Helpful Score: 5
The last two installments in the Scarpetta series gave some hope of improvement back to a series most readers once loved but that had lost it's bite. Unfortunately The Scarpetta Factor is a drawback once again. Although it seems that Cornwell tries to give back some substance to the series characters it just isn't what the reader wants. Those who have read the series right from the beginning will miss Scarpetta's investigations, autopsies and exciting morgue stories.
Instead there is a lot of high tech investigation like GPS, Internet and what not.
Cornwell rehashes a lot of the old junk between Scarpetta and now husband Benton. Why he left her and went undercover etc. . It is good to know but not enough substance to fill a 500 pages book.
I'm not sure if the reader still wants to read about the Chandonne family or wants the remaining part to return at all. The Chandonnes' were a part of Cornwell's books way to often and at one point it just gets stale. At least for my taste.
The personal stuff in each characters life got boring and uninteresting, it distracts from the rather thin main plot.
That being said, you'll still like Scarpetta after reading this book but if it is enough to keep you interested for another 500 pages book is the question to be answered.
Instead there is a lot of high tech investigation like GPS, Internet and what not.
Cornwell rehashes a lot of the old junk between Scarpetta and now husband Benton. Why he left her and went undercover etc. . It is good to know but not enough substance to fill a 500 pages book.
I'm not sure if the reader still wants to read about the Chandonne family or wants the remaining part to return at all. The Chandonnes' were a part of Cornwell's books way to often and at one point it just gets stale. At least for my taste.
The personal stuff in each characters life got boring and uninteresting, it distracts from the rather thin main plot.
That being said, you'll still like Scarpetta after reading this book but if it is enough to keep you interested for another 500 pages book is the question to be answered.
Barbara S. (barbsis) -
Helpful Score: 3
Since Kay Scarpetta left the Virginia Medical Examiner's Office, she has changed and not for the better. Her integrity and honesty was her claim to fame. Now she's on CNN (like Dr. Phil for pete's sake) getting railroaded by the host, having words put in her mouth and feloniously misquoted.
This book centers around a high-society missing person case, a murdered jogger, an old nemesis of Bentons AND an old nemesis of Scarpetta's. There is a lot going on and in between the many investigations - which Kay, Benton, Marino, Lucy and Jamie are all involved in - the relationship between Benton and Marino (never good to start with) has totally deteriorated and the animosity between them really interrupts the storyline. I found myself saying "enough already" and thinking Benton needed to get past his issues with Marino or someone needed to just move on.
If it wasn't Benton and Marino, it was Lucy and Jamie. Something was bothering Lucy throughout the entire book and Jamie (her lover) was oblivious or just ignoring the situation. On a good day Lucy is a brilliant but troubled individual but she was totally out of control.
I enjoyed the various mysteries and how they tied together but all the other BS was annoying and distracting.
This book centers around a high-society missing person case, a murdered jogger, an old nemesis of Bentons AND an old nemesis of Scarpetta's. There is a lot going on and in between the many investigations - which Kay, Benton, Marino, Lucy and Jamie are all involved in - the relationship between Benton and Marino (never good to start with) has totally deteriorated and the animosity between them really interrupts the storyline. I found myself saying "enough already" and thinking Benton needed to get past his issues with Marino or someone needed to just move on.
If it wasn't Benton and Marino, it was Lucy and Jamie. Something was bothering Lucy throughout the entire book and Jamie (her lover) was oblivious or just ignoring the situation. On a good day Lucy is a brilliant but troubled individual but she was totally out of control.
I enjoyed the various mysteries and how they tied together but all the other BS was annoying and distracting.
Helpful Score: 2
Not one of her best books but does answer a lot of questions many readers may want answered. I personally liked being able to make up my own answers. A good read though especially for a true Patricia Cornwell fan.
Brenda R. (bothrootes) reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 207 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Being a Kay Scarpetta fan I couldn't wait to get this book. Boy was I disapointed! I found the book to be overly wordy and focused too much on reviewing past cases. I thought I would never get to the end and am glad to be finished with it.
Scarpetta is wearing a little thin. I've been reading Cornwell since The Body Farm, but I've moved on and there's just so many books and so little time. Regardless, I'll probably follow her through to the end.
Helpful Score: 1
Not her best work. Slow reading. Found it difficult to keep reading.
Great followup to Blow Fly!
It was OK. Not up to her standards.
Faith W. (faithspage) reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 42 more book reviews
Better than Scarpetta! Only read part of it. With that said, considering the size of the book it was a quick read. I miss the old Scarpetta. Not as action packed and suspenseful as her others.
Great book as are all of her books....keep them coming!!!
Melani D. (Sailorslady) reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 50 more book reviews
I swear, each new installment in the Scarpetta series reveals the characters to be even more twisted and depressing than the last. This book to me felt like Cornwell was floundering for a topic so she just rehashed old characters and dredged up old history. As I finished the book, it almost felt to me that she was preparing to wrap up loose ends and finish the series.
I keep picking up the latest book in this series, always in hopes that she'll return to writing the tight plots and intense stories and I keep being disappointed.
I keep picking up the latest book in this series, always in hopes that she'll return to writing the tight plots and intense stories and I keep being disappointed.
Another chapter in the saga - always interesting to catch up
Another disappointment, I am also waiting for the book that keeps me up at night and not just the same writing. I want to be entertained and Cornwell isn't delivering
Rachel C. (RachelACrawford) reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 22 more book reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Complex and absorbing..., August 29, 2010
This review is from: The Scarpetta Factor (Hardcover)
This novel, the seventeenth in the series featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta, is full of the forensic details, cutting edge FBI analysis protocols, and technological advances that Patricia Cornwell is known for writing. The well known and much-loved characters are all together again as they work a complex case that perplexes and engages them in various facets of the investigation. Lucy and New York prosecutor, Jaime Berger, team up as lovers and co-investigators looking for a missing woman, Kay autopsies a jogger who has been dead much longer than witnesses claim she was, Benton faces an old nemesis who ran him out of the FBI years ago, and Marino is investigating different facets of the parallel cases as they coalesce into a surprising climax that brings the team full circle.
