The Scarpetta Factor

Don\’t get me wrong; I am a huge Scarpetta fan, but this is neither novel nor story. It is a stream of consciousness, full of anger, and repetitive in every context. I wouldn\’t mind a walk through Kay or Lucy\’s emotions but to do so over and over and over – page after page – with no new insights is just….well it is just plain boring. Additionally, Kay is not a likable person. Did I just not notice this before? I could go on and on, but you get the point. I\’ve read every one of the Scarpetta series and, tho I am unsure if I\’ve read this one before, I am so sorry I wasted money and time on it. Please don\’t make the same mistake.

Author Patricia Cornwell delivers another chilling suspense in this Amazon exclusive featuring her infamous heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta………Finding herself as senior forensic analyst for CNN, pathologist Dr. KAY Scarpetta regretted the day when she agreed to appear periodically on the program to answer forensic questions only, and since it was understood from the very beginning that she couldn\’t discuss her current cases at all, she had no idea that her reputation and career was about to be at risk and put into jeopardy when unforseen circumstances occurs on live television causing the producers of the show by offering Kay her own time slot called \”The Scarpetta Factor\” which she politely refused. When the beautiful financial planner Hannah Starr vanishes into thin air never to be seen again, Kay not only finds herself investigating that case, but also the violent murder of young Toni Darien who was jogging in Central Park, only to be killed by blunt force trauma to the back of the head. As the clues mounted up by becoming more chilling and questionable, Kay is once again joined by her infamous psychologist husband Dr. Benton Wesley, NYPD investigator Pete Marino, and her niece, computer expert Lucy Farinelli, and together they probe the cases but before they can dig any deeper, and old nemesis from their past targets Kay and Benton once again by leaving a path of deadly threats leading them right towards Kay\’s front door, but nothing will shock them more, when they soon discoverer who was really responsible while a deranged psychopath plays a deadly game of cat and mouse to slaughter Kay once and for all!…..

The Scarpetta stories are starting to lose their pizzazz, IMO. I used to really enjoy them, the mysteries, the bits of personal stories, etc., but in recent years I haven\’t been finding them nearly so interesting or fun to read. Maybe it was when messed up things between Scarpetta and Marino, seemed like everything has gone downhill since then…

I have read Patricia Cornwell since her very first book and this one was the worst book she has written. I skimmed it after a while because it just droned on and on. I never could finish the book. I usually finish every book I start, but not this one. Sorry Scarpetta!

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD: The Scarpetta Factor effectively wraps up the Chandonne Crime Syndicate arc which began in Black Notice (Point of Origin, retroactively), culminated in Blowfly, and tabled across four other volumes until The Scarpetta Factor. Unlike Scarpetta, The Scarpetta Factor is less of a misnomer and does feature Scarpetta as a more central figure to the plot as this novel sees the end of what Jean-Baptiste Chandonne and his late brother, Jay, began with Dr. Scarpetta in Black Notice. The return of Jean-Baptiste Chandonne, however, is not at all what may have been expected: instead of Dr. Scarpetta uncovering the escaped serial murderer\’s resurregence through the foresnic analysis of his murders, as was the case for Temple Gault in Potter\’s Field, the readers are told that Jean-Baptiste is once again in the picture near the end of the story through the eyes of Benton Wesley by his former employer, the FBI itself. Scarpetta\’s position as a forensic pathologist is once again inconsequential to the climax and conclusion of the story as she does not uncover or \”solve\” the mystery through her work; ultimately, readers are denied a culminating finale for the Chandonne arc because Scarpetta is herself denied the catharsis of a confrontation with Jean-Baptiste through forensic pathology, the core mechanic of the Kay Scarpetta series. Instead, like prior entries, Scarpetta wanders into a trap laid by the killer, Jean-Baptiste in this instance, and she is saved, once again, through the Deus ex Machina that is her associates — her husband Benton being lowered to the proverbial stage for this end. Overall, the story captures the reader\’s attention, the mystery both deepening and unfolding simultaneously, and further compelled by well-written and nuanced characters with pasts they might rather forget and uncertain futures that lie ahead. This area is where the author truly excels — bringing the reader characters so real one can almost hold a conversation with them. While the reader may indeed prefer a more cathartic conclusion between Scarpetta and the Chandonne\’s, the tale is still undeniably riveting. JSI

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