Post by Charlynn on Dec 27, 2011 12:36:20 GMT -5
Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell
There was something slightly off-putting about this fourth novel in the Kay Scarpetta series. While key personal details were skimmed over, trivialized, and told post the actual events in past novels, in Cruel and Unusual, Cornwell killed off an important if not often seen character between books, dropping the news in an offhand manner and never actually dealing with it or its implications for her heroine. Granted, the focus of the series is not on Dr. Scarpetta's personal life, but, when said personal life becomes central to both the current case and the lead character's very personality, then the issues which shape Kay as a person need to be explored on a deeper level.
Speaking of Dr. Scarpett'a personal life having an impact upon Cruel and Unusual's cases, this seems to be a pattern for Cornwell: her heroine gets way too involved in her work. Given the nature of her responsibilities, their depth and weight, this is to be expected to a certain degree, but to feature Kay as such an integral part of every single crime – whether she's a potential victim, a victim's friend, or a suspect, by Cornwell using this approach too much, it's going to become staid and predictable. Rather, the plot device should be saved for special books, should be used sporadically, and should be something that is unexpected for readers. At this point, the question is just how is Dr. Scarpetta going to wind up in trouble this time?
Finally, despite multiple murders – some of which hit a little too close to home for Cruel and Unusual's heroine, the novel seemed to move much slower than some of Cornwell's other Scarpetta books. It wasn't really until the last fourth of the book when the pace seemed to pick up, when the suspense seemed to really pull in the reader. Plus, because of the nature of the clues – the hacking, the feathers, the average reader in all likelihood would struggle to follow their trails and could very easily get bogged down in all the technical jargon bandied about. Essentially, this novel wasn't as reader friendly for those who like to attempt to solve the cases right along with Kay. As a result, Cruel and Unusual wasn't as entertaining of a read. While the series' strengths are still there: the varied natures of the homicides, the friendship between Kay and Marino, and the great mix between science and psychology, there were more flaws to be found, the biggest of which is the fact that, at the end of this book, the murderer is still at large and, after more than four hundred pages, nothing feels resolved... whether professional or personal for Dr. Scarpetta.
Three out of Five Stars
There was something slightly off-putting about this fourth novel in the Kay Scarpetta series. While key personal details were skimmed over, trivialized, and told post the actual events in past novels, in Cruel and Unusual, Cornwell killed off an important if not often seen character between books, dropping the news in an offhand manner and never actually dealing with it or its implications for her heroine. Granted, the focus of the series is not on Dr. Scarpetta's personal life, but, when said personal life becomes central to both the current case and the lead character's very personality, then the issues which shape Kay as a person need to be explored on a deeper level.
Speaking of Dr. Scarpett'a personal life having an impact upon Cruel and Unusual's cases, this seems to be a pattern for Cornwell: her heroine gets way too involved in her work. Given the nature of her responsibilities, their depth and weight, this is to be expected to a certain degree, but to feature Kay as such an integral part of every single crime – whether she's a potential victim, a victim's friend, or a suspect, by Cornwell using this approach too much, it's going to become staid and predictable. Rather, the plot device should be saved for special books, should be used sporadically, and should be something that is unexpected for readers. At this point, the question is just how is Dr. Scarpetta going to wind up in trouble this time?
Finally, despite multiple murders – some of which hit a little too close to home for Cruel and Unusual's heroine, the novel seemed to move much slower than some of Cornwell's other Scarpetta books. It wasn't really until the last fourth of the book when the pace seemed to pick up, when the suspense seemed to really pull in the reader. Plus, because of the nature of the clues – the hacking, the feathers, the average reader in all likelihood would struggle to follow their trails and could very easily get bogged down in all the technical jargon bandied about. Essentially, this novel wasn't as reader friendly for those who like to attempt to solve the cases right along with Kay. As a result, Cruel and Unusual wasn't as entertaining of a read. While the series' strengths are still there: the varied natures of the homicides, the friendship between Kay and Marino, and the great mix between science and psychology, there were more flaws to be found, the biggest of which is the fact that, at the end of this book, the murderer is still at large and, after more than four hundred pages, nothing feels resolved... whether professional or personal for Dr. Scarpetta.
Three out of Five Stars