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: This is the work of an awarding-winning author?
Summary: 1 Stars
I too have never submitted a review but after discovering how bad it is I felt I just had to add my impression of this piece of work.
I agree with many of the complaints express on this site by other readers. I find it very choppy to the point of being frustrating with a rambling, poorly defined storyline. Cornwell just drops readers into conversations and situations with no set up at all. It is actually disorienting ...like when you walk in the middle of a conversation or event in real life. She also has many characters with few being very well developed and seemed to be short on coming up with creatively differing names. I found several characters were given very similar names that contributed to confusion.
What amazed me most are the sentence fragments. When I learned grammar I believe that one of the rules was: sentences had to contain a subject and a verb. I don't know, have they changed that rule? Is it a `creative writing' thing?
I also find this book boring and long on conversations that really don't seem to go anywhere but to express over and over again the character's (and perhaps the author's too) political views of which I could not care less.
The bio in the back of the book lists a number of awards the author has won, pointing out some very distinguished British awards never won by any other American author. If this is what they consider work worthy of such awards, then I question the awards.
Book Review: Characters are simply not believable.
Summary: 1 Stars
I've read every Scarpetta book in order and I have grown increasingly annoyed with Scarpetta's characters. I expect an author with a series like this one to develop and layer their characters. Instead, we have a fantasy world where the latest technology, fast cars and personal heliocopters are the norm. Scarpetta is perfect. I can't see any flaws in her. She is gorgeous, cooks perfectly, gardens perfectly, is all-knowing. I much preferred Scarpetta when she was dealing with budget cuts and worried about her family. Lucy is insufferable. Marino is a caricature. She also introduces an African-American character who is literally a stereotype. I was seriously expecting him to refer to her as "master." I don't know...I was really frustrated.
As for the plot...it started promising enough. The murder of a wunderkind tennis champ and a psychopath on the streets of Italy. Okay, sounds good. However, I just can't get over how every man is dying to with lust for Scarpetta and travel is just a heliocopter away. Cornwell would do well to return to her roots. By the negative reviews here, it is clear that her audience is not connecting to her characters any longer.
Book Review: Unfocused
Summary: 1 Stars
This novel is so out of focus that it remains but a blur in my memory. It starts out as a respectable whodunit set in Rome. But then it is about the egotistical Dr. Self. And then about Lucy's physical problems. And then about Marino and his slutty paramour. And so forth. After a few of these--who cares what happens next.
When I read the early Scarpetta books, I was fascinated. But before long Ms Cornwell introduced Lucy's sexual preferences as a theme, and I couldn't imagine why. It diluted the plot. Lucy was supposed to be a physical amazon and a super intelligent scholar, to the point that she became a boor and a bore. Lucy is not improved in this book. As for the villain, it appears that the author is in some sort of competition with James Patterson and others to see who can describe the most sadistic killer. Sorry, Ms Cornwell: Patterson has the bottom rung reserved.
The characters tend to be flat. The plot is a mess. The atmosphere, which was so good in the early novels, is clouded. That doesn't leave much. The book started well enough, and I had hopes for it, but then--gone.
Book Review: Profoundly disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
To begin with, I have kept up with all the Kay Scarpetta books, having been intrigued with her from the beginning. After about the fifth book, I began to tire of the complicated and unsatisfying relationships she fosters, and to wonder how a character like this could maintain my interest. She couldn't. I kept reading, just because I feel like a know her a little bit, even though I began to hate her for being such a tiresome "Eeyore." Nothing ever seemed to bring her happiness or joy. She never laughed or chuckled, teased or flirted. Way too serious. I like Marino the best, the big, fat, coarse, boor that he is. He, at least, has some personality and passion. I've known people like Kay Scarpetta, and you can't be friends with them. They take themselves too seriously. They're the kind that stand to the side with their arms tucked around their midsections, protecting their guts, with a slight frown at the corners of their mouths. Cornwell keeps telling us how beautiful Kay is, but I'm not buying it anymore.Book Review: Painful to read
Summary: 1 Stars
I read the first three Scarpetta novels and loved the characters. The next book I read was Book of the Dead, and it was very painful to get through. WHAT HAPPENED?? If you loved the earlier novels based on the characters, you will hate this one. I am so disappointed at how the characters have changed. The story itself is confusing to follow. There are brief moments that reminded me of Cornwell's earlier writings, but they disappear as quickly as they appear. There are names that are similar, and the relationship between Benton and Kay come off very cold. Lucy is close to being a psycho, and I can't begin to understand what happened to Marino. I would not recommend reading this book or any Scarpetta novels that come afterwards.