April's Bloggy Book club book was Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell, the cover states...
Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta takes up an assignment in New York City where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured patient on Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her , and when she literally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk and the story he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has ever heard...
Since I had a lot of driving to do this month...I chose to listen to this book on CD...it is long 15 hours!
I had been an earlier fan of Patricia Cornwell and have enjoyed the Scarpetta series in the past although I have missed two or three of the last novels. I thought I was fairly familiar with the characters and could pick up with them...my feelings are that her characters have not aged well! Many of them have more than flawed characteristics but rather all seem rather jaded...
one character who I had enjoyed seem to have committed a violent sex crime in a past novel which I had not read. While this had been a colorful character, there wasn't anything in any past novels to indicate this behavior and this action didn't ring true. Actually it makes Scarpetta and others seem ineffective because of it...because of this and a few other details ...the entire story didn't ring true for me. I didn't care for the characters. I solved the crime early and too many coincidences needed to happen for the story to even unfold.
I was disappointed in this novel almost from the beginning... I love a good forensic mystery... but I just couldn't buy into this story!
If anyone else would like to give it a try...let me know and I will mail you the box CD set!
7 comments:
Oh for goodness sake - I thought this blog was called 'Rhonda's Pants,' which made me laugh out loud and link over. Still great blog and nice color scheme. I used to read all the Scarpetta books until they got all weird and she started writing in present tense.
I want to say that I have read some of Patricia Cornwell's novels....or maybe I meant to. Not sure. I like a good forensic mystery too....sorry you were disappointed in this one. But, good to know. My reading time is very limited right now so I'm glad I've got you to weed out the bad ones for me.
I still have not started Russ and Me...but I hope to soon....I keep thinking I'm going to and then I fall asleep. ;)
Wait....that came out wrong. I'm not falling asleep BECAUSE of the book....I haven't even stayed awake long enough to open it yet. :)
By the way...while I'm taking up all of your comment space....have you read the Harry Potter books? I know they are supposed to be for kids....but they are awesome. Rowling has a great imagination and creates a fantastic fantasy world. Quick and entertaining reads...well, not real quick because once you read the first one you'll want to immediately start the next one....
Not sure I'd be into these books as I've not read the rest of the series you mention but could certainly use more books if you're done and want to pass more on through the mail. Cheers, Lauren
Bummer-15 hours on a disappointing book. :( I just read the last installment of Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series and was seriously irritated with the giant leaps and plot devices used to railroad the story to an unsatisfying conclusion. Meh. >:/
I have found her story line going off the deep end. Her earlier Scarpetta novels were great.
I just finished reading Firefly lane. Grab some tissue, a pitcher of Margarita's and enjoy. It was a wonderful book.
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