Flesh and Blood

I gave up on Cornwell\’s latest effort at less than halfway through. At my age, there is no point in spending time reading a book that has absolutely nothing to offer. Like many others, I suppose, I was first drawn to the Scarpetta series because of the fascinating mysteries that were being solved by forensics. And I do enjoy reading books that are published in a series. Most books that are written as a series are interesting because of character development: the Three Pines series by Louise Penny is a good example. When I pick up a new Louise Penny book, I feel like I am greeting old friends. When I began reading Flesh and Blood, I could only think of how very elitist, arrogant and egotistical Scarpetta has become.And how Lucy and Benton have both grown so very elusive and taciturn. And I grew so weary of the petty feud between Marino and Machado that I finally just gave up. As authors become more established, their editors must back off. The first one-third of this book is so repetitive, with Scarpetta commenting (to herself or the reader) that Marino is not aware of what is going on. Over and over. I cannot believe a competent editor would pass on it. And Marino\’s bullish incompetence stretches credulity. Why would anyone employ such an idiot? Yet she praises his investigative skill while she portrays him as a dunderhead. Cornwell often uses a present tense narrative device as means to create tension and immediacy. In this book, it only creates boredom and confusion. I surely will not buy another Scarpetta/Cornwell novel.

Easily the worst book yet in this decayed wreck of a once solid series. It\’s hard to escape the impression that Cornwell just doesn\’t care any more. The loathsome entitlement and self-pity of Scarpetta\’s character have never been more apparent. The book begins with her plans for a vacation with Benton, her husband, and bemoaning that they hardly get to spend time together. Never mind that this is the result of their professional choices. That these choices are freely made doesn\’t seem to register with her. Nor does it occur to her that her subordinates could act as more than glorified assistants to her genius, allowing her to take a day off (most of these subordinates will, over the course of the book, be revealed as venal or incompetent or even venally incompetent — maybe Scarpetta should spend some time examining her recruitment and talent evaluation processes?). Scarpetta is called to a crime scene by Marino and the tedious dance of their relationship, explored to death over the past few books, is renewed. She can\’t stand him, but is unable to contemplate a life without him. Her contempt for him is wearying. I actually think most of the first half of the book is just the two of them conversing in the car or at the crime scene. I am now convinced that the Marino/Scarpetta/Benton triangle is more about Cornwell exploring her own issues than anything else. This clearly resonates deeply with her — there is no way that any reader can be as fascinated by the trio and their murky aggressions and complusions as she is. She has an endless appetite for scenes where Marino and Scarpetta talk around their bizarre connection, scenes where Marino pulsates with rage while Benton flexes his cold, WASPy, cryptically phrased disdain. What is wrong with these three? I can\’t even begin to imagine a legitimate explanation for their profound dysfunction. As Benton grows increasingly bloodless and Scarpetta increasingly icy, Marino has become the locus of the trio\’s emotions — and, in the world of this series, emotions are never anything but negative. Rage, jealousy, crude joy, pride — Marino is a vessel for all of these so Benton and Scarpetta can live in a zone where risotto and chilled white wine is a substitute for authentic emotion. Lucy also continues devolving into an emotion-free state — a more violent version of Scarpetta\’s super-achieving ice princess persona, but with more expensive cars. I was shocked to see the beginnings of an intriguing plot emerge in the first half of the book and thought we may have the rare treat of a bad guy who wasn\’t a super-genius with no motivation beyond hurting Scarpetta (the most famous and obsessed over medical examiner in the history of medicine or examining). Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed more quickly than Kay and Benton\’s vacation plans. Cornwell has never been particularly insightful about why people choose to hurt others, but the muddled motivations in this book were a low point even for her. She loves Scarpetta and her associates, therefore bad people must hate them and want to hurt them. It truly goes no deeper than that for Cornwell. After the train wreck of the previous book, I didn\’t think it was possible for things to get worse. Oh, I was wrong. Scarpetta spends less time than ever actually doing her job. Her contempt for everyone except for Benton and Lucy grows thicker with every book and it\’s unclear what is driving it since there is no true insight into her as a character on display in these pages. It\’s important, I think, for Cornwell to build these people up. Unfortunately, she doesn\’t know how to do that without tearing down the characters that surround them, sometimes for reasons that are utterly trivial or even unclear. Example: she judges her subordinates for learning more about the crimes they are investigating, thinking this will cloud their findings. But she is unable to apply that to herself, when she spends the day interviewing suspects or discussing theories of the case with Marino. Foregrounding the relationship between Marino, Scarpetta, and Benton was the worst thing to ever happen to this series. At this rate, the next book will consist of someone getting shot, Benton and Marino having a fight, and then 300 pages of Kay and Marino driving to the scene while Kay frets about why Benton isn\’t answering his cell phone. This series was much more fun when Scarpetta was human.

Are you so broke that you have to split the story into two books? I invested time wading through this, only to find…no finish…so I have to buy the next book? Forget about it, you just lost a life time fan. Cliffhangers only work for television series…..

Bestselling author Patricia Cornwell delivers another masterpiece in book 22 in this spine-tingling novel. This page turner is impossible to put down from beginning to end and its definitely a must read!……..It seemed like a lifetime ago since medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta has been on a vacation. Its her birthday and she\’s looking forward of heading to Miami with her FBI forensic profiler husband Benton Wesley to enjoy some relaxation. That is, until she notices seven newly minted copper pennies on a wall behind their Cambridge home. Is this some kind of kids prank? If that was the case, why were all the coins dated 1981? Even worse, vacationing was out of the question when her cell phone rings and its detective Pete Marino telling her there\’s been a homicide not five minutes away from where she lived. A high school teacher has been shot in cold blood unloading groceries from his car and there was no witnesses at all. Without wanting to, Kay finds herself in the unsettling pursuit of tracking down a cold blooded serial sniper who has already murdered three unsuspecting victims leaving no incriminating evidence or a pattern where he will strike next. He was an evil killer with a particular goal in mind. Was it someone she knew? Who? As her investigation deepens, Kay finds a connection of more murders between New Jersey, Massachusetts, her home state of Florida where she discovers shocking evidence on a shipwreck implicating her own flesh and blood, her niece Lucy…..

I was very much looking forward to reading this new book, from one of my favourite authors. However, I found it very, disjointed, I don\’t know how many times I put it down, and picked it up again, and put it down again, it just did not hold my attention. Really disappointed, and I hate to say that, but as a paying customer, that is my opinion.

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