Rating: 
Summary: WHAT EVER HAPPENED???
Review: This book is not even close to the quality that Ms. Cornwell usually writes in. What in the world happened? The stories were all disjointed and hard to follow. Most of all, I just couldn't get to know the characters too well. In her Scarpetta books, Ms Cornwell really lets you get to know her characters well and admire them. But I couldn't get to like Hammer at all. To me the writing just kept on jumping from one thing to the other that there wasn't enough time to get to know her. I also think that the way West and Brazil were presented was superficial as well.My recommendation- AVOID THIS BOOK! This is Ms. Cornwell's worst book yet. Hopefully her next one will be better.
Rating:
Summary: From bad to worse to execrable!
Review: If Amazon allowed zero stars that is what I would have given it. How can the creator of Kay Scarpetta and her interesting supporting cast allow her publisher to foist this off on the public? I had thought that Hornet's Nest was Ms. Cornwell's nadir but she has sunk even lower creating an improbable method for moving the loose ends of her cast to Richmond. No character development (cartoon instead of caricature), loose ends (does anything happen to anybody at the "end" of this book? Weed?, "But" Fluck (this is worse than Tom Wolfe's names in "A Man in Full"); West and Brazil? Smoke?), weak dialog, assumptions untested and unquestioned everywhere, like gull droppings on a dock. A few loose ends are tolerable but this ends as if the contract was for x pages and then you can quit and go home. Ms. Cornwell, I await the next Kay Scarpetta with bated breath. On the other hand, if you have mined the Scarpetta vein to the end, then retire honorably now before you drop another Hammer on your head, permanently shattering your reputation.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Poorly Written Book!!!!
Review: I am an avid fan of hers, I am sorely disappointed and hope she reads these reviews and gets her act together, I had to at some points in the book, look at the cover and tell myself it was really Patricia Cornwells name on the front! It was a HUGE disappointment!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Written by an Impostor?
Review: When Cornwell wrote Hornet's Nest many wondered if it was the first thing she ever wrote, dusted off when she became known. With Southern Cross she proves that she's pumping out this garbage fresh, and you have to ask how the author of the Scarpetta series could write so badly. The main characters carried over from Hornet's Nest have been turned into Keystone Kops. Too much of the book is spent on a character named Bubba who does nothing worth all that attention. His life sucks, his job sucks, his friends suck, his hobbies suck, his ride sucks, and he fills the pages, which REALLY sucks. The humor falls flat unless you think the guy in the lampshade is a riot. Cornwell only shines when writing about the juvenile sociopath but he's pretty much lost in this crowd of circus players.
Rating: 
Summary: I was disappointed.
Review: The Kay Scarpetta series is one of my all time favorites. I have read about half of this book and I don't believe I will finish it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't shoot it down because not Scarpetta
Review: Haven't finished it yet but I believe everyone had hopes of scarpetta and then when they found out they just shot it down. Writers have a stream and sometimes veer off. They have to get that story out before anything else can come. Keep up the good work Patricia.
Rating:
Summary: Not at her best
Review: I've read all Ms. Cornwell's novels. This is certainly not her best. It doesn't produce imagery for me at all. I suggest any other books from the author but this one. Maybe Scarpetta could have saved this book!
Rating:
Summary: Not at her best
Review: I've read all Ms. Cornwell's novels. This is certainly not her best. It doesn't produce imagery for me at all. I suggest any other books from the autheor but this one. May Scarpetta could have saved this book!
Rating:
Summary: SOMEBODY STOP HER!
Review: A really, REALLY bad book. I forced myself to finish it because I couldn't believe it could stink from start to finish, but it did. The book is a very amateurish writing attempt, a shocker coming from an author I usually like. Plot, characters, events, pacing, humor, nothing clicked for me. And this STOO-PID artificial speech she made up was right out of junior high. QUICK! SOMEBODY STOP CORNWELL BEFORE SHE TRIES TO BE FUNNY AGAIN!
Rating:
Summary: How Does This Happen?
Review: How can an author who writes such great Scarpetta books, that I can't wait to read, write such terrible books with different characters? I don't understand it. This book and Hornet's Nest were terrible, I could not even finish them. I also notice recently that others authors seem to have the same problem and if they deviate from their regular characters they deviate from a good book. It's like a totally different person wrote the book. What gives? I also think you need a choice of 0 stars, 1 is to high for this book.
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