Chaos

This follows directly on from the previous book, Depraved Heart, and I have to wonder if the books in this series can be read independently anymore. Certainly I didn’t read the first few books of the Scarpetta series in order originally, much as I didn’t for both Sue Grafton’s Alphabet series (despite the titles; yes, I know) or Sara Paretsky’s VI Warsawski novels – both of which, incidentally, I recommend more than I do Cornwell’s Scarpetta series. My point being the early Scarpetta novels were pretty much self-contained, but now they form trilogies and short series within the larger series, and Chaos is definitely a sequel to Depraved Heart, which itself continues on from Flesh and Blood. Chaos at least seems to be the end show more of it as psycho-genius Carrie Grethen is captured and committed to a secure psychiatric hospital by the end of the novel. And if that constitutes a spoiler, you’ve not been reading this series very long…

The road from chapter one to the end in Chaos is not all that different to the preceding books in this series within a series. There were, however, a couple of changes I hadn’t seen coming (and which may have been spoiled by the recent TV adaptation). Once again, the novel is structured around a murder which presents contradictory evidence. A young woman, whom Scarpetta had spoken to earlier that day, is found dead on a path in a park by the Harvard campus. She was on her bike, but has been thrown from it, and the cause of death is almost impossible to determine.

Meanwhile, Benson and Lucy are aware of events happening elsewhere in Boston, but keep Scarpetta in the dark. Scarpetta’s sister, Dorothy, the flaky children’s author, is flying up for a visit, and it seems she and Marino became “very good friends” in Miami during the events of Flesh and Blood. Most of Chaos takes place at the murder crime scene – the location, and the heat wave affecting Boston, have complicated the investigation.

Of course, Grethen is the murderer, and Scarpetta spends much of Chaos speculating how she might be involved, despite being entirely off-stage for the entire narrative. Benson’s and Lucy’s secretiveness seems less justified here than in earlier novels, and in places it feels like Cornwell was more interested in describing how uncomfortable Scarpetta finds the heatwave than in actually solving a murder.

Chaos is a quick read, and feels somewhat unsatisfying. The murder is solved, and further horrors are avoided, but it all seems weirdly secondhand, given that Grethen never makes an actual appearance. On the one hand, I like that Cornwell is focusing on Scarpetta much more intensely; on the other, keeping her in the dark for much of the novel is getting a little wearying. There’s third-person omniscient POV, and there’s tightly-coupled first-person POV, but having other members of the cast expressly not reveal information to the narrator for plot reasons…

Five books to go – assuming Cornwell doesn’t publish another before I reach the end, and she probably will. The next book in the series is Autopsy, which was adapted for the contemporary narrative strand in the recent TV series. It will be interesting to see what changed with the move to the screen. show less

This is the latest Kay Scarpetta story. In this book, Kay is living in Boston with her husband, Benton, and is still working as a medical examiner. She is getting ready for a visit from her sister, Dorothy, and dreading spending time with a person who has not had much time for her in the past. She is out to dinner with her husband when she learns that a dead body has been found in a near by park by two 14 year old twin girls. Unsure if it is an accident or foul play, Kay is called to the scene to uncover what happened. She and her long time friend and police confidant, Pete Marino, secure the scene and try to piece together what happened to this young girl who seems to have hit a light pole with her bike and died.

Meanwhile, her husband show more and Marino received suspicious fake phone calls from Interpool about the case. These calls don't make sense, and soon Kay, Marino and Benton realize they are dealing with foul play. And they think it is from someone who has caused them harm in the past.

I was very disappointed in this book. As a long time Patricia Cornwell and Kay Scarpetta fan, I am always excited when a new novel comes out. I should have read the Amazon reviews and avoided this one. For the last several books Cornwell has written about Kay Scarpetta, I have become increasingly weary. Patricia writes her characters so rich and so fantastical these days, they it just makes me roll my eyes and hate the characters. Half of it isn't even realistic. Kay has everything at her disposal - you name it, she can get it. Her niece, Lucy, is a super genius who owns several cars, planes, helicopters.....who cares! Patricia spends more time writing about the names of their cars and suped up vehicles more than the case itself. IT took almost 200 pages before she even got to the crime. Kay Scarpetta has become so self absorbed and arrogant, I just couldn't stand her by the end of this book.

