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Patricia Cornwell


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You're right there ... Dexter could certainly teach him thing or two! :D

 

(Is it me or is Dexter popping up everywhere? :lol: )

 

He certainly is. But that's just good, it'll raise the awareness. Everyone needs to know about Dexter!:lol:

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I'm one of those ones who has stopped reading Patricia Cornwell's books. They, IMO anyway, are horrible now. I stopped reading them, funny enough, after the same one Raven mentioned, where there was that helicopter chase. When I was home in Canada last summer I did pick up blowfly, which my Mom had recently finished reading, but I really had to force myself to read it all & I actually skimmed over a lot of it. I'd take Kathy Reichs any day over Patricia Cornwell.

 

**I agree with all of the points raised with ref to Darling Dexter! :lol: **

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I actually really enjoy Patricia Cornwell - her Scarpetta and the 2 books she's done so far in the Win Garranno series (At Risk and The Front). The latter series is actually written in quite a different way to her Scarpetta series. I can't really put my finger on (or properly explain) how they're different, but they are. It's the wording and the way she explains things. I don't know, maybe it was just the way I was reading them.

 

I've also got the Ripper book by Patricia Cornwell and I really enjoyed it. Her theory and a lot of her research was panned by die-hard Ripper experts as they considered it to be largely flawed, but I've actually read quite a few books about the Ripper - not just what he did, but the psychology behind it, the theories etc, and to be honest, I thought her book was good. She was thorough, clear and concise in explaining how she came up with her theories and I could clearly see what she was saying.

 

Ultimately, no one knows who the Ripper was (as it stands) so I don't think it was necessary for her to be panned the way she was over the book. Worth a read in my opinion.

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  • 5 months later...
Just wondering, but why is this thread in Horror / Supernatural / Fantasy / Sci-Fi and not in Crime?

 

That is a very good question!

 

Now it is! :lol:

 

 

I have finished At Risk, (Win Garano Series) and in my opinion it is a far cry from what I expected. I was quite disappointed - cannot find much positive things to say about it really. :D

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Aaah, only last night I was looking through the crime section thinking "Surely Cornwell deserves at least a mention..." and here it is, thanks Maureen for moving it over and thus "bumping" it :irked:

 

Personally the only Cornwell novels (and I have read them all) which I thoroughly enjoyed were the Scarpetta ones, and even some of the latest Scarpetta novels leave something to be desired.

 

The first 7 or 8 were fantastic though. I couldn't put them down. If anyone asked me whether Cornwell was worth the read, I would definitely recommend the earlier Scarpetta books.

 

Thanks again Maureen!

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I'm one of those ones who has stopped reading Patricia Cornwell's books. They, IMO anyway, are horrible now. I stopped reading them, funny enough, after the same one Raven mentioned, where there was that helicopter chase. When I was home in Canada last summer I did pick up blowfly, which my Mom had recently finished reading, but I really had to force myself to read it all & I actually skimmed over a lot of it. I'd take Kathy Reichs any day over Patricia Cornwell.

 

**I agree with all of the points raised with ref to Darling Dexter! :irked: **

 

I'm with you on this one- Cornwell has always been quite formulaic and I'm afraid Reichs is going the same way. Can definitely recommend Kathryn Fox who also writes about a forensic physician- start with 'Malicious Intent' and see what I mean!

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I'm with you on this one- Cornwell has always been quite formulaic and I'm afraid Reichs is going the same way. Can definitely recommend Kathryn Fox who also writes about a forensic physician- start with 'Malicious Intent' and see what I mean!

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I will check her out!

 

***Edit*** I just went and looked up the book and I nearly picked it up from the library until I found the dexter book! :irked: I will pick it up tomorrow.

 

 

Thanks again

 

CW

Edited by catwoman
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Thanks for the recommendation. I will check her out!

 

***Edit*** I just went and looked up the book and I nearly picked it up from the library until I found the dexter book! :D I will pick it up tomorrow.

 

 

Thanks again

 

CW

 

I'm very easily distracted by the promise of a new Dexter as well! Hope you enjoy Fox...

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I'm supposed to be on a book buying ban for at least a month - if I end up getting these I'll have bought 11 books since Saturday :D :mrgreen: Still, I suppose was going to get them sooner or later anyway!

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I bought these a while back, as when I read them I rented from the Library and so don't actually own any of the series, and the books are so pretty and mega cheap! My only gripe would be that they're books from the middle of the series rather than the beginning, but still, can't complain for
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  • 1 month later...
I just read/reviewed The Front, my first ever from Patricia Cornwell. Not at all what I expected... seemed under-done to me...

 

Booklover Book Reviews

 

 

I would say don't be disheartened by this one book. Cornwell's first few novels were fantastic. Try the Scarpetta series, beginning with Post Mortem. Just stop after about the ninth one, as IMHO that's about where the story started to unravel because the characters got older etc. Usually I find that that's where an author needs to leave a series. Once the characters develop to a certain point, there's not much left to be written about them, and the subsequent novels can feel "drawn-out".

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I would say don't be disheartened by this one book. Cornwell's first few novels were fantastic. Try the Scarpetta series, beginning with Post Mortem. Just stop after about the ninth one, as IMHO that's about where the story started to unravel because the characters got older etc. Usually I find that that's where an author needs to leave a series. Once the characters develop to a certain point, there's not much left to be written about them, and the subsequent novels can feel "drawn-out".

I completely agree with bringing it all to a halt after book 9, because I felt the writing got pretty strange and uncomfortable. I found the originally well depicted central characters suddenly became strangers to me, and were being milked as caricatures of themselves, rather than explored as individuals.

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I completely agree with bringing it all to a halt after book 9, because I felt the writing got pretty strange and uncomfortable. I found the originally well depicted central characters suddenly became strangers to me, and were being milked as caricatures of themselves, rather than explored as individuals.

 

 

 

And the whole thing with Benton and Kay became completely absurd

 

don't you think Chrissy?!

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And the whole thing with Benton and Kay became completely absurd

 

don't you think Chrissy?!

I was uncomfortable with the changes she wrought in all of her characters.

 

Lucy became a killing machine and then seemed to become quite tacky and shallow in her choice of friend and mate, it was all about her wealth.

Marino regressed to neanderthal being, all booze, bikes and testosterone.

 

And a big question for me was why were Lucy and Marino included in the plans for the fake death of Benton? I just felt that this was decided after the event, and that Benton was supposed to stay dead, but P.C. changed her mind.

 

 

If her earlier writing had not been so very good I wouldn't care, but I feel affronted by what I see as a disintergration of a fabulous and taut series, that rightly won many awards.

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Nail on the head Chrissy.

 

I must admit that I haven't read, nor will read, the latest few books, as following what you've mentioned I feel they can be nothing more than a waste of my time.

 

And believe it or not, it does hurt that I can say that, as I used to be such an avid fan.

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