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41st out of 262 books
—
42 voters
The Last Precinct (Kay Scarpetta #11)
by
Patricia Cornwell (Goodreads Author)
A profoundly original book from America’s premier crime novelist! Follow international bestselling author Patricia Cornwell’s latest addition to the Kay Scarpetta series with The Last Precinct. This engrossing piece of fiction is woven through with the extraordinary forensic detail you’ve come to expect from Cornwell, with a palpable sense of fear that keeps readers lookin...more
Published
(first published 2000)
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I found this book very fascinating. I don't really like reading thrillers or horror books or crime books but I enjoy Kay Scarpetta novels a lot. They always have something different in them than the usual crime scenes - they have something different.
This book was once again about one maniac person - it seems to be like that in every Kay Scarpetta book which makes them interesting, the maniacs are always different. This was still a great book because this was strongly linked to some earlier Kay S...more
This book was once again about one maniac person - it seems to be like that in every Kay Scarpetta book which makes them interesting, the maniacs are always different. This was still a great book because this was strongly linked to some earlier Kay S...more
This was a page turner, as have been most of her other books, for me. There definitely is a gruesome and grisly factor because she is a medical examiner and is always dealing with murders and murderers. Many times serial killers. I like this character, Kay Scarpetta, because she is a strong, intelligent woman who is real and flawed. She makes mistakes, as do we all, but she is always able to figure it out in the end. This particular story had many twists and turns that kept you guessing until it...more
For a book where nothing happens this is a riveting read. I suppose no-one is likely to come this book without having read a significant proportion of the previous 10 books in the Scarpetta series and as such basing the novel looking back at previous events is not a problem provided it is well written which it is without a doubt. Also the characters seem a little less abrasive than usual though Marino is perhaps becoming a bit of a caricature. It will be interesting to see where she goes from he...more
Overall - 1/5 : Dog catching its tail again !
Plot - 0/5 : Complicated everything. Continuing from Black Notice-the previous chapter, this book tells nothing, but the dark and gore thoughts of Kay. No logic in the plot. Suddenly kay is a suspect, and everything once again turns around Benton, Marino is doing nothing but just comes and drinks beer, too much unbeleivable emotion, Lucy suddenly is rich...I stop here !
Writting - 4/5 : Still strong in Forsenic and pathologic details.
Heroine - 2/5 : K...more
Plot - 0/5 : Complicated everything. Continuing from Black Notice-the previous chapter, this book tells nothing, but the dark and gore thoughts of Kay. No logic in the plot. Suddenly kay is a suspect, and everything once again turns around Benton, Marino is doing nothing but just comes and drinks beer, too much unbeleivable emotion, Lucy suddenly is rich...I stop here !
Writting - 4/5 : Still strong in Forsenic and pathologic details.
Heroine - 2/5 : K...more
Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, Kay Scarpetta, becomes the victim of the very legal system she works for. When a serial killer attempts to murder her she is caught up in a web of circunstancial evidence that implicates her in murder and complicity in various rather henos crimes.
She is asked to confront what is an all too common reality, that the burden of proof is on the victim to establish that she is not guilty. As we are carefully led through an intricate web of evidence, including a good...more
She is asked to confront what is an all too common reality, that the burden of proof is on the victim to establish that she is not guilty. As we are carefully led through an intricate web of evidence, including a good...more
Oct 06, 2011
Hali Sowle
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kindle,
mystery,
murder,
kay-scarpetta,
patricia-cornwell,
series,
medical-examiner,
forensics
I've been plowing through a re-read of the Kay Scarpetta mysteries over the last month and remembered what I liked and hated about the books. Black Notice was the first "new" read in the series for me and now The Last Precinct, I noticed that reading the books right after each other without any time between them gives you a different perspective on the series. When I first read the books years ago as they came out I was very frustrated with the apparent lack of closure at the end of each book bu...more
In the book preceding this one, Black Notice, I thought that the werewolf serial killer was the creepiest thing ever. In The Last Precinct, the werewolf killer is back, but seems much more pathetic this time. Maybe because we get to hear him make lengthy speeches. He has lost his mystery.
