At Risk
by Patricia Cornwell
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1004)
Read in April, 2008
I mistakenly bought this book thinking it was part of the Scarpetta series. When I found out it wasn't I was a bit curious to see Cornwell's voice with another character. So far I had only read her Kay Scarpetta books.
For decades, Patricia Cornwell has demonstrated her extraordinary ability not only to entertain and enthrall but to surprise as well. Beginning in January 2006, The New York Times Magazine will serialize a brand-new Cornwell thriller, a book filled with all the chilling suspens...more
For decades, Patricia Cornwell has demonstrated her extraordinary ability not only to entertain and enthrall but to surprise as well. Beginning in January 2006, The New York Times Magazine will serialize a brand-new Cornwell thriller, a book filled with all the chilling suspens...more
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Massachusetts District Attorney Monique Lamont, in an effort to validate her plans to run for governor, has developed a program called At Risk, which will incorporate advanced DNA technology in solving crimes. The first case she wants to headline is an unsolved 20-year-old murder that occurred in Knoxville, TN, where State Investigator Winston "Geronimo" Garano has been attending the National Forensic Academy.
Garano is biracial and dresses in designer clothes, which he purchases a...more
Garano is biracial and dresses in designer clothes, which he purchases a...more
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Read in May, 2008
Generally I enjoy Patricia Cornmwell's books, having first been introduced to her, through the book Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed, At Risk was not the best Cromwell book I've read. The plot seemed thin and unconnected and it was fraught with misogny and an undertone of stereotypical racial imagery, which disappointed me.
The plot is fairly simple: a young biracial Bostonian detective is tapped to attend a prestigious crime school studying forensics. He's sent by his dema...more
The plot is fairly simple: a young biracial Bostonian detective is tapped to attend a prestigious crime school studying forensics. He's sent by his dema...more
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Read in August, 2006
The book I read immediately after The Force of Reason (Oriana Fallaci) was Patricia Cornwell’s At Risk. Cornwell is one of my favorite authors and in this instance, provided a balm after the impotent fury of Fallaci. This book told of much more garden-variety criminals with no in-the-name-of-God motivations and the authorities’ pursuit of them through sleuthing. Now, purist Cornwell fans (those who only like the Kay Scarpetta story lines) will not be impressed by this effort: t...more
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Read in June, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in July, 2008
It's not often that a serial author gets to introduce a new character to her fanbase, so I had high hopes when I picked up this book. Unfortunately, much like the Andy Brazil series, Patricia Cornwell fires off a panoply of shallow, one-dimensional characters with seemingly little motivation in the actions they take.
The worst offense of this book, however, isn't the character development - it's the lack of an actual story. We're expected to believe that two detectives in different states w...more
The worst offense of this book, however, isn't the character development - it's the lack of an actual story. We're expected to believe that two detectives in different states w...more
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Read in October, 2006
This wasn't a book in the Scarpetta series, and I had been finding those getting worse with each new novel, so I thought that something fresh may be better to read.
Nope! I honestly don't like her writing anymore. I don't know if it is the writing that has changed or whether it is me that is changing. I do know that my reading has been a lot broader now than when I first started reading PC, so maybe that is it.
In At Risk, I struggled to follow the plot line. I was confused a lot, and felt t...more
Nope! I honestly don't like her writing anymore. I don't know if it is the writing that has changed or whether it is me that is changing. I do know that my reading has been a lot broader now than when I first started reading PC, so maybe that is it.
In At Risk, I struggled to follow the plot line. I was confused a lot, and felt t...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
people I don't like
Crap. First of all, it uses the rather unprofessional format of present tense grammar. I'm supposing the author intended this to give the story a sense of immediacy and urgency; it just made it sound like it was being related by a Valley-Girl.
The story plodded, large sections of what I would have considered important action are skipped over, scenes jump around with no sense or reason, and it was just plain not exciting.
Reminder: Just because something gets on the Best Seller's list does...more
The story plodded, large sections of what I would have considered important action are skipped over, scenes jump around with no sense or reason, and it was just plain not exciting.
