Black Notice - Patricia Cornwell

If you look back in history the time that man has spent on Earth has been full of evil acts. Recently we have seen mass genocides in Africa, Yugoslavia and all over Europe with the Nazis. Further back life was even worse as the day to day life of a typical person could see your killed, raped of forced into slavery. It is only the fragile rule of law that prevents anarchy from ruling the streets, if it were not for the morality of the silent majority our world would be overrun by people committing evil and selfish acts. What would happen if a darkness came that encouraged everyone to do the things their darkest dreams where made off? Would there be enough goodness in ...  Read the complete review

Again Patricia Cornwell's research is phenomenal, the style of writing gripping, and the plot revealed at just the right pace. But it is now reaching the point where an avid reader of Cornwell's books could write the plot for her, so predictable have the basic elements become. Always there must be the plot to discredit Scarpetta, and force her out of office, orchestrated by her corrupt superiors, against whom she can prove nothing. And with growing frequency the murderer must have some extremely rare condition - profound B.O, overactive bodily hair etc - which makes them stand out. The feeling is one of reading the same book over and over. In an effort to ...  Read the complete review

In Black Notice, Patricia Cornwell weaves a dark fairytale reminiscent of a Hans Christian Anderson story filled with grief-stricken people and animalistic acts of rage and desire. The change of location two-thirds in (a device that Cornwell has used successfully in previous books) from Richmond, USA, to Paris, France, refreshes the reader just as the plot begins to stagnate (one-dead body-after-another). Thankfully this shift of scene forces Cornwell, and therefore Kay Scarpetta, away from routine and laboured autopsies to an exploration of international policing and, yes, some passion, as Scarpetta explores emotions that have been buried since the death of ...  Read the complete review

This is another classic from Herbert, its similar in some ways to The Fog, i.e, the majority of people go mad with only a few people not succumbing who are left to save the world from evil. The story, as always, sees a main male character by the name of Chris Bishop who is a cynical ghost hunter (much in the mode of David Ash of the Haunted/Ghosts of Sleath) sent to investigate the strange goings on in a quiet suburban house. As usual with Herbert there is plenty of suspense thrown in with lots of twists and turns to the plot. There are several excellent scenes which really grip you and have you frantically turning the pages over to get to the next ...  Read the complete review

I have read all the Cornwell books, and was starting to think that she had lost her edge. The characters were wearing down...that is until Black Notice. This was a real breath of fresh air for me. The charaters were more real than ever and Cornwell managed to inject more emotions than you could shake a stick at. The story itself was original and as ever graphically written. A top read moving from America to Paris without a pause. Scarpetta manages to track the killer as she battles with her own demons, and the best part...a totally unexpected ending. Top read, I was on the edge of my seat throughout. I highly recommend it. ...  Read the complete review