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Scarpetta [Paperback]

Patricia Cornwell (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (366 customer reviews)

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Frequently Bought Together

Scarpetta + The Scarpetta Factor + Book of the Dead (Kay Scarpetta, No. 15)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of bestseller Cornwell's plodding 16th thriller to feature Dr. Kay Scarpetta (after Book of the Dead), the forensic pathologist—who recently relocated to Belmont, Mass., with her forensic psychologist husband—is called to Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital for reasons that don't become clear until she gets there. Oscar Bane, who voluntarily committed himself to Bellevue while denying he brutally murdered his girlfriend, refuses to speak to anyone except the high-profile Scarpetta. Bane, Scarpetta discovers, is obsessed with her. Meanwhile, someone masquerading as Scarpetta is lurking in cyberspace and supplying an online gossip site with dirty secrets about the doctor. For help on the murder case, Scarpetta turns to her computer whiz niece and a macho former colleague whose shocking actions in Book of the Dead severely damaged his relationship with Scarpetta. With a plot full of holes and frustrating red herrings, this entry falls short of the high standard set by earlier volumes in this iconic series. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Critics agreed that readers familiar with Cornwell's series will find Scarpetta a weak addition; novice audiences will certainly want to skip over this one and start with Postmortem (1990), Cornwell's award-winning debut. Although Scarpetta is not one of the better entries to date, the thriller contains Cornwell's meticulous attention to detail (from autopsies to investigations) and edge-of-your-seat plotting. However, reviewers cited too much backstory, overly complex twists, and only mediocre characterization. The Rocky Mountain Newseven accused Scarpetta of becoming "something of a cipher," while the Guardianfound nothing to like at all. The bright spot? A thrilling, unpredictable ending.
Copyright 2009 Bookmarks Publishing LLC --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 592 pages
  • Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (August 25, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0425230163
  • ISBN-13: 978-0425230169
  • Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (366 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #9,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
    #8 in  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Cornwell, Patricia
    #27 in  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Medical

More About the Author

Patricia Cornwell
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70% buy the item featured on this page:
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$10.78

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Customer Reviews

366 Reviews
5 star:
 (144)
4 star:
 (45)
3 star:
 (34)
2 star:
 (47)
1 star:
 (96)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (366 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Too long and too disjointed, January 29, 2009
I just could not get into this book. As many of you have said, I used to be a big Kay Scarpetta fan, but this one might have been the last straw. Way too much personal stuff clogged up the plot line. I really felt as if I had missed one or more previous books because I couldn't follow things. I dredged through this book. It might have ruined me for future Scarpetta books forever.
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93 of 110 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Patricia Cornwell should be ashamed, February 3, 2009
By K. Grimes "Karen Grimes" (North Providence, RI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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I have always been a big fan of Patricia Cornwell, and have read all of her books. I was so excited when Scarpetta came out--I ordered it immediately. What a disappointment!!! I'm sure she is laughing all the way to the bank, but I have to say--if this was the first novel I'd ever picked up by Cornwell, it would be the last. It was initially boring, but I kept figuring it would get better. I managed to actually finish it after putting it down several times. Boring, boring, boring. What happened to the old Patricia?? Her first books were her best books. Now it's just blah blah blah, and very pretentious. The best character is Marino. Scarpetta has always been a snob, and frankly, I'm tired of her.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars DOA, February 12, 2009
By N. King (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
All of a sudden, Scarpetta has gone from what seems to be a struggling, independent pathology "consultant" in South Carolina, bereft of an official position and attacked by Gorilla Marino, to a highly successful, MARRIED, Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner, CNN reporter, and - oh, yes - professor at CUNY (yes, there is such a place as John Jay College of Criminal Justice, in case anyone cares). All in the course of less than a year! Is there an installment I missed?

Frankly, I found this book deadly dull. After 135 pages (out of almost 600!), I still didn't know what was going on. I knew who the serial killer was from the moment he walked onto the page, and I have frankly grown extremely tired of Cornwell's dropping every acronym out there (and, of course, explaining what it means to all and sundry - who in heaven's name doesn't know what an ISP is at this point?), even though it breaks up the flow of her writing and has nothing to do with the plot line or story.

Scarpetta's (and Cornwell's) moral rectitude verges on the santimonious, Lucy is as unsympathetic a character as ever, Benton remains a self-conscious jerk, the novel's other chracters are not well fleshed-out as unique individuals. Only Marino is once again quasi-interesting.

Why did I finish this book? Well, the library lends books for three weeks! And it took me nearly that long to finally slam it shut. I guess I keep hoping that her novels will rise to her early writing again (I don't agree with some other reviewers that she's anywhere near her early best). But at some point, disappointment will trump curiosity.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars just pass it by
This was my first introduction to Patricia Cornwell, and it will be my last. Amateur, amateur effort; too much emphasis on sappy little back stories. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Pastells

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst I have read so far
I see favorable revues for so much detail, unfortunately the detail dances around the thin plot like the weavings of a May pole. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Patricia Broley

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I'm an avid Scarpetta fan, barely able to put down each book in the series until it was finished, but this book was L-O-N-G and boring. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Brenda W. Ayerdis

4.0 out of 5 stars RESURRECTION
A must read for Scarpetta fans! This is Scarpetta (and Cornwell) at her very best, and it has been a long time coming! Read more
Published 2 months ago by W. Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars A more mature Cornwell
What good is a mystery if the author has to hold your hand and take you from clue to clue and point out the obvious and not-so-obvious? Read more
Published 3 months ago by P. Martin

2.0 out of 5 stars Yawn
Having a very hard time getting excited about this particular book even though I love Scarpetta. I have read 14 other books in the meantime. Not good.
Published 3 months ago by Christina Hart

1.0 out of 5 stars It spectacularly fails my litmus test for mysteries...
The mystery/ suspense genre is one of my favorites in the realms of both fiction and film/TV. The first litmus test I apply to this kind of entertainment is: was I able to... Read more
Published 3 months ago by kcbranaghsgirl

1.0 out of 5 stars When is something going to start happening?
There's a spot in the lobby of my building where residents leave books and magazines they've finished with, and someone recently left "Scarpetta" there. Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. Petrica

1.0 out of 5 stars I wanted a quick thriller, and I got a dud.
This is the worst Patricia Cornwell book to date. Not only are the characters full of self-importance while lacking the life that's been expressed in previous Cornwell books, but... Read more
Published 3 months ago by HCS

4.0 out of 5 stars Go figure
About a year has passed since her nightmarish encounter with buddy Pete Marino, and Kay Scarpetta has relocated to Boston and NYC with her new husband, Benton Wesley. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Linda

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