Predator
by Patricia Cornwell
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I wanted to love this book. I've always enjoyed the stories of Kay Scarpetta, Marino, Benton Wesley, and Lucy. Even the premise of PREDATOR intrigued me-- Benton is heading a new program where he studies the brains of volunteer test subjects, mostly convicted felons of heinous crimes. He hopes to find a scientific and physical reason for why people do the things they do, and sets out to find if the molecular make-up or abnormalities of the brain cause people to commit vicious crimes against each...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Cornwell fans, forensics fans
Predator, by Patricia Cornwell, will not disappoint Scarpetta fans: it is chock-full of her regular characters with all their attendant idiosyncrasies (neuroses) and conflicts. And, of course, there are the deranged scumbags that keep the good guys on their toes until the last word.
In this story, there’s a convicted serial killer who’s participating in a neurological study, run by Benton Wesley, who reveals some details of an unsolved case. Is he telling the truth or fabricat...more
In this story, there’s a convicted serial killer who’s participating in a neurological study, run by Benton Wesley, who reveals some details of an unsolved case. Is he telling the truth or fabricat...more
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Read in March, 2007
I have still trying to finish that book, but it goes slowly over about 3 to 4 months. I am almost done at last. It was not the best Kay Scarpetta novel. I have read another book by Patricia Cornwell that has Kay Scarpetta character in it. It is very good. I belive it was Body of Evidence. I like Kay Scapetta character. A very smart detective. When I look at the title, Preador, I thought it got to be interesting. Unfortunately I did not read the reivew before I buy it. It is very vastly vague. Th...more
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Read in May, 2008
Okay - this was the worst Scarpetta book. I wanted to like it but it seems all the characters have become annoying caricatures. And in addition to that, the story was incredibly confusing. We have an evil criminal called HOG - The Hand of God, suicides that were actually murders, a scientific study Benton is running on the brains of serial killers, problems at the forensic center in FL.... Which is tied up in the end, but not in a satisfying way.
And my biggest gripe = Scarpetta is attack...more
And my biggest gripe = Scarpetta is attack...more
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Read in June, 2008
I'll never pick up another Cornwell book. I read the whole damn thing waiting for something to happen or a likeable protagonist or ??? Well, anything to make this the best seller that it is.
Nada, nil, nyet, nothing. Stupid to the nth degree.
Now, I love mysteries, which is why I picked up this book. Huge disappointment. Scarpetta (the preseumed MC) doesn't factor in much. She's not very likable anyway, so I didn't care. Who else? That insecure motorcyle guy (I already forget his Ita...more
Nada, nil, nyet, nothing. Stupid to the nth degree.
Now, I love mysteries, which is why I picked up this book. Huge disappointment. Scarpetta (the preseumed MC) doesn't factor in much. She's not very likable anyway, so I didn't care. Who else? That insecure motorcyle guy (I already forget his Ita...more
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Read in April, 2006
I used to love Patricia Cornwell. Her Scarpetta books were my absolute favorite, but now, things are going awry.
I found Predator very difficult to get into. It felt disjointed. I didn't feel that I knew much about the characters (old and new) and what I did read about them confused me. They seemed to evolve to different people that they have been in the past. I know people change, but the characters are changing too much and too quickly.
I also found the ending very unsatisfying. I had too ...more
I found Predator very difficult to get into. It felt disjointed. I didn't feel that I knew much about the characters (old and new) and what I did read about them confused me. They seemed to evolve to different people that they have been in the past. I know people change, but the characters are changing too much and too quickly.
I also found the ending very unsatisfying. I had too ...more
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Read in December, 2006
recommends it for:
no one
AUTHOR: Patricia Cornwall
SYNOPSIS: Kay Scarpetta and her usual suspects work to solve a series of mysterious, seemingly unrelated deaths.
COMMENTS: Why do I bother trying to read these books? The first few I read years ago, but each new book gets progressively worse and more difficult to enjoy. The characters are underdeveloped, the story takes giant leaps, and suspense is built not through action, but through partial information. I found it tiresome and annoying, so I read the first half...more
SYNOPSIS: Kay Scarpetta and her usual suspects work to solve a series of mysterious, seemingly unrelated deaths.
