Rating: 
Summary: Bad. And I do mean *bad.*
Review: While reading this book, I spent a great amount of time flipping to the cover to make sure it really was a Patricia Cornwell book. I enjoy her Kay Scarpetta series, but before I'd read 20 pages of this horror found myself wondering how the woman who writes them could possibly have written *this.* The characters are without exception shallow stereotypes; the dialogue is frequently painful; and there quite simply is no plot. And if there is some sort of unwritten rule about how many different points of view one novel can contain, Cornwell broke it with bells on. I forced myself to finish it by some sense of obligation, but when the last sentence was finally read it had been quite some time since I'd cared even remotely whodonit (and, as it turns out, a good thing, too). Potential reader, beware: Cornwall as you know her this most certainly is NOT.
Rating: 
Summary: A frustrating read for her fans.
Review: Patricia Cornwell's gifted prose and with almost make up for this book's serious flaws. As usual, she shines at deft charaterizations and crams considerable detail into the narrative. Unfortunately, she forgot to include a plot. Essentially, we walk into the middle of her characters lives at the start of the book and walk away at the end with almost everything up in the air and unresolved. I also wish that Ms. Cornwell could include at least one character in her book without some deep secret or existential angst that causes them such misery and suffering. Believe it or not, plenty of people manage to be interesting without having some tragic Greek flaw.
Rating:
Summary: Uncompelling, and hard to want to pick back up
Review: Could not get into this book. I started no where and ended no where. The characters were good, but I was terribly disappointed. Kept hoping it would get better,that was that only reason I finished it. It never did. She should stick with Kay stories.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to her usual good work
Review: This is one of the worst written and thinly plotted bestsellers I have ever read. Patricia Cornwell has written some fine books, but this departure from her Kay Scarpetta series does not deserve to have her name on it. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot has more holes than a pierced teenager, and I still am trying to figure out what Cornwell was trying to do with that cat. Read the Scarpetta novels, but stay away from this clunker.
Rating:
Summary: If you like psychic cats, you'll like this book by Cornwell.
Review: Cornwell introduces new characters in this detective novel. The writing style is a rat-a-tat Dragnet clip which I found extremely hard to read. The characters are total stereotypes, with most of the women "good" and most of the men "bad". You'll know what everyone's thinking in this book, even the cat. Let's just say I'm glad I took this one out of the library.
Rating:
Summary: Patricia Cornwell gave up writing this book in its middle...
Review: Unfortunately, I had not read the Customer's review before purchasing the book. I think maybe Patricia got fed up with the story and gave up writing the book, passing the task to someone else who had not read the previous chapters... The plot gets lost in the middle, the end has nothing to do with the original plot, and where the heck has that psychic cat come from ? Sorry, Patricia. No more books from you in my library.
Rating:
Summary: A real disappointment for a first time Cornwell reader.
Review: What began as a potentially interesting story-line turned into a gigantic disappointment. Characters were dull, the women with too many feminist overtones as if to "prove" something. Ending was terrible with the feeling that I wasted too much time on this book.
Rating:
Summary: I must have missed something.
Review: This book was such a disappointment. What a waste of time! The characters were thin, and the plot confusing. The ending was rushed and anti-climatic. I kept reading thinking the story would pick up, but if anything it got worse as I went along. What was the deal with the cat??!!
Rating: 
Summary: The writing was unorthodox, but thrilling in places.
Review: Hey, the plot was not the point! And OK the cliches were off-putting...but the characters were marvelous! Two strong women doing cool (albeit oftimes unbelievable) stuff and a "kid reporter" who could do no wrong. Finally someone who can do no wrong! And a charming someone too. And yes, the writing took off in places, but at moments was absolutely thrilling and dangerous. Ms. Cornwell's forays into stretch-the-moment and stretch-for-meaning prose were delightful. I loved this book!
Rating:
Summary: Patricia Cornwell shows a nice sense of humor
Review: "Hornet's Nest" is a significant departure from Ms. Cornwell's standard dark, gritty Kay Scarpetta novels. Instead, in "Hornet's Nest" Ms. Cornwell comes up with a light novel about a young civilian ride along and an older female police officer. The book reads almost as a series of wry, funny anecdotes "from the streets of Charlotte and the halls of Justice." Those readers expecting Ms. Cornwell's usual dark, thrilling fare will be rather sorely disappointed. On the other hand, if the reader does not require a thriller of a novel full of dark, realistic details, then the reader will be pleasantly surprised at the wry sort of humor exhibited. In short, "Hornet's Nest" by Patricia Cornwell is not Ms. Cornwell's usual fare of thrilling police procedural mystery, but is instead a sort of "Opera Bouffe" look at policework, not terribly unlike the televison show "Cops." For those who enjoy that sort of wry humor (c.f. the science fiction novels of Lois McMaster Bujold), "Hornet's Nest" is an entertaining read -- a read made made more entertaining by Ms. Cornwell's very vivd descriptive style. For those who want a dark, gripping thriller -- turn elsewhere for novels of that type.
| 
