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Point of Origin
  
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Point of Origin (Library Binding)

by Patricia Daniels Cornwell (Author) "BENTON WESLEY WAS taking off his running shoes in my kitchen when I ran to him, my heart tripping over fear and hate and remembered..." (more)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (439 customer reviews)

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Product Description

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Virginia's chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta is getting ready for a romantic holiday with her retired-FBI-profiler boyfriend, Benton Wesley, when she receives a cryptic and foreboding letter: "Hey DOC, Tick Tock, Sawed bone and fire," it begins. Even more creepy, the taunting note has been signed by Carrie Grethen, the psychotic killer Kay helped send to a psychiatric facility for going on a murder spree with Temple Gault in Cornwell's earlier book Body Farm. Benton believes that Grethen--who also happens to be the former lover of Scarpetta's niece Lucy--has big plans for a comeback. And before Kay and Benton can leave for their trip and discuss it further, Scarpetta is called upon to don yet another professional hat, that of a "consulting forensic pathologist" for the federal government. Someone has burned a highfalutin horse ranch and all of its contents, including a human being, to the ground. Worse, Grethen has escaped and is on the loose and closer to Kay and her beloved than she knows. Point of Origin, the ninth Scarpetta thriller, is classic Cornwell: rich with detail and strong dialogue, and doused with harrowing twists. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Cornwell fans who relish her Kay Scarpetta stories for the postmortem findings will welcome this tale of twisted minds and the gory havoc they cause. Acronym fans will also be pleased. This tale opens with the complete destruction by fire of a Virginia horse farm, the owner of which was said to be in London. As consultant to the FBI and the ATF's NRT (that's the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' National Response Team), Scarpetta joins the investigation on site and discovers some remains of a young woman in the master bath. Although the origin of the fire remains a mystery, research turns up two similar unsolved incidents from years earlier, female victims who were dead before the accompanying conflagration. Another fire disguising another murder, and the escape of Carrie Grethen, evil woman partner of Scarpetta's now dead archenemy Temple Gault, from a New York City hospital for the criminally insane, ups Scarpetta's anxiety level about both her beloved, brilliant niece, Lucy, who was seduced by Grethen in The Body Farm, and her lover, psychological profiler Benton Wesley. A third fire covers a third personally devastating death before Scarpetta is able to finger Grethen's new diabolical partner and survive a harrowing finale in a helicopter. Although Cornwell repeatedly tells us how anxious, strung out or devastated Scarpetta feels in the face of Grethen's evil threats, there's very little dramatization of these powerfully emotional conditions. The author is convincing mainly in the delivery of chilling forensic details. One million first printing; $750,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild main selections; simultaneous Putnam Berkley audio.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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BENTON WESLEY WAS taking off his running shoes in my kitchen when I ran to him, my heart tripping over fear and hate and remembered horror. Read the first page
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439 Reviews
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3.2 out of 5 stars (439 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1.0 out of 5 stars Formula and stereotype trump logic, Jun 16 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Point Of Origin (Paperback)
Warning, some of this may be a spoiler.

The book is full of stereotypes. The young brilliant lesbian helicopter pilot/computer genius/cop. The male slob police captain. The overweight public defender who could have used a bra and is Jewish to boot (it apparently doesn't occur to Cornwell that some people who are accused are innocent, or that everyone has the right to counsel so defense counsel are all villains in her view. Racially stereotyped villians.)

Worse than that, the plot doesn't hold water. A foal survives a fire in the stable. A lot is made of that early in the book. Then it's dropped. An escaped mental patient is able to follow and anticipate Scarpetta's every move. How did that happen? Worst of all is the stupidity of the police. A horse ranch burns. A burned car is found on the premises. A body that does not belong to the ranch or the car is found in the bathroom. The owner of the ranch early on tells Scarpetta who the person killed likely is. No attempt is made, apparently, to trace this woman's life or look for connections (such as did anyone she know own such a car) for a few weeks until Scarpetta goes out and does it herself. In fact no one ever attempts to find out who the car belongs to until it just happens that, when they find who the killer is they realize (wow!) that, hey -- this person owns that type of car. But, of course, if the police had any sense and, in investigating a murder by arson looked for who owned the car that didn't belong there, they would have found the killer in a few hours and this long book would have ended without the endless whining of Scarpetta about the state of the world and how horrible it is that people are in it that cause her to do what she does for a living.

