Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
ANOTHER KAY SCARPETTA MYSTERY..., 10 Mar 2003
This is a somewhat interesting, Dr. Kay Scarpetta mystery, replete with its usual attention to forensic detail, as well as a myriad of subplots, contributing to the tension that is tautly maintained throughout the book. Though not her best novel, this one 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, small pox variant 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 pivotal 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 positions of responsibility that she does in the book, due to her complete 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 lightening 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.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
ANOTHER KAY SCARPETTA MYSTERY..., 1 Jan 2003
This is a somewhat interesting, Dr. Kay Scarpetta mystery, replete with its usual attention to forensic detail, as well as a myriad of subplots, contributing to the tension that is tautly maintained throughout the book. Though not her best novel, this one 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, small pox variant 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 pivotal 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 positions 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 lightening 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.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant from start to finish , 6 Dec 2007
'Unnatural Exposure' is the 8th book in the Kay Scarpetta series and begins when an old murder investigation, where a victims were dismembered and beheaded in Virginia and Ireland, is being looked into again as a new victim is found in a similar condition. As the investigation unfolds, the similarities make it seem less likely to be the same killer. When the next body turns up, Kay is faced with her most deadly enemy yet - a mutant form of the Smallpox virus.
From the start this book is so fast paced and goes straight into the action with Kay staying in Ireland to look into the 10 year old murders. All the usual characters such as Marino, Benton and Lucy return and instead of focussing on Kay's personal life, which let down some of the previous novels a little, Cornwell has put the main focus on the crimes and the investigations. I literally flew through this book as I was just so engrossed in it. The only let down being the very predictable killer (although this does have a very clever twist to it) and the rather rushed ending.
Overall this is one of the best of the Scarpetta books I have read so far (I've been reading them from the start and in order) and also ties up a lot of loose ends from storylines from previous novels. I just look forward to reading the rest of the series now.
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