There are so many double crosses and false identities in this book, that it is hard to keep them all straight. It is also hard to believe all of them. Has Dr. Scarpetta really made so many enemies, that they can...more
There are so many double crosses and false identities in this book, that it is hard to keep them all straight. It is also hard to believe all of them. Has Dr. Scarpetta really made so many enemies, that they can...more
Once again Cornwell delivers an exceptional Scarpetta novel. I often wonder just why it is that I have not read this series book by book rather than just picking one up here and there. She never fails to impress me with her writing and imagination. She creates such life like characters, that you sometimes forget you're reading a work of fiction. Scarpetta, Lucy, Marino, they all jump off the page at you. You find yourself terribly irritated with Marino time after time, you just want to hug Lucy...more
Chief Medical Examiner, Kay Scarpetta, finds herself the object of an investigation into the death of a victim of a man who tried to kill her, the infamous French werewolf. AS he entered her home, Dr. Scarpetta had thrown a chemical into his fact at the end of the last book. This is why she is under investigation. While this is going on, she is relieved of her post. This causes her to re-evaluate her life, and actually helps the reader understand her inner psyche even more. Because of this betra...more
I really do like Patricia Cornwell's books, not only her Kay Scarpetta series (have read only 4 not all), but also her other books about Winston Garano. Her forensic and pathologic details are phenomenal and add a lot of credibility to her stories.
As it pertains to The Last Precinct I felt the plot was complicated from the beginning. I also had a time keeping up with the myriad of characters some of which added little or no value to the story at all.
Off the wall things:
How could ATF/Interpol ha...more
As it pertains to The Last Precinct I felt the plot was complicated from the beginning. I also had a time keeping up with the myriad of characters some of which added little or no value to the story at all.
Off the wall things:
How could ATF/Interpol ha...more
Patricia Cornwell delves into a story, and leaves no stone uncovered. In this installment, Kay Scarpetta deals with the lingering paranoia from the attack by Jean-Baptiste Chandonne. A New York attorney, Jaime Berger, ties Chandonne with a brutal murder in New York. Just when Kay thinks she may rebuild her life, a grand jury investigates Kay's involvement into the death of Diane Bray, believing that Kay committed the murder. As many of Cornwell's novels, this is set during the Christmas season w...more
I'm beginning to wane on this series. Yes, it's well written, but I'm starting to understand this author too well.
1) She desperately needs a sense of humor. I'm realizing her lugubrious writing is putting me into a bad mood.
2) I was wondering why all the man hate so googled the author. As far as I know, lesbians in general don't hate men, but in Patricia Cornwell's case, she centers all her "man hate" into the character of Marino. He guards her entitled life with his own, yet it seems all she do...more
1) She desperately needs a sense of humor. I'm realizing her lugubrious writing is putting me into a bad mood.
2) I was wondering why all the man hate so googled the author. As far as I know, lesbians in general don't hate men, but in Patricia Cornwell's case, she centers all her "man hate" into the character of Marino. He guards her entitled life with his own, yet it seems all she do...more
I've read many books that I thought were great mysteries, but "The Last Precinct" takes the cake. Imagine being pegged as suspect of a murder, helping to solve that same crime; gathering and providing circumstantial evidences to the point that you just know you've nailed the right person and then finding out that you were totally wrong.
