Customer Reviews

Unnatural Exposure (A Scarpetta Novel)

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(61)
3 star:		(45)
2 star:		(46)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

This is a somewhat interesting, Dr. Kay Scarpetta mystery, replete with its usual attention to forensic detail, as well as a myriad of subplots. Though not her best novel, it still manages to entertain the reader.

Once again, Dr. Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner, finds herself on the hunt for a serial killer, when the body of an elderly, dismembered woman is discovered in a Virginia landfill. Moreover, a mutated, high tech, variant small pox virus appears to be on the loose, and Dr. Scarpetta finds herself receiving taunting emails from the alleged killer, signing as "deadoc". Couple all this with an overly ambitious and unscrupulous law enforcement agent named Percy Ring who arrests an obviously innocent man for the elderly woman's death, and the reader has an intriguing mystery to unravel.

Homicide Detective Pete Marino is pivotol to the success of this book. His relationship and repartee with Dr. Scarpetta contribute to many of the book's highlights, and it is he who gives dimension to the book, as he is simply a wonderful, down to earth character. Dr. Scarpetta's relationship with FBI Agent Wesley Benton is less memorable, as he is on the periphery of the story, for the most part, though in the end he provides closure for the torch Dr. Scarpetta was carrying for her ex-lover, Mark.

The only real fly in the ointment, however, is the continued appearance of Dr. Scarpetta's niece, Lucy, who is an obnoxious character. In the real world, Lucy would not be allowed to hold the position of responsibility that she does in the book, due to her compete immaturity. She is a loose cannon waitng to misfire at any moment. It flies in the face of her professionalism that Dr. Scarpetta seems unable to fathom this, but blood is thicker than water.

The ending is somewhat surprising, though in retrospect, the clues are, in fact, there for the reader to discern the identity of the killer. The problem is that the resolution occurs almost too abruptly, as if the author had only a limited number of pages in which to wrap it all up. While the book moves somewhat slowly for the most part, the last few chapters move at lightning speed. A better editing job may have helped make this book into a more cohesive, better written mystery. Still, Kay Scarpetta fans will find something to enjoy in this offering.

I've been a fan of Patricia' Cornwell's books for some time, and this one just not up to her usual level of quality.

The book has a wonderfully interesting idea regarding the MO of the killer, but dissapointingly, this idea along with the character of the killer, is not really developed to the extent that you expect from earlier Cornwell novels.

Most of the book revolves around sub-plots of the relationships between the many characters that have become part of Kay Scarpett's life over the series of Novels. Unfortunately this comes at the expense of the story about the villain and the crimes.

My preference is for the earlier, leaner, Kay Scarpetta books that concentrate on the murder mystery, the science of forensics, and the interplay between Marino and Kay.

Virginia's chief medical examiner, Kay Scarpetta, is trapped in a nightmare of unsolved murders and a pernicious virus in this breathless thriller, where clues are elusive and the killer's threats are hurled through cyberspace.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is newly returned from Dublin, where she was called in to examine the remains of a murder victim whose limbs and head were expertly severed--a signature of a cunning serial killer on the loose again after an eight-year sabbatical--when the same killer apparently strikes again, this time much closer to home to Scarpetta. The remains of a woman are found in a Virginia landfill, her body dismembered in the same expert way as in the Dublin case. After Scarpetta investigates the murder scene, the killer boldly contacts her through the Internet, inviting her to download photos of the murder victim and signing off with a chilling screen name: deadoc.

Scarpetta soon discovers inconsistencies between this new case and the serial murders she has been investigating. With the help of her niece, Lucy, and FBI computer expert, she takes an extraordinary virtual tour of the background of the e-mailed photo. But even as Scarpetta and Lucy probe illuminating details in virtual relaity, local authorities try to wrap up the case by charging the man who discovered the body. When Scarpetta determines that the victim was exposed to a rare smallpox-like virus before she died and, later, that herself may have been infected, she realizes that she is up against a killer with access to an incredible sophisticated arsenal of deadly force--a killer with a specific animus directed toward her.

Packed with unrelieved tension and constant surprises, Unnatural Exposure is the case of Kay Scarpetta's life--and a triumph for Patrica Cornwell.

I loved this book because of the high tension throughout and the attention paid to forensic details. Cornwell is defintely an author who just seems to get better and better.

Great book - entire series is very good. Would definitely recommend for a great mystery read.

I listened to Cornwell's earlier Cause of Death and Unnatural Exposure on tape and Unnatural Exposure is better. ... Cornwell has created a first class nail biter that is flawed because of artificially created tensions, some poor characterizations and inconsistent philosophy.

The mystery/thriller works pretty well on that level. The plot follows Cornwell's heroine Kay Scarpetta initially through a serial killer's dismemberings to a possibly contagious disease outbreak. There are twists and turns although the ultimate outcome is no great shock. Unnatural Exposure follows a standard path although most stories of this ilk have a premature solution that turns out to be false. I.e. the wrong person is arrested or found dead. In this one an innocent person is arrested but the reader knows it's a false arrest from the word go. There is also someone found dead but it's pretty obviously not the guilty party. Along the way we get graphic and gory forensic details of autopsies making the novel unsuitable for reading around mealtime.

There are several problems with the novel aside from the mystery. Cornwell's agenda gets in the way sometimes and she has fillers that detract from the story.

