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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I gotta admit, reading a book whose mystery villain was spreading a mutated virus during the 2020 COVID pandemic was a little surreal. Totally different kind of virus but still surreal. Great book though!
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta has two current problems: the latest case of a headless/limbless torso found at a landfill site in Virginia, & her relationship with Benton Wesley. The torso is similar to five cases in Ireland, plus four in the US but are they related cases? Scarpetta is sent disturbing emails from an anonymous source calling themselves 'deadoc' with photographs of the Virginia torso at the kill site. During the investigation Scarpetta is exposed to smallpox, a disease eradicated in the wild but still kept at some secure locations, & the CDC & a military germ warfare task force get involved. Scarpetta is put in quarantine & tries to lure deadoc into conversation online so the FBI can track them down. By the time Scarpetta is out of quarantine, it seems the killer has tried to create a smallpox epidemic on Tangier Island, but one death hits closer to home.
This was an ok but not great read. Scarpetta was at her most annoying at times, especially after starting to feel sick with an unknown illness. Did she put herself back into quarantine? Did she heck! She was taking taxis, flying on planes, & generally being a possible one-woman germ disseminator. Fair enough she is a medical doctor & said she knew she wasn't contagious, but this was not the run-of-the-mill smallpox.
She was also pretty awful to Benton at times. His wife left him for another man following Benton's affair with Scarpetta, & Benton now wants to marry Scarpetta - whose reaction is to make herself suddenly unavailable. Even Marino was feeling sorry for the guy! There were one or two things that weren't cleared up by the end - were the Ireland cases related to the other torsos? Was Keith Pleasants bailed at the earliest opportunity?
This was an ok but not great read. Scarpetta was at her most annoying at times, especially after starting to feel sick with an unknown illness. Did she put herself back into quarantine? Did she heck! She was taking taxis, flying on planes, & generally being a possible one-woman germ disseminator. Fair enough she is a medical doctor & said she knew she wasn't contagious, but this was not the run-of-the-mill smallpox.
She was also pretty awful to Benton at times. His wife left him for another man following Benton's affair with Scarpetta, & Benton now wants to marry Scarpetta - whose reaction is to make herself suddenly unavailable. Even Marino was feeling sorry for the guy! There were one or two things that weren't cleared up by the end - were the Ireland cases related to the other torsos? Was Keith Pleasants bailed at the earliest opportunity?
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm liking the characters less and the plot wasn't exactly enthralling.
9/10
A tight mystery, and at least some of Scarpetta’s personal life has cleared up by the end, albeit with a few ongoing loose threads that will carry on into subsequent books.
A tight mystery, and at least some of Scarpetta’s personal life has cleared up by the end, albeit with a few ongoing loose threads that will carry on into subsequent books.
Just finished this one today. I was already about halfway into it before I put it down to read a few other things so I decided to pick it back up again for a reading challenge. It was fine. Parts dragged because always with Cornwell’s books there is going to be some dragging, in my opinion. The story was fine, kept me guessing. I wouldn’t say that any of it was a complete mind blower, but it was fine.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No