Book of the Dead (Kay Scarpetta, No 15) by Patricia Cornwell
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Book Reviews of Book of the Dead (Kay Scarpetta, No 15)
Book Review: Disjointed. Poor working knowledge of a field important to the plot.
Summary: 2 Stars
This book isn't worth reading, unless maybe you've read other books in the series.
Most characters seem to be developed as psychological caricatures. I normally overlook psychological inadequacies in the books I read. In this case the plot demanded attention to psychological details. It feels like the author picked a couple psychological conditions and wrote characters based on brief summaries rather than in-depth understanding.
The plot is difficult to grasp. It feels as if the author intended to write a more complex story but ran out of time. Subplots are begun, then mysteriously unmentioned until the end of the book, where they are tidied up and closed without having contributed anything to the main plot. Many details make no logical sense.
I had to laugh when I encountered the bit specifying the language used to write some computer program or another. And the description of a computer with 64 gigabytes of RAM, housed within a 6u case, has me wondering what Lucy uses such a beast for.
Book Review: Book of the Dead
Summary: 2 Stars
I have to admit that I've read all of Patricia Cornwell's book and that I've only liked the Scarpetta Series, until now. Book of the Dead made me wonder if the writer is getting bored with her craft or just the main character? She virtually removes Scarpetta from the story by making the other characters stronger. Scarpetta comes off as week and less the woman of strength that we enjoyed in the past. The book is hollow at best. I couldn't get comfortable with any of the character portrayals and kept looking for the kick in the plot that never came. The entire story was told from a distance with an "i don't care" feeling. I will always be a fan of the earlier Scarpetta books, however, this one has left me wondering if I want to by "Scarpetta". When you see a lot of books for sale used for $2-3, it makes you wonder why. Where did our favorite writer go?Book Review: Not quite as bad as Predator
Summary: 2 Stars
We are all impressed with Patricia Cornwell's [Kay Scarpetta's]knowledge of Italy; places, food, drink etc. I guess we are all a bunch of Rednecks with our noses pressed to the window of a world we can never be a part of.
I swore after the very dismal effort of Predator I would not read another Scarpetta mystery. However I relented and read this one. It was a little better. Slightly more human than the last. But I hate it when an author rushes through the final chapter. She still leaves you hanging over the fate of one of the main characters that has been piviotal in so many of her works. I like what Ms. Cormwell has done with Benton and Lucy. Maybe Scarpetta does have a heart.
Will I read Scarpetta when it comes out in December? Probably, but I won't be putting my name on a waiting list for it
Book Review: Buried story.
Summary: 2 Stars
Somewhere under all the really awful writing in this book, a pretty good story line is hidden. I think. I couldn't find it, but there were hints of its existance. As other reviewers have commented, Cornwell's editor needs the courage to tell her to take her crappy manuscripts home and only darken the editor's door again when she's produced a real story.
I must say there was one real pleasure in the book - "Dr. Self," a thinly disguised take on that pompous fraud Dr. Phil McGraw. For a great expose of the real "Dr. Phil" see chapter 3 of Steve Salerno's "SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless."
But I digress. Cornwell's writing gets worse and worse as her paranoia (conspiracy against her) gets worse and worse. Hey Patty - take your meds and rejoin the rest of us in the real world.
Book Review: Yes, It's a Downhill Spiral for Cornwell
Summary: 2 Stars
600+ reviews have said it all. Not sure how there were so many 5 star ratings, unless they're not familiar with earlier Cornwell work. I've been disappointed since blowFly. This book have characters that I can't believe are real and I am embarrassed for them. Additionally, some of the once precise detail is now getting corny. How can some private pathologist, land on an island and start removing bodies without having legal/crime professionals around. Cornwell has just taken so many liberties with her characters. I thought half the cast was going to die at the end of the book. I'll probably give her one more chance on the next book and hope she does better.