I am sad that this book was such a disappointment. I think I am done with this series. Cornwell WAS an excellent writer - back at the beginning of this series. show less

Interestingly, to me at least, I finished Book #24 for the Alex Cross and Kay Scarpetta series within a matter of days of each other. While I am forced to reiterate my ongoing diatribe about Cornwell's love affair with her own characters, most especially the evil and vindictive Carrie Grethen, and for spending WAY TOO MUCH TIME rehashing the backstories of all the series' characters, I liked this book much better than her last one. Unfortunately, the murder mystery does not even start until 20% into the book, at which point, some reviewers had already given up. The basic mystery was good though, including the international intrigue, even though the nature of the murder weapon was overly obvious, even if the delivery was unorthodox.

I was a non-reader in school, probably because some of the books I would be forced to read didn’t interest me at all. I started reading the Kay Scarpetta series in my early 20s and truly loved them. Patricia Cornwell is one of the authors that brought out my love of reading as a young adult – I read the 1st 10 books in the series as soon as they were released. She is the reason that while on road trips, if I’m not driving, I’ll keep an eye on the side of the road for dead bodies. Sad, but true. And every time I drive down 64 in VA on my way to/from the beach, I think of her as I drive by a certain rest area that was in one of her books. As my love of reading grew, so did the variety of books I would read so unfortunately I show more haven’t been able to read all of the recent Dr Scarpetta cases. That didn’t stop me from enjoying this most recent one. I didn’t have all the background information as those who have read all the recent books, but that’s OK. I loved it anyway. I think people would enjoy it more if they’ve been reading some or all of the series, but it can also be a stand alone book.

In this case, a young bicyclist is found dead on the side of a trail in a city park. The body, helmet, and bicycle locations don’t add up and neither do the injuries at first glance. Was it an accident or was she attacked? Earlier that same day, an odd 911 call is received complaining about Dr. Scarpetta plus Det Marino receives an odd phone call as well causing even more confusion. And to add more anxiety to her day, her estranged sister is coming into town from Florida. It’s a whirlwind of a day for Dr. Scarpetta.

Thank you to Sullivan and Partners for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review. And thank you to Patricia Cornwell for bringing out my love of reading 20 years ago. I might not have become the avid reader I am today if it weren’t for your novels. show less

Boring superfluous excessively wordy too full of herself and frankly I am really disappointed. This was 385 pages that could have been an effective 225 page interesting story. I use to get excited when there was a new Patricia Cornwell novel. She could write not just good stories but good characters we could get to know; nothing cardboard about them. Her stories gave feelings and emotions and her setting descriptions were so very good.

The last few novels I liked but her stories were too full of herself, pretentious; her descriptions of some of the least important things began to overwhelm the very essence of the story. What she used to be able to do succinctly became of jumbled mess of words that stole from solid story writing. Believe show more me, Patricia Cornwell I do not need to know Kay's every thought or emotion; I know she is a complex intelligent person who has lived a very interesting life.

To say the least I am giving this two stars (one and a half would be kind) out of respect for the fact that Patricia Cornwell gave me years of enjoyment with her early writings and I respect her ability to describe a scene as few others can. In this particular story she spent pages providing infinite detail of minor details and filled empty space with Kay thinking about details that had little or minor baring on the story. I simply cannot express how disappointed in what has happened to one of my favorite authors.

This is autographed first edition so I will keep it but, and I hate to say this, this is the last Patricia Cornwell novel I will purchase. I am disappointed that Patricia Cornwell is not a future read any more. show less

Perhaps it was the narrator’s voice and not the plot but I found myself often feeling annoyed by this book. Too much repetition of past events, character traits etc, too slow-moving, and Kay Scarpetta’s seemingly constant self-doubt and second guessing. On the other hand the concluding chapter reveals a significant and previously unrevealed detail about a character.

I find myself in an ambivalent relationship with Ms Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta suspense novels. This one tended more toward the hate end of the spectrum. "Why am I still reading this book that isn't going anywhere,' I asked myself as I kept turning the pages.