Customer Reviews

Body of Evidence (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)

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This is a fairly good book, the first 3 were much more entertaining. Not sure who is proof reading and/or editing but that seriously needs to be improved upon.

Another glaring error - in the first 3 books (as in the TV show), it's stated that Sara is a vegetarian. However, in one part of the book, the author has her eating a turkey sandwich!

Also, you can tell which character is the author's favorite - it's noted that a lot of space is devoted to Catherine Willows and her flowing strawberry blonde hair, clothes, how intelligent she is. Sara seems to just be part of the background - in the portion of the book dealing with the case of the mayor's secretary - Grissom, Warrick, Sara and Brass are meeting in the mayor's office. The author focuses mostly on Warrick's reactions to things said - was Sara meant to be a only a casual observer at the meeting? This is prevelant throughout the book series. Would like to see a little more time and space devoted to Sara.

When Catherine Willows and Nick Stokes catch a call at the end of their shift reporting "unknown trouble", it is all Catherine can do to drag herself down to the Newcombe-Gold Advertising Agency, knowing that her daughter will once again wake up to her regular babysitter instead of her mother. But, when Catherine and Nick discover that the unknown trouble involves graphic photos of child pornography printed from Mr. Gold's computer, they both are willing to do whatever it takes to find the person who would buy such filth. All of the evidence points to one man in the office, even though the computer forensics show that his computer was not used to print the photos, but Catherine's gut tells her that the obvious suspect is not the one who did this - but who did?

Meanwhile, Grissom, Warrick & Sara catch the case that could make or break their carriers outside of Nellis Air Force Base. They discover the body of an unknown woman, called in by a good Samaritan. The body was carefully wrapped and duct taped, but when they open up the package, they recognize the face of Candace Lewis, the Las Vegas mayor's personal assistant who disappeared a few weeks past. Grissom is forced to put aside his distaste of politics and deal with the mayor's relationship with Candace and the sheriff's political aspirations. With so much pressure coming from outside sources to solve the case and keep the details under wraps, Grissom is forced to walk on eggshells and use careful maneuvering in his investigation or ruin the wrong person's career...

This is the fourth book in the CSI series by Max Collins and, while it was not as entertaining as the first three, it was still a very enjoyable read. The endings of the mysteries were particularly interesting in that it reminds us that sometimes the simplest and most obvious solution is the correct solution, instead of the convoluted and complex hypotheses that investigators come up with while working on cases. Again, Collins does a superb job of keeping the TV personalities consistent and clear - I always feel like I am watching an episode on TV when I read his books, I just get more detail this way!

Catherine and Nick are working a case involving child pornography found in the print out tray at an advertising agency. Sara and Warrick work on the death of the secretary to the mayor of Las Vegas. I didn't like this one as much as I did the three previous CSI books. There is a lot of technical computer speak which many people might find interesting, but I thought was a little tedious. There was less humor too. I especially missed the frequent dry wit displayed by Gil Grissom in previous outings. All in all, it was less flashy, but still an entertaining read.

Since I'm such a big fan of the show, I decided to try one of the novelizations. I got caught up in the story easily enough, and even finished the book quickly (a matter of one evening). Reading BODY OF EVIDENCE was a lot like watching an episode of CSI, and yet at the same time there were enough differences to keep it interesting--and, at the same time, irritating.

Character-development doesn't seem to be a big thing in these serial novelizations; nor, in fact, does a believable plot. And this book could have used some editing, as there are a LOT of grammatical errors that took away from my enjoyment of the story throughout the entire book.

But it is a quick read, and it DOES feel like I'm "watching" an episode of CSI. I enjoyed this one enough that I'm now reading a second, so I guess the author did his job!

This is my second attempt at reading Max Collins' novelizations based on the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) and I'm forced to admit that I probably should just go watch the show. I've always enjoyed forensic mystery stories, but in retrospect I really prefer those tales where the medical examiner is 1) brilliant, and 2) an interesting character. Quincy was my first brush with the genre, Kate Scarpetta before she started to have regular emotional breakdowns, and, lately, Temperence Brennan. These are characters alive with emotion as well as skill with a knife.

The characters in the CSI stories fall short if you are looking for books that are as much about them as they are about the dissection of a crime. It's something like reading a script that gives you no hint of the feeling behind what the character is saying. If the puzzle drags for even a moment, you suddenly realize that there isn't much meat to the story. And if you can guess the answer you start wondering if you should just peek to see it you're right and go on to another book.

Such is the case here where once of the tales is about murder by misdirection, and the other is a grim tale that combines politics and the worst kind of murder. The stories are interesting, but having now read a few of Collins books, the plots are guessable because the author likes to drop little hints. And there is negligible emotional involvement perhaps as much as a good crossword puzzle. The book is decent light reading but you may find yourself wanting more.

