident (I just don't see the military dragging someone so green to Africa). That could have been axed entirely.

And the voice actress for this was dubbed the voice of the century. Boy did she not bring her A game then because this was just bad. Hard to distinguish the voice and I swear she was pinching her nose closed for Marino.

I miss the old Cornwell. I think when she changed the narration it began to go downhill. I couldn't even finish this book; it was so incredibly boring. I don't even remember what it was about.