The narrative was, at times, a little slow moving and occasionally got bogged down with endless description and the detail that is typical of a Scarpetta novel dealing with the scientific data that helps solve the case. The novel isn't exactly riveting but it was interesting. The characters are almost like family after having read about them for so long -- we know their good points and their demons and accept them for who and what they are, still loving them despite their idiosyncrasies and foibles.
I'll keep reading Patricia Cornwell because she really is the queen of the 'medical examiner novel' authors, and Kay Scarpetta is the model that all the other female pathologist characters has been built on by other writers. I enjoy novels of this nature and look forward to the next installment.
This review is from: The Scarpetta Factor (Hardcover)
This novel, the seventeenth in the series featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta, is full of the forensic details, cutting edge FBI analysis protocols, and technological advances that Patricia Cornwell is known for writing. The well known and much-loved characters are all together again as they work a complex case that perplexes and engages them in various facets of the investigation. Lucy and New York prosecutor, Jaime Berger, team up as lovers and co-investigators looking for a missing woman, Kay autopsies a jogger who has been dead much longer than witnesses claim she was, Benton faces an old nemesis who ran him out of the FBI years ago, and Marino is investigating different facets of the parallel cases as they coalesce into a surprising climax that brings the team full circle.
The narrative was, at times, a little slow moving and occasionally got bogged down with endless description and the detail that is typical of a Scarpetta novel dealing with the scientific data that helps solve the case. The novel isn't exactly riveting but it was interesting. The characters are almost like family after having read about them for so long -- we know their good points and their demons and accept them for who and what they are, still loving them despite their idiosyncrasies and foibles.
I'll keep reading Patricia Cornwell because she really is the queen of the 'medical examiner novel' authors, and Kay Scarpetta is the model that all the other female pathologist characters has been built on by other writers. I enjoy novels of this nature and look forward to the next installment.
BARBARA M. (retiree2b) reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 5 more book reviews
Cornwell's done it again - another great in the Scarpetta series. Kept me up reading after normal bedtime for two nights in a row. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
I kept having to re-read the description of the book to find the plot. It was very slow, way too much history on Scarpetta and Benton. I did not finish the book.
Disappointing. I have read all of the Scarpetta books and expected a lot more from this book. The story line was almost non existent and it was a chore to finish reading it. Of course I'll read the next book in the series when released but wish I had skipped this one as it adds nothing to the series at all
it took me awhile to read this. I read quickly usually....
Karen H. (Rychewoman) reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 10 more book reviews
I love Scarpetts! She is such a strong woman with way too big a heart. She needs to step up for herself a bit more but I love her. She is an example of making it through all sorts of issues and coming out on top. I definitely recommend reading her series.
Debbie R. (2JsmomJCJK) -
Vast improvement over the last Scarpetta book aptly named "Scarpetta." Long book but fairly fast read and the characters are back...none of the self-indulgence that I thought "Scarpetta" was wrought with.
This was the first time I read a Patricia Cornwell book, it certainly won't be the last. This book is part of a series and even though I have not read the other books, I had no trouble following along with the relationships with the other characters.
I found the story to be fast detailed and thorough as we would expect from a medical examiner/forensics book. Yet at the same time the story was well told, interesting and just the right amount of suspense and drama to keep it moving.
Enjoyable and well worth the time.
I found the story to be fast detailed and thorough as we would expect from a medical examiner/forensics book. Yet at the same time the story was well told, interesting and just the right amount of suspense and drama to keep it moving.
Enjoyable and well worth the time.
Marcia M. (nursenice) reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 71 more book reviews
As usual, Scarpetta stores are good, however, in this book there were places where the dialogue seemed to drag. I got so I skipped some. I had the feeling in these places that the author was simply trying to make the book longer. These areas did not seem to enhance the develoment of the characters or story.
Shirley D. (bookattic) -
Another good Kay Scarpetta book that brings back together Kay, Lucy, Benton and Marino. Keeps your attention to the last page. You'll like this one!
Beatrice M. (Nursebmc) reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 10 more book reviews
A good read, as usual with her books.
As always Patricia Cornwell does an exceptional job with Kay Scarpetta and her entourage. If you are a fan of her books this one will not disappoint.
As with all her books; Ms. Cornwell has done it well. Good read.
Lisa B. (wxlisab) - , reviewed The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 17) on + 10 more book reviews
Not her best book. It was a little slow because most of the book's timeline is in a couple of days. The end is good, as usual.
Mostly character study..weak mystery...hastily wrapped up ending. Not her best.
Another great Kay Scarpetta adventure ... what else can you say ... greatly enjoyed this read.
It is the week before Christmas. A tanking economy has prompted Dr. Kay Scarpetta - dispite her busy schedule & her continuing work as the senior forensic analyst for CNN to offer her services pro bono to NYC's office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In no time at all, her increased visibility seems to precipitate a string of unexpected & unsettling events, culminating in an ominous pkg - possibly a bomb - showing up at the front desk of the apt bldg where she & her husband, Benton, live. Soon the apparent threat on Scarpetta's life finds her embroiled in a surreal plot that includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime & the disappearance of a beautiful millionaire w/whom her niece, Lucy seems to have shared a secret past.
