Good read but arrogant protagonist, 17 Nov 2003

Questions that crept through my mind as I read this book: how come the murderers are always shot/killed by Scarpetta at the end of the book? And Dr. Scarpetta is getting more and more arrogant in her views, putting Marino down through certain sections in the book; Benton Wesley is just like a useless sidekick to her and just the go-between FBI and her. No one is better than her; she has all the answers, and the Chief Medical of Examiner of New York can't hold a candle to her as well. She does not work along with others and thinks she is better than others and have descriptions like "my neighborhood was one of the wealthiest in Richmond" - mentioning her Mercedes car unnecessary, etc.

She is always right while the others who have more experience in solving crimes (basing on their job titles, anyway) are clueless and she points out the obvious all the time.

I'm in the midst of deciding whether to read the next in the series....if the Scarletta (haha) character becomes more arrogant in the next few books, I think I will switch to Temperance.

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Cornwell does it again, and again, and again, and again...., 2 Mar 2002

The book does not start off too well, with the sherrif Santa bit being a bit confusing for the first couple of pages. I didn't like it. And i thought i might be in for a disappointing Cornwellian offering.

My, was i WRONG.

This book is yet another stunner. She has definitely veered away from the cunningness and cleverness which inhabited her first three books. But she more than makes up for it with a chilling plot and one of the most cold and clinical serial killers i have eve read of. Essentially, this is a serial killer novel, and as that it not especially original. But it is nonetheless a good one.

Marino, Benton, Lucy and of course Kay are back again for another great read. Cornwell's writing is sharp and to the point, and keeps the you turning those pages. I can't really put my finger on a reason why, but from the first time i read a Cornwell book i feel in love with the way she writes. It's simply...wonderful. I can't get enough of it. It's no more literate than the next person's, but for some reason i just relish every sentence she writes.

The plot here is sometimes scatty and random (as was Cruel and Unusual) but here, she pulls it off a lot better. I tend not to like books full of random killings, without rhyme or reason (yoo hoo, James Patterson, author of Violets are Blue, i'm talking in particular about you.), but here i really did. The randomness is chilling, and Tenple Gault is a super villain, who curdles the blood. He is just so...hateable. You loathe him absolutely. Especially when you find out how he treats his sister. You just hate him even more. With every part of i wanted him to die, die, die. It is hard to conceieve of anyone so cruel and horrifically terrifying than him. When Scarpetta talks to his parents, it's painful to read, even though it's fiction. It's an extremely moving scene, full of emotion. (As is the entire book.)

This book moves along relentlessly to it's absolutely brilliant conclusion. It is the best conclusion she has penned yet, down in the bowels of the New York subway. Dark and frightening, she really brings over the atmosphere.

I loved this book, as i have loved almost every single Scarpetta novel so far.

The identity of the first victim should come as a real shock.

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