Customer Reviews

Southern Cross

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

 

 

This book was just so silly. I was very displeased with this latest effort. I thought the women were silly and the men sillier. The whole cat and mouse with Andy and Viriginia was just boring. All of the men were silly and weak. The women were sad and lonely. I just didn't like this at all. I only read it in hopes that it would get better. If this had been the first novel by Cornwell that I read, I would not be going back for more. I have read all of her works and this is by far the worst.

I have read many of Patricia Cornwell's books, and have thoroughly enjoyed them all -- until now. Honestly, my impression of this book is that Ms. Cornwell had a publisher deadline to meet and had absolutely nothing to submit, so she threw this together. The first 3 or 4 chapters should have been a good indication to me that I didn't want to finish this book, but being familiar with her other work, I kept forging ahead, waiting for it to get better. It never did. In a review of a John Grisham book, I mentioned his character development was lacking compared to some of his other works. In this Cornwell book, there were no characters, only caricatures. The story line was unimaginative, and the most intelligent actor in the book was Deputy Chief West's CAT!

Animals thinking? Aw, come on. Stereotyped characters and a gothic romance? Patricia Cornwell, shame on you. I've come to expect better writing from you than this.

As almost anyone connected to theatre knows, comedy is the most demanding. Many top comedians make it as serious actors, but few do it the other way around.

Cornwell has not proven herself to be a good comedic writer. I couldn't take more than 44 pages of Southern Cross, before I thought to open up my computer to find out if I was marching to a different drum. I have too many other good authors awaiting me, and at 67, I don't think I should waste time on more of this book. I hope Cornwell gets back to what she does so much better. As a former arts/entertainment writer, I frequently told painters that writers had the good sense to toss bad stuff into the garbage. I guess Cornwell can't (or doesn't want) to do that with stuff nicely stored in her Macintosh.

Patricia Cornwell has recently become one of my favorite authors, with her cover to cover suspense and intrigue, and her in-depth knowledge of the world of forensic medicine. That seemed to be secondary to the endless colloquial dialogue of Bubba, Smoke, Weed and the charming Divinity. Southern Cross went nowhere, and stayed there. The ending did create some excitement; not how it ended, but that it finally did end. However, like some of the addicts about whom she writes, I am looking forward to my next Cornwell fix. Just because you have one bad glass of wine doesn't mean that you're going to give up drinking!

I was very disappointed in this book. I thought the characters were stereotypes and the women were not believable. The romance between West and Brazil is just plain boring. Why don't they communicate? They are both supposed to be intelligent individuals. I think Ms. Cornwell should go back to her excellent books with the forensic pathologist.

Ms. Cornwell's attempt at a humorous book captivated my attention and I stuck with it all the way through. I became interested in the characters and cared about what became of them. Unfortunately, the author doesn't seem to have cared as much as I did. The ending was a jumbled web of tangled loose-ends, without a really satisfying tie-up of plot-lines. Nonetheless, it was worth the read, and I wish she would do it again with more patience and care to the plot, as well.

I liked this book - I finished it in two days. I found the characters both simple and deep, and I could even identify with a few of them. I enjoyed the way that every action my a seemingly minor character was justified by a short profile or history of that character. In addition, the dialogue was lively, and often funny. I liked reading this book. I would read it again. Did I learn anything? Not really - but I got a chance to escape for a few hours, which was my intention in reading it.