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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A weird book to start before and finish after all this COVID-19 began.. #quaratineread
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The eighth book in the Scarpetta series takes place in both Ireland and Virginia. Several murders have taken place in both locations with the same mode of death. The killer in this book is particularly weird, sending bizarre photos and having strange chat room conversations. I would like to note how interesting it is to think about using chat rooms like I did as a teenager, and how far technology has advanced. I appreciate that Patricia Cornwell keeps up with the changing technology and advancements in forensics throughout her series. She is always very well researched and does go into plenty of detail about the processes. We have some interesting communications between main characters in this book, and Inspector Percy Ring who is working this case as well, is very obnoxious...more obnoxious that Marino and Lucy put together, actually.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm really enjoying each successive book in this series and the nostalgia, too - my mom, not unlike Kay Scarpetta, read these when I was growing up (cigarette and a Coke her companions).
Thoughts:
1. There are multiple gay characters with actual personalities (unlike a token queer character) and I'll never get over how progressive this would feel in a modern crime book, much less the '90s.
2. There is yet another chapter on UNIX, which will never stop being funny to me. Also an extended (and correct) description of AOL chat rooms. She manages to be cutting-edge (for the time) on technology without sounding cringy.
3. This is a book about a pandemic and I understand I'm seeing it through a current pandemic lens but WHY ARE SO MANY CHARACTERS WITH SEVERE SYMPTOMS STILL GOING TO WORK AND BREATHING ALL OVER PEOPLE. One character claims to "not be contagious anymore" but no one yet knows what the virus is or what it does??? So you don't know if you aren't contagious??? Also at one point a doctor says they don't want to give a vaccine to the elderly because "then they might get the virus." I kept getting so upset about this??
4. Also why was the author at the time - despite being queer and writing fairly smartly about queer issues in this book - a notable Republican who was pals with Bush Senior? (I think she has since changed allegiances but how can you write so correctly about the AIDS crisis and then be a Republican in the late 80s and 90s. Woof.)
Anyway, in other news, points for the audiobook reader giving the Tangier Island accent a strong go.
Thoughts:
1. There are multiple gay characters with actual personalities (unlike a token queer character) and I'll never get over how progressive this would feel in a modern crime book, much less the '90s.
2. There is yet another chapter on UNIX, which will never stop being funny to me. Also an extended (and correct) description of AOL chat rooms. She manages to be cutting-edge (for the time) on technology without sounding cringy.
3. This is a book about a pandemic and I understand I'm seeing it through a current pandemic lens but WHY ARE SO MANY CHARACTERS WITH SEVERE SYMPTOMS STILL GOING TO WORK AND BREATHING ALL OVER PEOPLE. One character claims to "not be contagious anymore" but no one yet knows what the virus is or what it does??? So you don't know if you aren't contagious??? Also at one point a doctor says they don't want to give a vaccine to the elderly because "then they might get the virus." I kept getting so upset about this??
4. Also why was the author at the time - despite being queer and writing fairly smartly about queer issues in this book - a notable Republican who was pals with Bush Senior? (I think she has since changed allegiances but how can you write so correctly about the AIDS crisis and then be a Republican in the late 80s and 90s. Woof.)
Anyway, in other news, points for the audiobook reader giving the Tangier Island accent a strong go.
I gave it a 0 out of 10, one of the worst books I have read.
Attempted small pox related pandemic by vengeful doc friend. Some factual issues regarding virus lifetime, but interesting and unexpected till the end.
When it was revealed who the bad guy was at the end, I felt kind of lost. Like I was supposed to know who she was more than I did. I never could get really invested in this story.
Did not enjoy this as much as her other novels but thought it was an interesting storyline i.e. a "mutant virus." One criticism is that it took too long for this story to appear and get going... in other words, half the book!!
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No