Customer Reviews

From Potter's Field

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

This could be the worst novel I have ever read. It is also the first and last Patricia Cornwell novel I will ever read. There are so many problems with this book that they cannot be listed here, so here are but three points: 1) The main character, Kay Scarpetta, is an insufferable, humorless snob. I'd never before read a novel where I hated the main character. Great job, Pat! 2) About 90% of the novel is dialogue. Very bad dialogue. But this is understandable since Cornwell cannot write prose. 3) The story is predictable and boring, and the ending is utterly ridiculous. I'm astonished that this book was ever published, let alone made the bestseller lists.

I am currently set to read the next Kay Scarpetta novel, "Cause of Death" and I can't wait. After reading the previous novels and enjoying them, I must say that "From Potter's Field" ranks among three of my favourite Scarpetta novels along with "Body of Evidence" and "The Body Farm". As with every novel in the series, Patricia Cornwell's writing is crisp and entertaining, even if the ending of this book is quite silly. If you want an entertaining, gripping read, try "From Potter's Field" and every novel in the Kay Scarpetta series.

Cornwell continues to keep me gripped into her novels and this one is no exception...Although the ending is a bit of a shock.

This was my first Cornwell book. I enjoyed the characters in this story and I look forward to reading more about Scarpetta, Marino, Benton and company. The action was fluid and I was never sure where Gault, our killer, was going to turn up next.

Cornwell is detailed and this lends credibility to the plot and circumstances. The events are gruesome, but this is a coroner we are reading about, so that is to be expected. Cornwell does not exhaust the reader with gore and that made the subject matter easier to handle.

The one criticism I do have is that the story moved so fast that I felt I was sometimes missing something. I think I just have to get used to Cornwell's writing style, and I maybe should have started the series in a chronological order. Nonetheless, a satisfying read, and I would recommend the Cornwell series to others, worthy of 4 stars.

The first 90% of the story held my interest. In the last 50 pages it seemed that Miss Cornwell ran out of steam. It had a let's-get-this-done anti-climatic aire. I expected a thrilling pursuit through the subways of New York, complete with frustrating near misses and near successes. Instead, we get bad guy just comes straight to the heroine, temporarily captures heroine #2, is thwarted by heroine and disabled, all in 20 or so pages.

This books just didn't do it for me. I enjoy PC but this book. Seemed too easy. Things just happend, people just called. In fact, I think this books had some bad editing. I felt as though all what was needed was there, and that someone just yanked out the big sections for no reason.

I am still a fan, but this one is a skipper.

The doc just happens, to see the resturante that the killer was using.

The polices offer in charge is left in the subway with two people who are not police. Just does not at add.

Kay Scarpetta seems to be a very unhappy person at times, but she does get involved in some dandy murder mysteries--and this book is one the best in the series!

Temple Gault is still on the loose, focusing this time on Kay and her niece, Lucy. Temple likes to kill just for the thrill of it and never leaves any clues.

He centers in now on Kay Scarpetta, and it is up to her to stop him in matter what.

This book defines "thriller" and I could not put it down - especially the scene late one night in the morgue. What happens? Read and find out. You won't be sorry.

Thanks to Patricia Cornwell! Before reading "From Potter's Field" I was afraid that I couldn't make it as a professional writer. But now I know that if she can sell books, so can I.

With the build-up this writer has received, I expected a better read. The first person narration makes Dr. Scarpetta sound like an egotist. A character who is always right like our good doctor needs someone besides herself to narrate her exploits. Sherlock Holmes would be an insufferable boor had his creator not had the sense to tell us of his superiority through the eyes of faithful Dr. Watson. How many times can you use the word "I" in a 412 page book? How about using the third person, Ms. Cornwell? Then we'd know what characters other than Dr. Scarpetta are thinking.

Another gripe--too much information. Ms. Cornwell substitutes technical jargon and unneeded facts for solid characterization and plot. And I realize this may seem picayune, but does the writer, her editor or her proofreader use spell check? The hard-cover book has a number of spelling and grammar errors--amazing!

If you are a fledgling writer like me and want a little motivation to begin submitting queries for manuscripts, read this book--you'll find encouragement here! If you are a reader in search of quality fiction, you might want to keep looking...

Patricia Cornwell did it again. This is the best of hers that I have read so far. It only took me two days to read the entire book, which usually says a lot for me.

It will be a bit hard to really say much about the story without giving anything away, but let's just say Temple Gault is at it again and he is worse than you have ever imagined. If you do not know who Temple Gault is, he is a serial killer that was introduced in the last two books, Cruel and Unusual and The Body Farm. You will want to read those before you jump into From Potter's Field.

I'm only writing this to get some feedback about the movie! Will someone please post some information about the movie that was supposed to be based on this novel?! The book was written back in, what, '96 or something? Where's the movie??? Well, since this an editorial on the book-I thought it was OK-not my favorite Cornwell novel. I recommend "All That Remains". If anyone watched the movie "Don't Say a Word" with Michael Douglas you might get suspicious like I did. When they go to the cemetery at the end of the movie it's called-"Potter's Field". I was really, really confused. I'm sure there is no connection but to be on the safe side, will someone please post SOME information on the book-supposed-to-be-turned-into-movie?? Thanks.