Cruel and Unusual: A Kay Scarpetta Novel

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It's a hit!

Loved it. I am vaguely interested in forensics and as such it held my attention pretty well.

From School Library Journal
YA-In this fourth Kay S... (show more)

Loved it. I am vaguely interested in forensics and as such it held my attention pretty well.

From School Library Journal
YA-In this fourth Kay Scarpetta mystery, the chief medical examiner for the state of Virginia is once again challenged by gruesome murder and confusing evidence. How could the fingerprints of Ronnie Joe Waddell appear at the scene of a murdered psychic after Waddell was executed in the electric chair? In the midst of many puzzling matters come other difficult issues to confront Kay as she tries to do her job. She becomes the object of hysterical media attention, and finds that she herself might be indicted for the very crimes she is trying to solve. Someone is sabotaging her efforts by hacking into her computer files and leaking information. Exasperated, she calls upon her niece, Lucy, a 17-year-old computer whiz, whom readers will remember from earlier "Scarpetta" novels. Along with FBI agent Benton Wesley and police chum Pete Marino, Lucy helps Kay solve the murders and ferret out the traitor in her office. YAs will enjoy the teen's angst and the exciting twist at the book's end. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook User

No, it's a flop!

I hate to say this but i DID NOT like this book at all. I couldn't get into it, and was disappointed it took me 12 days to finish it. I guess one... (show more)

I hate to say this but i DID NOT like this book at all. I couldn't get into it, and was disappointed it took me 12 days to finish it. I guess one has to be interested in the down and dirty of forensics to really appreciate all the lingo. I found it vey slow in the begining and the end was OK. I'm not recommending it - nor am I going to read it again. (show less)

 

 

by Jennifer Verley-Mitchell

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  In this, her fourth Scarpetta book, Patricia Cornwell finally begins to show us just what she is capable of as a writer. While her first book, "Postmortem", had an excellent story, it suffered from some poor writing and an apparent need by Cornwell to show off how much she knows. Her writing was greatly improved in her second book, "Body of Evidence", and continued to improve in her third, "All That Remains", but the stories in both of those failed to live up to ... (show more)

  In this, her fourth Scarpetta book, Patricia Cornwell finally begins to show us just what she is capable of as a writer. While her first book, "Postmortem", had an excellent story, it suffered from some poor writing and an apparent need by Cornwell to show off how much she knows. Her writing was greatly improved in her second book, "Body of Evidence", and continued to improve in her third, "All That Remains", but the stories in both of those failed to live up to the excitement and promise of "Postmortem". While the story in "Cruel and Unusual" is still not as good as the first one, it is much better than in the second and third Scarpetta books and her writing has continued to improve. There was no dead space in the middle of the book, causing my interest to lag, as there was in both "Body" and "Remains". My only real complaints with this book, which kept me from giving it a higher rating, were the repetition of events that she had used in her first book (someone breaking into her office computers, bringing her teen-aged niece in as the only one who could solve those break-ins, and the conpiracy of high ranking officials trying to discredit Scarpetta) and a rather soft ending that didn't quite live up to everything that came before it. It also highlighted a problem that Cornwell has had in all of her Scarpetta books to this point: her seeming inability to fuse the different sides of Scarpetta into one, complete whole of a character. We either have Scarpetta the tough, hard-nosed, no-nonsense professional or Scarpetta the sensitive woman trying to deal with her personal fears and crises. There seems to be no meeting of these two sides and almost feels, at times, as if Cornwell is writing about two different characters who have little to nothing to do with each other. In spite of those drawbacks, though, this was still a good read and makes me hopeful that her stories will continue to get better and that her writing won't begin to lag. I look forward to the next book in the series with much anticipation. (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook User on Nov 27, 2009 at 06:07PM

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  The Kay Scarpetta series seems to get better and better with each book, and this was no exception. I enjoyed this murder mystery and the further character development that was evident throughout the novel.

  I especially enjoyed learning that Kay Scarpetta had given up smoking, as I cringed every time she lit up a cigarette in the morgue. I found it interesting to read about the new and emerging forensic techniques used by the characters that we are so familiar with today.

  As well as be... (show more)

  The Kay Scarpetta series seems to get better and better with each book, and this was no exception. I enjoyed this murder mystery and the further character development that was evident throughout the novel.

  I especially enjoyed learning that Kay Scarpetta had given up smoking, as I cringed every time she lit up a cigarette in the morgue. I found it interesting to read about the new and emerging forensic techniques used by the characters that we are so familiar with today.

  As well as being part of a well know series, this is also a stand alone book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes to read crime fiction. (show less)

   

   

  by Tracey Allen on Jul 25, 2009 at 08:37AM

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