Earlier in the story Scarpetta receives pictures via email that are described as gif files. All the pictures I receive are jpgs. Maybe this is an indication that the novel is becoming dated.

I had a problem with some of the artificially created tensions. In particular, I found it offensive that airport security people would be portrayed as boobs for doing their jobs. Scarpetta shows up at the airport with body parts and hazardous materials and the security people and flight attendants are made to look like fools for questioning her the way they do. It seemed to me that she was the one who deserved the criticism for not notifying them in advance. Scarpetta also keeps quiet long enough to create confrontations instead of diffusing them and she's supposed to be the heroine.

The characters are generally poor. Benton Wesley, her sometime lover, is non-descript. Merino, her friend and sometime foil, has some character. However, her niece Lucy is really obnoxious. Cornwell portrays Lucy as being the victim of discrimination because she's a lesbian. Actually someone this obnoxious is unlikable regardless of sexual orientation.

However, the real holes are in the philosophy that Cornwell puts in. Essentially, she has a new age non-judgmental philosophy which is fine if it's consistent. For instance, she refuses to accept that there might be legitimate principled opposition to some of the views that she holds dear. People with opposing views in Unnatural Exposure are invariably jerks if not crooks. How judgmental is that to portray those with contrary views in a very judgmental light? Another problem that I had is Cornwell's dismissal of Scarpetta's affair with the previously married Wesley. The reader is told that Wesley's colleagues blame her for his marriage's failure when in fact it was Wesley's ex-wife who ran off with another man. Cornwell ignores a number of things. First, whether or not Wesley's ex-wife ran off in no way makes their adulterous affair acceptable. Second, perhaps if Wesley hadn't been fooling around with Scarpetta and had spent more time with his wife then maybe he would have been able to save his marriage. Third, Wesley should have disabused his colleagues about the cause of his failed marriage. Allowing Scarpetta to be viewed as a Jezebel seems inappropriate and inconsiderate given Cornwell's non-judgmental tone. Yet another problem is the penchant for male characters in the novel to approach tears or come to tears under duress. In particular, why does she portray the gay men in this way? If as is obvious in the novel she is trying to portray gay people in a positive light and argue that they are just the same as straight people, why don't the gay men "take it like men?" I really found these logical inconsistencies got in the way of the story. Cornwell would have a better story if she wasn't trying to preach or if she needs to preach then she should be consistent.

Overall it's a good mystery but the non-mystery problems take it down a notch.

I have read all of Cornwall's books and the last two Scarpetta novels have left me disappointed in the finish . When Scarpetta finally lets the reader in on who the germ warfare bad guy is, I had no idea to whom she was referring or when the character had been introduced. The conclusion was disappointing, confusing and gives the reader a sense that Cornwall lost interest in wrapping up the crime/book. From Potters Field ended with the same lackluster, rushed conclusion. In addition to being stilted, the finish seemed a bit preposterous -- without giving the end away, the perpetrator of the crime does not fit the classic psychological profile of someone who would commit such a crime. On a positive note, Cornwall has already set up the plot for her next thriller with an additional crime (albeit one that sounds remarkably like the crime in the recently fabulous competitor's book Deja Dead by Kathy Reich) that goes unsolved in Unnatural Exposure. All in all I give it a B -- entertaining but not compelling.

I had always heard good things about Patricia Cornwell, but this book left me extremely disappointed!

1: the main character Kay Scarpetta - rude, arrogant and seemingly in love with her own vast bastion of talents. Probably the reason why she can't find time for a relationship - no one will ever be like her.

2: the story had more loose ends that a shag pile carpet. The plot was all over the place and ended suddenly as if Cornwell had gotten bored of the story or realised that there was no way she was going to be able to piece it all together in time, so just grasped at available straws (or minor characters) and laid the blame at the characters feet. Even the last scene between the guilty party and Scarpetta was pathetic, the villian just blew her nose and yelled a bit.

3: the book was more concerned with description of processes than entertainment, story development or character interaction.

In my opinion this was a paint-by-numbers version of a crime thriller.

Less thrills, no chills.

Once again Patricia Cornwell does not dissapoint her avid reading fans with "Unnatural Exposure". This is the second time I have read all of her novels except the latest one that just came out in 2005. I turned 50 this year and treated myself to all of her collection in hardback. I have to honestly say she is my favorite writer...hands down. This novel just like any of hers is facinatingly detailed with forensic discoveries about medical examiner, Kay Scarpetta's,fast paced life in her Virginia hometown. Not only do you visualize the crime detail through her writing, you are also treated to a glimpse into her home, and her Italian heritage.

Can't get enough,

Maggie

This was the first Patricia Cornwell book that I've read and I was impressed with her attention to detail. It was a good read, but the ending? Where's the climactic ending? It was as if the author ran out of time and came up with some lame ending just to meet a deadline. After reading the reviews of her other books and I might take a chance and read another one of her books.

Out of desperation I decided to try a Patricia Cornwell novel. After all, she is so frequently a New York Times Bestseller she must be great. How wrong I was. Throughout the novel I was left wondering how all the forensic legwork was going to lead to the killer and the virus. Well, one never finds out how Scarpetta's efforts lead to the killer, but you do find out who the killer is. A miscellaneous character briefly mentionned in the beginning of the novel. The worst thing any author can possibly do is leave the reader with a weak ending. In this case the ending had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the novel.I am puzzled.