COMMENTS: Why do I bother trying to read these books? The first few I read years ago, but each new book gets progressively worse and more difficult to enjoy. The characters are underdeveloped, the story takes giant leaps, and suspense is built not through action, but through partial information. I found it tiresome and annoying, so I read the first half...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2008
SPOILER....Cornwell did her usual superb job of telling her story. Kay, Lucy, Benton and Pete are characters who draw us right into the twisted minds of the predators. This story began to answer some of the questions that I've had about Lucy and what she was going to do next and about Benton and his role in Kay's life. I think Lucy will come to terms with her illness and continue to lead the institute she's created. I'm glad to see the book proposing that civilians begin to get involved in...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
those who enjoy crime fiction
Cornwell's novels have always been wonderfully exciting and full of suspense and intrigue. This novel is the continuation of Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Dr. Benton Wesley, Pete Marino, Lucy (multi-millionaire niece of Dr. Scarpetta) with the loons and goons of the world. It is always a pleasure to read Cornwell's novels.... it is way better than watching Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) :) I have been reading her works from the first novel Postmortem. How the human mind works... the social ills and the sc...more
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Read in January, 2007
I had a difficult time with this one. I love Patricia Cornwell. I love the Scarpetta series. But this one fell short for me. It felt scattered, at best. I don't like that Cornwell has changed the point of view from which her stories are told. I think that was what I loved about the earlier Scarpetta books. They felt personal and mysterious because they were told from her perspective. It seems like an odd shift to suddenly change the POV after like 10 books. I was dissapointed. I haven't read Boo...more
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This book was like half a book -- something Cornwell sat down and spewed out over a long weekend or so. In general, authors would then go back and edit their work, but it appears in this case that her half-baked manuscript somehow made it past all the editorial gatekeepers, straight to hard copy.
I hate how everyone in Scarpetta's life is so dysfunctional, grumpy, and repetitive. And I hate how Cornwell left us hanging with so many unanswered questions and incomplete plot points (what the he...more
I hate how everyone in Scarpetta's life is so dysfunctional, grumpy, and repetitive. And I hate how Cornwell left us hanging with so many unanswered questions and incomplete plot points (what the he...more
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Read in July, 2006
I am a huge fan of this series of thrillers, murder mysteries starring Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta. I have reread the series many time over the years, each time enjoying the terrific suspense and development of characters who are intelligent, intense, evoloving, and flawed. I will read this series through to the end. Having said all of that, I have to say that I very much dislike the change from first to third person; it has really stolen my ability to connect with the protagonist. Seri...more
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Once again, Ms. Cornwell has angry characters. If her writing is a reflection of her life, she is one angry lady. In more than a few of her reent books, I have had the feelings that she is angry with her readers (at best) or feels so superior to the average reader than she needs to "talk" down to her clientele (at worst).
The book left many threads hanging open. I'm sure just as an opening for the next in the series. One is left wondering if anyone in the Kay Scarpetta world w...more
The book left many threads hanging open. I'm sure just as an opening for the next in the series. One is left wondering if anyone in the Kay Scarpetta world w...more
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Read in April, 2008
Maybe because this was a bridged version, but I found the ending crazy -- suddenly the 'bad guy' is caught and the case is solved and you find out how all the pieces fit together as the characters recall the events instead of witnessing them unfold. Poor storytelling, I think.
This book doesn't work too well in audio form because there are too many POVs and the dialogues lack tags, so it was difficult to figure out what was going on at times.
Okay as a thriller/mystery, but not great on the...more
This book doesn't work too well in audio form because there are too many POVs and the dialogues lack tags, so it was difficult to figure out what was going on at times.
Okay as a thriller/mystery, but not great on the...more
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Read in April, 2007
This was my first Patricia Cornwell book, and I have to say I had a hard time getting into it. I found that the characters were introduced in an onslaught, and at times I found it difficult to keep track of them all. However, that said, about 1/2 into the book it started to get REALLY good, and I began to understand the necessity of all those characters. The ending for me was totally unexpected too! Now that I know the writer's main characters, I will certainly be reading more!
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This was just an okay Scarpetta novel. Basically, as soon as she left Richmond, I think a huge chunk of this character's appeal left with her. I find the novels harder to follow now; they are less gripping and seem to concern themselves more with gender and sexuality than the DNA of crime-solving. Which is a loss for the fans, I think. Anyway, this is set in Florida, has all the old favorites, like Benton, Marino, and Lucy, and deals with weird ritualistic torture/child abuse.
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Read in June, 2007
To me, this was one of the more satisfying mysteries in Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series. The brief chapters economically develop the three or four subplots, and the author tantalizingly skips back and forth among them -- eventually intertwining them ingeniously for a surprisingly unpredictable conclusion. The psychopathological details were expertly handled, and the portrayal of the psychological experimentation was amazingly current and authentic. I'll read it again!
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
No one!
Why in hell did she bother writing this book? In my opinion these books got pointless when the niece grew up and went out on her own. It almost seems as though the author got bored somewhere during the process of writing this book. If you are a fan of Cornwell's books, in particular the Scarpetta series, save yourself the pain, and don't bother reading this one. Just enjoy the fact that her earlier works are great, and move on.
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Read in August, 2007
I've read every single one of Cornwell's K. Scarpetta series, and they've gotten progressively worse. I used to love these books, they were so GOOD, but now it's like she's just writing anything to get another book out there. Sad, b/c these really were some of my favorites back when she first started writing them. I don't even know if I can bear to read another one, the characters have gotten so bitter and unpleasant.
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I think that if I hadn't read her earlier Scarpetta books I would not find this readable. Knowing the characters and their relationships and history is pretty much required to keep up with this one. Not as well written as her earlier Scarpetta books, but at least Scarpetta is not being beleaguered and belittled by bureaucracy and fellow law enforcement the way she has been in most of her earlier books. That got wearing to read.
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