Rating: 
Summary: Not Again!
Review: After the last two Scarpetta disasters, I swore off Cornwell. But got suckered back in by the promise of the "old Kay." Well, I got the "old Kay" but from the last two disasters. Tortured, lugubrious characters; improbable, conspiracy-theory plots; and worst of all - written in present tense! How pretentious and very distracting to read. Like it or not, Ms. Cornwell, the prime consideration for a writer is the audience. I suggest you stick with a diary if you feel so compelled to put forth your own agenda at the expense of the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Happens
Review: The last three Scarpetta novels revolve around the same characters. Black Notice was great. Suspenseful and full of action. The Last Precinct slowly started to take us downhill. We listened to Kay talk out her emotions with her "therapist" friend and watched Marino's health decline. We see Kay accused of murder and many other things. You think you will see something come of this in Blow Fly. No. Nothing happens. We don't really hear about a trial or investigation against Kay. In fact, she and Lucy are friends with Jamie. It is difficult to get into the characters because of the 3rd person narration. I was unable to care about any of the characters because of the lack of depth to them. I was bored with chapter after chapter of Channdone. Who cares? He is in prison thinking about Kay. We get it. We don't need 10 chapters about it. I zoomed through this book, often times skimming the chapters about Channdone because of the repetition, and wondered how in the world it would end with only 3 chapters left. It ended the same as The Last Precinct...with nothing resolved! You are left waiting for the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing, a worthy successor to the Last Precinct
Review: I'm getting annoyed with the bad reviews thrown at Blow Fly. Patricia Cornwell has written another winner, and because most people have limited capabilities when it comes to enjoyable reading, they seem to think that anything that differs from a set pattern is "bad" writing. Blow Fly was written in third person because it was necessary to the flow of the novel. How could all of these loose ends be tied if the entire novel were in Kay's point of view? Also, to a reviewer who stated that Chandonne was conveniently blind some instances, but able to see later, there is a simple solution for this: He is a psychopath! If you take the time to read The Last Precinct, you'll note that Chandonne was not blinded permanently, but had noticeable trouble seeing. There's a difference. He no doubt uses his blindness as a ruse to manipulate. He's locked up and the key has been thrown away. How else is he going to get his rocks off? It's classic psychopathic personality, and Patricia Cornwell captures this better than any other author out there. Blow Fly is one gripping story with amazing twists and turns throughout its 400 plus pages. The ending is heartbreaking and poignant, the crime scenes atmospheric, and the dialogue crisper than ever. What a ride! I can't wait for the next Scarpetta!
Rating:
Summary: Is Cornwell Intentionally Alienating Her Fans?
Review: Patricia Cornwell has apparenty become too successful to put much effort into her books anymore. The characters are so inconsistently written from one chapter to the next (especially Lucy and Marino) that its hard to believe the same person wrote every chapter. Marino was a promising character throughout the Scarpetta series, although Cornwell never quite got his tone right. In this book,he is reduced to a pathetic, imbecilic loser, and thoroughly unlikeable. Lucy has become totally unbelievable, as has another character that has morphed into a "supercop" more appropriate to a James Bond story than a Kay Scarpetta mystery. And Kay herself has been marginalized. The story plods along, dull and grim, until suddenly ending in a couple of dozen pages, as if even Cornwell cannot take this story anymore and is desperate to see it done with.
Rating: 
Summary: How does a blind man see?
Review: Patricia Cornwell has lost her magic. Kay Scarpetta used to be my favorite fictional character, not any more. In this book Kay is almost not even important, of course everyone talks about her. Sure all the men want her (when did this happen??). However, she does not work on any cases and most of the book she is just a side item, so to speak. There are new people in the book that you just can't get a feel for. The people that appear in the other books are here also,however, some of their actions make you not like them anymore. The book skips around and leaves out so many things that it is hard to put the whole book together. There is blind man in the book...yet he gets handwritten notes and READ THEM?? It seems that when the plot calls for it, he can see..but when it does not..he is blind again. The book does not have any action that plays out. You hear them TALK about what happened. It does not playout as in the other books. There is a shocking twist in the book. However, even that is not played out fully. This book is choppy and not well thought out. When are we going to be rid of this boring wolfman story? How is she going to redeem this mess? There is NO PLOT to this book! Read it if you want...you will see what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: Where is Patricia Cornwell???????