Dr. Kay Scarpetta was dragged through the coals, mentally and physically, in this page-turning saga. I became so engrossed in the story that I empathized with her...more
Dr. Kay Scarpetta was dragged through the coals, mentally and physically, in this page-turning saga. I became so engrossed in the story that I empathized with her...more
Mar 06, 2013
LA Carlson
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommended to LA by:
reading entire series
Shelves:
fiction
Kay Scarpetta has all the privileges that come with being a high-profile Medical Examiner. Even when she's in recovery she gets to escape to a gorgeous mansion to speak with a psychologist. This part I found far-fetched; it didn't feel the slightest bit professional. Even if you have a close friendship why would you blur the lines? Scarpetta has been showcased as intelligent, a bit manic and by all accounts very attractive with expensive taste so it comes as a surprise when she implies sexuality...more
Patricia Cornwells schrijfstijl is goed, maar het verhaal van "The Last Precinct" is nogal vermoeiend. Ik geef toe dat ik het voorgaande deel niet gelezen heb, maar een kleine introductie op wat in het voorgaande boek gebeurd is was geen schande geweest. Niet als eerste hoofdstuk trouwens, want het is wel mooi om zo midden "in the action" binnen te vallen. In plaats daarvan wordt tot zeker op 1/3 van het boek steeds terugverwezen naar zaken. Zo voel je je een beetje iemand op een feestje waar vo...more
It was my first exposure to a book by this author.
The plot was interesting and I learned a lot about what it means to be a forensic pathologist. If Bones hasn't taught me some bits.
My favorite character would definitely be Jaime Berger. She was very objective and did her job almost flawlessly, but she still looked out for her friends and colleagues.
The only complaint I have about the book was the pacing. I felt like the "big reveal" wasn't as compelling as it was supposed to be. Then, Dr. Scarpe...more
The plot was interesting and I learned a lot about what it means to be a forensic pathologist. If Bones hasn't taught me some bits.
My favorite character would definitely be Jaime Berger. She was very objective and did her job almost flawlessly, but she still looked out for her friends and colleagues.
The only complaint I have about the book was the pacing. I felt like the "big reveal" wasn't as compelling as it was supposed to be. Then, Dr. Scarpe...more
Picks up where the last one left off, with the arrest of the French serial killer after he tries to kill Scarpetta. Talk about a book full of paranoia! EVERYONE seems to be out to get her and her stalwart friends, and even Benton comes back into the story. Ugh. Plus, this was not really resolved: she is up before a grand jury deciding on whether to indict her for the death of Chandonne's last victim--she is alleged to have framed him for it while actually doing in the victim herself. So this arc...more
It was about here that I began to lose interest in this series, started to not care what happened to the characters, started to find them tedious and annoying. Frankly, I think by this point in her career, Cornwell was suffering from what a friend calls, "Stephen King Syndrome."--cranking out all sorts of junk and knowing it will sell like ice cream in July simply because she is Pat Cornwell. I gave her a few chances to redeem herself, but Predator was the last straw.
Sorry, Pat, I won't be readi...more
Sorry, Pat, I won't be readi...more
I overdosed on these books. Kay annoys me. She is always pouring another glass of wine as she muses about her friend being an alcoholic. The situations get sillier and less likely as the books continue. The flip side of Stephanie Plum? (Let's do the exact same thing as the last book but it will be just a little worse and the heroine will have all the same quandaries and never learn a lesson from her life.)
But I did love them at the beginning. I suspect if I had started in the middle, I would ha...more
But I did love them at the beginning. I suspect if I had started in the middle, I would ha...more
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.
I do really like Patricia COrnwell's Kay Scarpetta books.
But I've decided the Jay Talley character is a cheap device she has created in order to allow for certain outrageous plot turns.
How could such a guy get accepted by the ATF and Interpol when really he's a Chandonne, which is a major French crime family.
Though Scarpetta regrets her impetuous one-night stand with the handsome Talley, I think it's the author who should feel trashy.
The action in this book happens to follow...more
I do really like Patricia COrnwell's Kay Scarpetta books.
But I've decided the Jay Talley character is a cheap device she has created in order to allow for certain outrageous plot turns.
How could such a guy get accepted by the ATF and Interpol when really he's a Chandonne, which is a major French crime family.
Though Scarpetta regrets her impetuous one-night stand with the handsome Talley, I think it's the author who should feel trashy.