The week begins for most people on Monday morning, but CSIs Catherine Willows and Nick Stokes are just ending their Sunday night shift when they get a call to go out to a local advertising agency because one of the partner's personal assistant has found child pornography on her boss's printer. The investigation is instantly difficult because several of the employees are on vacation and it is impossible to tell who was in the office over the weekend. Sifting through this Body of Evidence is not going to be easy.

IT expert Tomas Nunez is called in to assist the technical part of the investigation and he discovers which computer the print command was sent from, but when the CSIs find multiple fingerprints on the keyboard of that station, they realize that they've got a real corker on their hands. Add to that their personal feelings about child pornography and this is going to prove to be one emotional case, with more than one instance of misguided accusation.

Elsewhere in Las Vegas, Gil Grissom, Warrick Brown, and Sara Sidle are called to investigate a woman's body discovered by a local citizen. The profile of the case is heightened instantly when her identity is confirmed as the long-missing secretary of Mayor Darryl Harrison. Sheriff Brian Mobley immediately takes himself off the case because he has everything to gain by implicating the mayor in this crime: Mobley was planning to run against the mayor for his seat. Mobley's campaign manager Ed Anthony has been doing everything in his power to help Mobley, including several things he shouldn't have done.

Author Max Allan Collins (again with research and plotting assistance from Matthew V. Clements, a true-crime writer in his own right) is on a roll with these CSI novels, and Body of Evidence is no different. He captures the tone, setting, and characters from the television series perfectly, complete with the touches of humor that so wonderfully break the tension and illustrate the friendships that lie under the professional relationships.

The computer and Internet knowledge contained within Body of Evidence is just another example of the fine work done by Collins and researcher / co-plotter Matthew V. Clements (a true-crime writer in his own right and the co-author of several short stories with Collins). The details are part of what makes CSI so fascinating, and Collins and Clements do not skimp.

Tie-in novels like Body of Evidence are ideal for fans who are looking for an original CSI mystery during the summer rerun season. Plus, the stories are longer so, generally speaking, there is room for more detail and character development, making for a more fulfilling, multi-hour experience -- more like a CSI movie than a typical episode.

I don't ordinarily come down on the side of video over print, but in this case, I must. I bought this novel at the airport, read it on the plane, and still find myself tempted to copyedit it and send it back to the publisher with red pen markings aplenty. Folks who watch CSI are smart enough to want books that are intelligently crafted and carefully edited. I couldn't make it through three pages of this one without finding a typo or some other bush-league mistake. The characters should give life to this tale, but they lie flat on pages riddled with errors. Yawn.

I'm a casual watcher of the TV show, and this is the first CSI book I've read. Since I'm not a die-hard fan of the show, I had a little trouble matching character names in the book with their image from my memories. This was a little distracting for me, but shouldn't be a problem for those who pay more attention to the TV show. Reading this story seemed much like reading a fleshed-out script for a show's episode ... a very cool effect.

As per the show, there are two cases in focus. First is the discovery of child pornograpy printouts at an advertising agency. Second is the discovery of the body of Las Vegas' Mayor's secretary who had been kidnapped several weeks earlier. I think the book spent more time with the first case, with just tidbits of the second case thrown in until the end. Once the child porn case is wrapped up, the book shifts the murder case into high gear and ends rather suddenly. One thread through both cases is that an innocent person is actively framed by the perpetrator.

Because of the heavy sexual content of these cases, I wouldn't recommend this book for younger readers. I havent yet read any other books from this series, but I will be picking them up soon.

--Lynellen.com

If you like the T.V. show, you'll enjoy this book. I do and yet I still had trouble keeping everyone straight for the first half of the book. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book.

The author has really captured the characters from the t.v. show and expanded on them. He has also captured the forensics aspect.

In this book Janice Denard begins to prepare for an ordinary day, but when she gets to work she discovers shocking photographs let abandoned in a printer. The CSI computer forensics expert helps the CSI team of Willows and Stokes track through hardware and software to find the culprit.

Grissom, Brown and Sidle uncover disturbing evidence in the brutal murder of the Mayor's secretary that has been missing. The media is all over this case, and the Sheriff who is running against the Mayor has to remove himself from the case.

There are a lot of twists and turns as the evidence leads them to the perpetrators in each case.

I recommend this book.

This is the first book in the series that I have read. I purchased it at an airport bookstore. It is a quick read. It was for all intents and purposes, reading an episode. The good thing about READING the stories is that you get more insight into what the major characters from the show are thinking, you get more in-depth. The crimes are quite believable, the major and secondary, characters are developed enough so as not to be transparent, and the plot moves quickly. This is light reading, not much thinking involved. What you see is what you get. I wll read more from this series. You should also.