Better than last several in series, but seemed like something got cut out near the end; it didn't flow right.

I don't think I've written a review in a long time but I had to for this one. What has gotten into Patricia? I've only recently started reading her series (from the beginning) and have enjoyed every book. But I am now seeing such a bad decline in her writing. The books used to flow so well and this book (and actually the one before it too) has SO much dialogue, monologue and description that is not needed. What happened?

There's a point where her bag spills on the floor and she throws all her things back into it. I mean, was there a point to it? Did she forget to place something in her bag that would be needed later? I'm at a loss. It has so much description that just ends up being repetitive and bad. I will continue reading the series because I've already read so much and hopefully things get better and this book was just a gaffe.

I was extremely disappointed in Cornwell's latest books when she switched from 1st person to 3rd person. Her last book was so disappointing that I almost swore Cornwell off forever. However, I see this book is back to 1st person (which I like), so I'm giving her another try.

Ok, after finishing this (barely) I've decided to give up on Cornwell. It was marginally better than her last one, but still very poorly written. It's too bad because she used to be one of my favorite authors.

Her worst book yet.

Cornwell has the problem too many successful writers have - no one will really edit her anymore. This was a 500 page book that, at best, was a mediocre TV plot. She spent hundreds of pages on a technology subplot and I have no idea how it fit in with the overall crime. This book is a mess!

She's not a great writer, but to her credit, it did keep me interested.

Finally...getting to read Scarpetta from her POV. I completely understand why Cornwell had to change her narrative style for some previous books. However, it's nice to know exactly what one of my favorite characters is thinking again. Even though these books have become formulaic, I have to read them to keep up with what the characters are doing. In this novel, I particularly enjoyed the scene where Kay unknowingly exposes herself to an experimental drug. Watching her reaction and the reaction of Benton to her words and actions was interesting. I'm always curious to see where the Kay/Benton relationship will go. Was a bit disappointed that Lucy wasn't in this storyline very much. Now that Kay has another new job as head of the CFC, I'm eager to see the next installment...how she restores her brand of order (I love type A people), and what mysteries she will have to solve.

Oh good grief. I hadn't read a Patricia Cornwell book in a while, because I found her main characters either unpleasant know it alls (Kay Scarpetta, Lucy Farinelli, and Benton Wesley) or stereotypical rednecks (Pete Marino, who could be a spokesman for "regular people", he certainly was in the earlier books).

Well not much has changed in this book. Scarpetta, Farinelli and Wesley have still gotta nerd uncommunicatively with each other, while Marino has seems to be the only character to show any growth in personality, having given up trying to reign Scarpetta in directly, and decided to speak to Scarpetta's superiors to bounce her into things that need to be done.

The book itself sees Scarpetta come to the end of her 6 month secondment with the army (she had signed up years a go pay for college, and has been recalled at the age of 56, because that happens), just after she had set up a cross-agency forensic lab in Boston (because, of course the FBI wouldn't mind that happening). On her return, she finds that the lab has gone to hell, her deputy chief has gone missing, a report on the death of a young boy doesn't make sense, and of course only Wesley, Farinelli, Marino and her can solve the case.

It has the potential to be an okay read, it's just... Scarpetta has to be just about the worst manager of people I've ever come across. She has no empathy for people less able than her, assumes that no one in the office has a work-life balance, and appoints people to posts who a demonstrably unsuitable for the job. Couple that with the fact that she is paranoid (everyone is out to get her), and she's not the easiest person to like. Certainly I've given up trying. Had this, and another book by Scarpetta not been in my "unread pile" I wouldn't have read it.