The action in this book happens to follow...more
This is a Scarpetta novel and is written in the first person, predating her change to the third. I found it less satisfactory than some of the others. There is a great deal of talk relative to the action, and while the talk is always competent I don’t find all of it interesting. Though referred to often, the perpetrator remains a shadowy figure. Niece Lucy and her friend, who have set up a business called The Last Precinct, remain in the background and are mainly useful for providing moral suppo...more
ETA: I spoiler for the end at the end (for good reason).
THIS IS THE LAST ONE, I won't read Southern Cross for at least a year, and this is the last one I had bought way back than. Sadly it's also 120+ pages longer, without narrowing of text or white pages, and already on the second one dear Kay proclaims that she could handle crashed planes but nobody could handle her death, and then how that giant ugly Marino lusts after her in her bedroom he's never been in (except he saved her life in her bed...more
THIS IS THE LAST ONE, I won't read Southern Cross for at least a year, and this is the last one I had bought way back than. Sadly it's also 120+ pages longer, without narrowing of text or white pages, and already on the second one dear Kay proclaims that she could handle crashed planes but nobody could handle her death, and then how that giant ugly Marino lusts after her in her bedroom he's never been in (except he saved her life in her bed...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Ok, I'm annoyed because I wrote a review, the the GR site went down for service while I was typing and my review is gone. So this is the lazy version which means mostly spoilers, sorry.
What I can say is that this book starts immediately after the last one, with only a 12 hour turn around. I think this books is a bit tedious. I'm really tired of Kay mourning Benton. I cant believe how many chapters that Jean-Baptiste Chardonne interview went on. I can't believe how much time we spent talking abou...more
What I can say is that this book starts immediately after the last one, with only a 12 hour turn around. I think this books is a bit tedious. I'm really tired of Kay mourning Benton. I cant believe how many chapters that Jean-Baptiste Chardonne interview went on. I can't believe how much time we spent talking abou...more
This book starts out fast but at times it dragged in places. Overall, I liked the book. Drop the couple slow parts and it is a very fascinating story without giving any spoiler info. Unfortunately, I did not read this one in chronological order. I read her next book when I realize some important things happened in Scarpetta's life that I did know happened. Actually, pretty crucial events which is when I realized I hadn't read this book. After the first several Scapetta books, one really has to r...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was an incredibly bad book. Even the worst Trixie's are better than this was. Even Twilight written in the first person was better than this in the first person. The only reason why I persevered was to get the background information leading into the next book. That, and I read that this was the only book to be written in this style. She kept using the same words over and over again. And the character didn't even seem like herself. Double ugh.
I enjoyed this whilst being able to see why some others who follow the series did not. There is much less of the forensic solving of a crime and much more about the psychological effects of crime, brutality, violience and being in the public eye. I get the feeling that Ms. Cornwell had by this stage exhausted the potential for Scarpetta whilst existing as Chief Medical Officer of Virginia with any shred of realism. I for one look forward to the next instalment and perhaps a shift of focus.
I didn't know there was a certain chronology to these books, and I read this one before "Black Notice." I found the beginning confusing, with frequent allusions to something that had happened to the characters that I as the reader was supposed to know already. I then read the preceding book, "Black Notice," and realized that I needed to re-read this one now that I was "armed" with the missing information. I might change my rating after that.
This was the first book of Patricia Cornwell that I've read, and it is #11 in her Kay Scarpetta series. While I cannot comment on her work overall, the book as a stand-alone did not impress me. The pacing felt slow, but my main problem with the novel was the problematic language surrounding the antagonist's medical condition, hypertrichosis (archaically known as "werewolf syndrome").
The protagonist repeatedly described the antagonist's appearance as vile, which seemed like a misguided attempt a...more
The protagonist repeatedly described the antagonist's appearance as vile, which seemed like a misguided attempt a...more
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Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working as a computer analyst at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. At her first signing, held during a lunch break from the morgue, Patricia sold no copies of Postmortem and fielded exactly one question – an elderly woman asked her where she could find the cookbooks.
Postmortem would go on to win the Edgar, Cre...more
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Postmortem would go on to win the Edgar, Cre...more
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Jan 28, 2011 08:56am