This book is a dog and the dog don't hunt. It is so bad I won't leave it at Starbucks for somebody else to pick up and read - straight to the trash it goes!

Ms. Cornwell has written some winners, but this one isn't worth a minute of your time. ( )

Sometimes reading moves from the sublime to the ridiculous. The experience of finishing Steig Larsson's “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and moving on to one of Cornwell's non-Scarpetta books is almost enough to make one despair.

It takes a while to work out what Cornwell is attempting with “Isle of Dogs”. Let's be clear, this is not another police procedural in the manner of the Scarpetta series, just with a different suite of characters. Herein lies the problem. Since “The Last Precinct” Cornwell has clearly been bored by the formula that served he well, the later Scarpetta novels, and the Andy Brazil series show a distinct change of tone, Scarpetta's story taking a profoundly darker turn, and Brazil representing an experiment with magic realism. Having made her reputation with Scarpetta she may well have sought to escape being typecast as just another formulaic crime novelist. As such something like “Isle of Dogs” can be seen as a completely understandable step. The trouble is it doesn't really work.

Read full review at
http://southlondonbook.blogspot.com/2... ( )

Judy Hammer and Trooper Truth solving highway pirate murders. ( )

This is an absolutely terrible book! Cornwell is author of the Kay Scarpetta series (which I highly recommend for readers of this genre - particularly the earlier books in the series). In fact, the Scarpetta books are considered an influence in the development of the fictional, forensic television series (like CSI).However, Isle of Dogs is not part of the Scarpetta series. I couldn't even slog through to the end in audio format. Wincing in embarrassment for the author, I went online to check out the reviews of others who had dared to read the entire book. The reviews were overwhelmingly negative (1-star or less). Here are just a few quotes that express my sentiments: - "It's just stupid," "Waste of money," "a truly bad novel." If this was Cornwell's first novel, it would never have been published. If this is a reader's first encounter with Cornwell's writing, sadly it will most likely be their last. The unabridged CD version is 14 hours long (12 CDs; narrator Michele Hall). I made it to the 5th CD, grumbled at my husband about how incredibly bad it was, packed it up and returned it to the library. At least I did not spend any money on this dog. ( )

I loved the first few Kay Scarpetta books, and although I think the later ones were not as good, I enjoyed them very much.This book is horrid. I could not even finish it. It was THAT bad. ( )