Predator

Kay Scarpetta, renowned criminal investigator with the National Forensic Academy in Florida, hunts another serial murderer. Basil Jenrette, imprisoned serial killer and research subject, is somehow connected. Kate Reading's narration is good; she is particularly adept at depicting the therapist's calm, controlled voice, then switching to the anger and belligerence of Moreno, former city cop. Scarpetta fans may be disappointed that her focus in this novel is forensics of the dysfunctional , rather than murder and investigative work, and that the story's ending is illogical. Some parts of the story are overly gruesome, as well. Even excellent narration and characterization can't salvage this poorly plotted mystery. One expects better from Cornwell. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

October 31, 2005
It's not often a crime novel offers such a smorgasbord of oddball elements, including autopsy advice, methods of combating tree blight, the use of spiders in sadomasochist torture and couples covering the sexual and psychological waterfronts. There's even a little nasty fun at the expense of television psychoanalysts. With geographic locations switching slightly faster than the speed of sound, it's to Reading's credit that she smoothes out the ultra rumpled excesses of Cornwell's mind-boggling plot and takes full advantage of the yarn's narrator-friendly present tense. Having given voice to several earlier books in the series, she's got the main characters down cold. Her Dr. Kay Scarpetta is all snarky professional reserve and personal insecurity. Self-loathing lesbian niece Lucy, sounds properly troublesome and troubled, with an added catch in the throat due to a secret she's keeping. Pete Marino, the bullet-headed, gym rat security chief of the Lucy-originated National Forensic Academy, sounds so gruff and aggressive, he should be kept on a chain leash. And Scarpetta's inamorato, Benton Wesley, whose study of mass murderers' brain patterns gives the novel its title, is, as his name suggests, the very model of a dry, annoyingly passive-aggressive personality. The joke here-intended or not-is that the novel's protagonists are almost as mentally or emotionally disturbed as its homicidal villains. Cornwell seems to have grown weary of the lot of them. But there's still a flicker of life left and Reading has the skill to make the most of it.

Mary Stuart Masterson is easily the best thing about Cornwell's latest. But all the fine performing in the world can't make an overly complex story enjoyable. Masterson ably outlines the soap opera life of former coroner Dr. Kay Scarpetta and those of her handsome lover and her lesbian niece, but it still falls flat. No amount of good delivery can disguise pointless action and a convoluted plot with multiple story lines and multiple locations that magically come together--at least they are supposed to come together. Sadly, they do not. Listeners will celebrate the day that Cornwell rediscovers the magic that used to make Kay Scarpetta mysteries a joy to hear. M.S. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

December 19, 2005
It's not often a crime novel offers such a smorgasbord of oddball elements, including autopsy advice, methods of combating tree blight, the use of spiders in sadomasochist torture and couples covering the sexual and psychological waterfronts. There's even a little nasty fun at the expense of television psychoanalysts. With geographic locations switching slightly faster than the speed of sound, it's to Reading's credit that she smoothes out the ultra rumpled excesses of Cornwell's mind-boggling plot and takes full advantage of the yarn's narrator-friendly present tense. Having given voice to several earlier books in the series, she's got the main characters down cold. Her Dr. Kay Scarpetta is all snarky professional reserve and personal insecurity. Self-loathing lesbian niece Lucy, sounds properly troublesome and troubled, with an added catch in the throat due to a secret she's keeping. Pete Marino, the bullet-headed, gym rat security chief of the Lucy-originated National Forensic Academy, sounds so gruff and aggressive, he should be kept on a chain leash. And Scarpetta's inamorato, Benton Wesley, whose study of mass murderers' brain patterns gives the novel its title, is, as his name suggests, the very model of a dry, annoyingly passive-aggressive personality. The joke here-intended or not-is that the novel's protagonists are almost as mentally or emotionally disturbed as its homicidal villains. Cornwell seems to have grown weary of the lot of them. But there's still a flicker of life left and Reading has the skill to make the most of it.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.