Review: This book was a big let down for me. I was expecting a lot more out of Patricia Cornwell and I am wondering if she really did indeed write this book or did she leave her writing skills back here in Virginia. I hated the way she changed from writing in First person as Scarpetta, to writing in Third person. The characters lost a lot of their appeal to me. I don't want to spoil the outcome of the book for anyone, but I also found some of the plot twists in this book are truly just not believable. I found myself having to refer back to her past books to try to refresh my mind as to who it was she was writing about. She tried to jam too many people from those books into this book and it just made for a confusing read. Also, I think her writing has gone from skillful researching to just plain prevertedness. Some of the things she was describing I just had to skip over. I found them too disgusting to read or want to comprehend. I also get so sick of the way she always has to describe Scarpetta's physical attributes, ..., wonderful figure and the always present line about doctor, lawyer, Indian chief. I think she has used that phrase in every one of the books that she has written. I think Ms. Cornwell feels that she is indeed Kay Scarpetta. I really think after reading this book, that she has crossed the line from gifted writer to up and coming psychopath. Would the real Patricia Corwell please stand up?
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I have long awaited a return to my favorite characters...I am very disappointed. Half way through the book I am waiting and waiting for the story. I am not a pro reviewer just someone who longs for the good old days of Cornwell's good old books
Rating:
Summary: What Happened ?!?
Review: What a terrible book - and what a terrible disappointment! I have long been an admirerer of the Kay Scarpetta series, liking some books more than others, but always satisfied at the end of each novel that I had spent time with admirable protagonists, convincing (mostly)crimes, and evil criminals who get what they deserved in the end. Not so this book. It's a mess - the characters have developed (or, rather, stopped developing)to the point where they are no longer recognizable, likeable or interesting. The third person delivery is obnoxious. The story is really a rehash of past novels that should have been put to rest a long time ago. I finished the book only because I ALWAYS finish books, and this time I was glad to see it end. I know the auther can do much better - what puzzles me, is why she thought she could get away with this fiasco. She should get back on track with the characters, finally kill off the wolf man (PLEASE!), and bring us the quality of writing that fans of hers have come to expect.
Rating:
Summary: Average customer rating based on 42 reviews = 2.73 Stars!!
Review: As a result of the Amazon average rating of FIVE stars I went to the trouble of counting the total stars awarded by 42 customers, and came up with an average of 2.73 stars!! (And that includes the five star ratings by "I haven't read the book yet, but I am such a PC fan..." customers)
Certainly a more telling rating concerning "Blowfly" than what the Amazon rating suggests. Makes you wonder...
Rating:
Summary: A major disappointment
Review: As with most Scarpetta followers, I eagerly awaited the publication of Blowfly and through a fluke ended up getting it at the library! I was truly glad that I did not spend a penny to buy this disappointing addition to the series. Another reviewer called the last 50 pages a train wreck--I'd call the whole book a train wreck. From the implausible scene with Lucy, Rudy and Marino's son to the tangled plot with the prior characters -- Jay Tally and Jean-Baptiste Chandonne--this book was not up to her usual writing. I suspect the publisher probably said something like "write another book about Scarpetta or you'll never be published again..." and she panicked and wrote this horrible excuse for a mystery. Did I say mystery? What mystery--the plotline was perfectly obvious and totally unbelievable. The book ends with the reader knowing there will be another book featuring Jean-Baptiste. Cornwell has her characters on a road to disaster and unless she is planning to kill them all off in the sequel, I don't see how she is going to give them redeeming qualities that will make the reader want to read any more Scarpetta books. Truly awful!
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