But of course, it's hard to credit the criminal genius Scarpetta is pursuing with being diabolically clever when that person leaves an auto at the scene of the crime.

Give me a break!

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4.0 out of 5 stars A little weaker, but still good, Mar 29 2004
By Patty Philbrook (Stratham, NH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Point Of Origin (Paperback)
A very enjoyable read in the Kay Scarpetta series, although a bit weaker story than some of the others. Still, well worth your time to read.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Cornwell!, Jan 15 2004
By S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Point Of Origin (Paperback)
I read a lot of the reviews for this book, and I really don't agree with most of them. I think that this book is an extremely good example of Ms. Cornwell's chilling writing. The dialogue and the plot are crisp and the detail is incredible. We find out a lot about fire investigation in this book. Yes, I admit Ms. Cornwell does get rather graphic and "over-the-top" in her violence, but that is what makes a Kay Scarpetta book so Unputdownable. I do agree with others, that readers must read this series in order. A lot of what happens in each book is a take off from what happened in a previous one. It would be confusing if you started partway through. Also, the character development progesses with each book, so the reader needs to get inside Kay's head and see things in the way she would have. In this book, we see a previous villain come back to haunt Kay and the people that she loves. Kay is called in to a fire investigation where a body is found burned beyond recognition. The more she digs into the case, the more disturbed she becomes and she realizes that she is dealing with true monster who probably had committed many murders before this one. Also, the more she digs, the more it becomes apparent that an old nemesis (Carrie Grethen) is somehow behind these terrible crimes. Her, Benton, Lucy and Marino set out to find a killer and one of the truly evil people that she has ever encountered. Before the final twist of the plot at the end, Kay suffers a very personal tragedy. We will have to read how that has affected her in the next installment.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars It was good, even for a 'bad' book by her
I don't consider myself a big fan of hers, though given this I sure have read enough of her books. The are well written, well researched, great plots. Read more
Published on Jan 5 2004 by Barry J. Coe

4.0 out of 5 stars I kept up the page turning...
Like many popular novels, this one is an easy and fairly quick read despite the fact that Cornwell often gives way too much detail and information in places. Read more
Published on Aug 5 2003 by Michael Bird

2.0 out of 5 stars Same Old, Same Old...
Patricia Cornwall's same depressing formula is getting very boring. Dr Scarpetti will once again not be allowed a shred of happiness. Read more
Published on Jan 1 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Carrie strikes again...is she dead this time?
I love Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series! Every book is so interesting. This book is as terrific as the rest, however, I was just as shattered as Kay, Lucy and Marino regarding the... Read more
Published on Nov 14 2002 by pegelyn

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like suspense.........
You will love this book. Patricia Cornwell does again in "Point Of Origin!" I have always been a fan and have yet to be disappointed in her series. Read more
Published on Nov 12 2002 by bnelson912

5.0 out of 5 stars My First Cornwell Book
This is my first Cornwell book ever I ever read (listened to - UNABRIDGED audio book version) and I was hooked by the first page. Read more
Published on Aug 30 2002 by Nancy I. Schafer

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of all so far, this one is the most brilliant
Out of all the Scarpetta novels, this one is the absolute best. they are all faultless, yes, but Point of Origin contains that little extra something which just lifts it above the... Read more
Published on July 4 2002 by RachelWalker

5.0 out of 5 stars Fire and Other Mayhem
Say what you will--you either like or dislike Kay Scarpetta, but you can always expect to be drawn into a sensational murder mystery. Read more
Published on Jun 24 2002 by Ramona Honan

4.0 out of 5 stars Point of Origin
I don't like to read many books, but this book I could not put down. It starts of with Kay, The main character, having to go check out a farm that had just burnt down. Read more
Published on Feb 26 2002 by Duane

1.0 out of 5 stars Its my first Cornwells book, and its my last.
A bitter middle aged self righteous medical examiner Kay, a bitter pathetic crying baby Lucy who can an access database and fly helicopter, a bitter foul mouthed cop with... Read more
Published on Feb 21 2002 by roosvelt88

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