Reminder: Just because something gets on the Best Seller's list does...more
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Read in April, 2008
I had not read a Cornwell book in years. There was a time when I commuted to work on the subway and a Cornwell novel (usually a Kay Scarpetta story) would constantly accompany me and take me away from the drab surroundings every morning and evening. So, it was with great excitement that I would re-visit Cornwell's criminal world. This book is not a Kay Scarpetta story and the delivery was pretty flat. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but it was not to be. I have some catching up to do o...more
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Read in November, 2007
OK...for fans of Cornwell, this is NOT a new Scarpetta book. Instead, this is a lightweight novel of really uninteresting characters, still in the forensic science genre, but with different backgrounds and lives that do not draw one into the story. We get the usual "strong" woman D.A., who hides behind her collection of glass object d'art and snide comments; an old crime that is to be solved with today's modern DNA tests; politics with strange bedfellows; and violence, including rap...more
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Read in June, 2006
I want to say I really do love most of Patricia Cornwell's books. This one just wasn't one of her best and it wasn't even good enough for me to let her slide. This book had holes in the plot. It felt like it was thrown together. The characters weren't developed and the book wrapped up so fast. You can tell this was just a book that she did for money or for the publishers to just get out of her contract quicker. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone because it is not part of a series like Scar...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 continue to dislike the change from first to third person; it has really stolen my ability to connect with the protagonist. Seriously, it makes m...more
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As most of you know or have figured out, I love mysteries. This book by Cornwell was a different book tha tI have ever read before. Apperantly it was first written for a magazing and then published into a book. It is sometimes hard to follow and you need to pay attention to what you are reading to really fully understant what is going on. I liked it for the fact that it was a fast read and the plot was okay.
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Read in June, 2008
I liked that this book was a quick read, but it was definitely just okay. I really felt like there was very little character development and I had to really think about who the author was referring to when she named a character. It did not have the depth or the higher level critical thinking that her Scarpetta series has. I will continue to read the other books in this series, but only as a light, easy read.
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recommends it for:
people who never read mystery
I learned that I actually CAN read mystery! I really enjoyed reading this book. For a person that's never read a mystery, I found it to be a very enjoyable beginner's mystery read. I'm more of a fiction reader, but this is my my attempt to delve into the mystery genre. I wish there was more development about the case than the characters, but I still found it to be a very enjoyable read.
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Read in January, 2007
Seemed flat compared to her Kate Scapetta series. I listened to the audio edition, and was surprised to find it was unabridged. The story line seemed to have some gaps, and I even listened to some of the cd's twice to see if I missed something! I certainly wasn't thinking "sparks fly, traps spring, or twists abound" as the back cover jacket hyped. It just seemed to plod along.
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Read in September, 2006
I just finished reading Patricia Cornwell's latest novel, At Risk. It was shorter than most of hers, but then I read that it was originally written as a 12 part series for New York Magazine, which probably contributed to that. It wasn't one of her best, but I tend to really prefer her Scarpetta novels. However, it was good and it was a quick read.
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
no one
Not terribly exciting or climatic. Like the last Patricia Cornwell book I read, the story is suddenly finished and they tell you how it all worked together, rather than show it. Lame. I looked, but I couldn't tell if this was abridged; I hope the print version has more content. Rather disappointing.
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Read in March, 2008
This one is different from any Cornwell I've read before. It's more like a bedtime story, only a little longer. I had to finish it after I started. Couldn't justify waiting even until the next night to find out what happened. And it reads so quickly that suddenly, it's done and you want to read another one!
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Read in September, 2007
A fairly big fan of the Kay Scarpetta series, I must confess that I didn't enjoy this one a bit.
Though, for other fans of forensic pathology mysteries, Cornwell has set up something called the Patricia Cornwell Forensic Challenge:
www.patriciacornwell.com/chall..., which was great fun.
Though, for other fans of forensic pathology mysteries, Cornwell has set up something called the Patricia Cornwell Forensic Challenge:
www.patriciacornwell.com/chall..., which was great fun.
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