Customer Reviews

Port Mortuary

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I use to read every Scarpetta novel that came along but have been very disappointed with the recent offerings. This one was one exception to that - long, boring, no story line, and one dimensional characters. The thin plot wraps up in the final pages with no excitement. If I was Kay I would divorce Benton, and throw both Marino and Lucy from the top of a tall building.

WONDERFUL READ....I JUST LOVE HER WORK.....SHE MAKES YOU NOT WANT TO STOP READING UNTIL YOU FINISH HER BOOKS AND KEEPS YOU WANTING MORE...I JUST WISH THEY WOULD TURN HER BOOKS INTO A TELEVISION SERIES IT WOULD BE GREAT....JUST LIKE THE SHOW BONES

Like a lot of other reviewers, I eagerly anticipated reading another Kay Scarpetta story-- the character has received its share of recognition-- but unfortunately, as others have mentioned, Cornwell's ability to spin an entertaining tale has fallen off the tracks lately. This novel deals with issues of nanotechnology, "bots", and similar cutting edge miniaturization that Cornwell accurately picks up as being as much a possible danger to humanity as a bonus. But... I suspect her concern over such areas of dicovery drove the novel more than a plot did. The characters are as before... Marino, Lucy, Benton, but the personalities she has developed for them are starting to be more annoying than usefully descriptive. No one talks to anyone... secrets are kept, even from husband and wife about the smallest of things, questions they ask each other are rudely not answered, and seldom pursued. The reader wants to yell, "Talk to each other! Stop going around in circles!" With Kay overtired, confused, assaulted by events, her queries ignored, the reader gets a feeling of claustrophobia that continues through the book to the last pages. Rather than creating a useful situation, it causes the reader to struggle through the book, identifying only with Kay in the need to have coffee or fall asleep. The only "action" in the book is over with in a couple of paragraphs. It's a struggle that at the end is, I would have to (unfortunately) say: not worth it.

What a waste of time and money. A disjointed plot, apathetic characters and mind-numbing, irrelevant introspection. You could read just the last 50 pages and not miss a thing. There was no real action and no living suspects/culprits. A great disappointment! The characters were stiff and detached...I didn't recognize them (and I have read ALL the previous Scarpetta novels). Did Patricia Cornwell actually write this drivel?

I have read everyone of Patricia Cornwell's books. She seems to be loosing the passion she used to have. I love the characters in her books, but this time they were not in it very much. I was very disappointed. Alot of pages, but not alot of story.

I have been reading Kay Scarpetta books for years. I love the characters and have enjoyed watching them evolve over the years. If this had been the first book of the series I had read, I would never read another one. As a matter of fact, this might be one of the few books I might even consider burning. The plot (if you can even find it) was terrible. Most of the book is written through Kay's thinking process. How did such a strong and vibrant woman become such a whiner?? During the whole book, all I got from it was "Poor me, poor me. Benton is keeping back information. Lucy isnt telling me everything. Marino is being suspicious." And suddenly we have a secret from 20 years ago, that I don;t remember reading anything about before. In my opinion, save your money on this one and let's hope that the next book is back to the caliber that we fans have grown to expect. I miss you Kay Scarpetta.....come back to us.

This is the 18th novel to feature Kay Scarpetta in the 20 years since `Postmortem' first appeared. This novel is written from Kay Scarpetta' s point of view, and it gives shares some secrets from the past and provides some new insights into her character.

At the beginning of the book, Scarpetta is undertaking a training fellowship on Computer Tomography (CT) - assisted virtual autopsies at Dover Air Force Base. However, as the chief of the new Cambridge Forensic Center (CFC) she is required to return home to Massachusetts when a case threatens the reputation of the CFC. A young man, who apparently died of a heart attack, begins to bleed in the cooler. Was he alive when he was shut in the cooler? As Scarpetta investigates this case, she discovers connections with another case. And nothing is as it seems: her husband Benton Wesley, her long-time colleague and friend Pete Marino, and her niece Lucy all seem to be withholding information. Scarpetta herself is obsessing about a guilty moment in her past and this, as much as solving the case, seems to be occupying her mind.

For those readers wanting more insights into the character and motivations of Kay Scarpetta, this will probably be a good read. I'd rather focus on the cases being solved, and I found Scarpetta's angst irritating at times.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I have read evey previous Patricia Cornwell offering, but this may be my last. Before I read another I will wait for others who waste their money to post reviews. As others have said if this was my first Cornwell novel it would have been my last.