Review of Chaos (Kay Scarpetta #24) by Patricia Cornwell

Chaos (Kay Scarpetta #24)

by Patricia Cornwell

"On a hot late summer evening in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her investigative partner Pete Marino respond to a call about a dead bicyclist near the Kennedy School of Government. It appears that a young woman has been attacked with almost super human force.
Even before Scarpetta’s headquarters, the Cambridge Forensic Center, has been officially notified about the case, Marino and Scarpetta’s FBI agent husband Benton Wesley receive suspicious calls, allegedly from someone at Interpol.

But it makes no sense. Why would the elite international police agency know about the case or be interested? With breathtaking speed it becomes apparently that an onslaught of interference and harassment might be the work of an anonymous cyberbully named Tailend Charlie, who has been sending cryptic communications to Scarpetta for over a week.

Stunningly, even her brilliant tech savvy niece Lucy can’t trace whoever it is or how this person could have access to intimate information few outside the family would have.

When a second death hundreds of miles south, shocking Scarpetta to her core, it becomes apparent she and those close her are confronted with something far bigger and more dangerous than they’d ever imagined. Then analysis of a mysterious residue recovered from a wound is identified as a material that doesn’t exist on earth."

4 out of 5*

Before reading Chaos (#24) I had just read The Scarpetta Factor (#17), which I really wasn’t impressed with (and I am usually quite happy with Patricia Cornwell’s books).

This one was much better, much more what I am used to with a Kay Scarpetta novel.  Kay is all about the details and this one delivers on that front.  It’s amazing how much can take place within the relatively short period of time that this story covers.  There is the usual backdrop of her relationships with her family and work colleagues as well as a topical element in the method used in the killings which I liked. 

I have given this one a 4 out of 5 rating because I enjoyed it, and it kept my attention throughout.  A lot of the other reviews I have read have said it’s time to put this series to bed.  I think it still has some life left in it yet. 

Review of The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta #17) by Patricia Cornwell

The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta #17)

by Patricia Cornwell

 

"It is the week before Christmas. The effects of the credit crunch have prompted Dr Kay Scarpetta to offer her services pro bono to New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. But in no time at all, her increased visibility seems to precipitate a string of dramatic and unsettling events. She is asked live on air about the sensational case of Hannah Starr, who has vanished and is presumed dead. Moments later during the same broadcast, she receives a startling call-in from a former psychiatric patient of Benton Wesley's.

When she returns after the show to the apartment where she and Benton live, she finds a suspicious package - possibly a bomb - waiting for her at the front desk. Soon the apparent threat on Scarpetta's life finds her embroiled in a deadly plot that includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime and the disappearance of a beautiful millionairess with whom Lucy seems to have shared a secret past..."

2 out of 5*

I'm sorry to say, not one of the better of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels.

This one took me three separate attempts to even get past the first chapters, and having gotten to the end on this last attempt, I’m not really sure it was worth the effort.  I found this book almost like an extremely long filler.  There was too much that needed knowledge that the reader would only have if they had read the previous books and not enough of a stand-alone story in it.  I also felt that for a book named The Scarpetta Factor, it didn't have enough about Scarpetta herself.  It seemed to be more about the others in her life than Kay herself.

I never think a book should be a chore to read.  It should be an escape to another place and time, something that envelopes and absorbs me, it should engage with me and pull me into its world.  This one just didn't do it for me I'm afraid, it felt more like wading through mud just so that I could get to the end.  Having said that, it won't stop me reading others by Patricia Cornwell.  In fact after this one I read Chaos which is #24 in the Kay Scarpetta series and was much more impressed (4 out of 5*).  Should I read all these books in order?  Maybe, but as much as I like following characters as they develop through a series, I feel each should be able to stand on its own also.  

So, I'm afraid to say I wouldn't recommend this book.

Review of The Sleepwalker Legacy by Christopher Hepworth

The Sleepwalker Legacy 

by Christopher Hepworth

 (Sam Jardine Crime Thrillers Book 1)

"In 1814, Britain’s foremost scientist, George Napier witnesses a drug-fuelled massacre on a US battlefield. The drug, Berserker, has a deadly side effect known as the Sleepwalker Legacy, which destroys the life of his Native American lover. After the War, Napier dedicates himself to the eradication of Berserker.

Two hundred years later, Napier’s global pharmaceutical company has fallen into the hands of the ruthless Beckett family. They are determined to produce and leverage Berserker for profit, as the US government seeks to exploit the drug for military advantage.

Sam Jardine is a direct descendant of Napier. When he discovers that Berserker could change the nature of humanity forever, he sets out to fulfil his ancestor’s destiny by destroying the drug from within, using his extraordinary powers of negotiation. Sam finds himself battling demons from his past as he becomes entangled in a dangerous game of corporate espionage and a battle of wits with the beautiful heiress, Rachael Beckett. He resolves to help his lover, Cassie, who inherited the Sleepwalker Legacy and is becoming increasingly unstable. But Sam is in a race against time…"

5 out of 5*

This engaging and enthralling globe-trotting thriller takes its reader from China to England, Scotland and the United States.  It is set between the early 19^th and 21^st centuries, and revolves around the lead character of Sam Jardine and his predecessors. The writer has taken much of the true events of the Sand Creek Massacre in November 1864, (http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-sandcreek.html) with a few elements altered to fit the storyline, and woven a modern thriller with historic depth around them.

 

It deals with moral, cultural, and political issues, conspiracies and government subterfuge, and the often cut throat world of pharmaceutical industry giants, all sprinkled liberally with personal and romantic elements.  Mental health issues and treatments are an important element of the story, but it neither glorifies nor glosses over what are often ignored or stigmatised conditions and illnesses.  Rather it looks at how “weaknesses” can be abused by unscrupulous people in positions of power to further their own ends.

It also looks at actions and consequences, big and small, unintended and deliberate. 

Danger is never far from Sam and those he comes into contact with.  The characters are written clearly yet in such a way as to keep the reader guessing about who are the “good” and “bad” guys.  The details of the illnesses, drugs and treatments are complex and full yet simple and well described by the author Christopher Hepworth so those of us with limited previous knowledge in this area (that would be me!) can keep up yet learn at the same time.

Overall, I rate this book as Excellent and highly deserving of a 5* rating!   

Mr Hepworth has taken two areas which were unfamiliar to me (history of the Indian Wars and pharmaceutical big business) and made me curious to find out more about both.  He has written a tale which engages and intrigues, twists and turns in the way of a truly well written thriller.  It is romantic and personal yet global and impersonal at the same time.  It deals with issues and threats that can affect us all.  I look forward to more of Christopher Hepworth’s books.