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Scarpetta Mass Market Paperback – August 25, 2009

by Patricia Cornwell (Author)

4.5 4,606 ratings

Book 16 of 28: Kay Scarpetta

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From America’s #1 bestselling crime writers comes an extraordinary #1 New York Times bestselling Kay Scarpetta novel.

Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her, and when she literally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk—and the story he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has ever heard.

The injuries, he says, were sustained in the course of a murder . . . that he did not commit. Is Bane a criminally insane stalker who has fixed on Scarpetta? Or is his paranoid tale true, and it is he who is being spied on, followed and stalked by the actual killer? The one thing Scarpetta knows for certain is that a woman has been tortured and murdered—and more violent deaths will follow. Gradually, an inexplicable and horrifying truth emerges: Whoever is committing the crimes knows where his prey is at all times. Is it a person, a government? And what is the connection between the victims?

In the days that follow, Scarpetta; her forensic psychologist husband, Benton Wesley; and her niece, Lucy, who has recently formed her own forensic computer investigation firm in New York, will undertake a harrowing chase through cyberspace and the all-too-real streets of the city—an odyssey that will take them at once to places they never knew, and much, much too close to home.

Throughout, Cornwell delivers shocking twists and turns, and the kind of cutting-edge technology that only she can provide. Once again, she proves her exceptional ability to entertain and enthrall.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patricia Cornwell is considered one of the world's bestselling crime writers. Her intrepid medical examiner Kay Scarpetta first appeared on the scene in 1990 with Postmortem—the only novel to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards and the French Prix du Roman d'Aventure in a single year—and Cruel and Unusual, which won Britain's prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of 1993. Dr. Kay Scarpetta herself won the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author. Ms. Cornwell's work is translated into 36 languages across more than 120 countries.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; Reprint edition (August 25, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 592 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0425230163
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425230169
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.19 x 1.27 x 7.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #158,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #303 in Medical Thrillers (Books)
- #6,320 in Women Sleuths (Books)
- #12,692 in Suspense Thrillers

Customer Reviews:
4.5 4,606 ratings

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Patricia Cornwell

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In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize—the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. Growing into an international phenomenon, the Scarpetta series won Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.

Today, Cornwell’s novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper’s identity, cookbooks, a children’s book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and two other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano and Andy Brazil. While writing Quantum, Cornwell spent two years researching space, technology, and robotics at Captain Calli Chase’s home base, NASA’s Langley Research Center, and studied cutting-edge law enforcement and security techniques with the Secret Service, the US Air Force, NASA Protective Services, Scotland Yard, and Interpol.

Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston and Los Angeles.

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Kindle Customer

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2023

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Easy Read. Nice to revisit characters I haven't read about for awhile. Standard Scarlett a crime story. Good escape..

Recommended

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2008

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I have to admit, the previous Scarpetta books were lacking. You see, Patricia Cornwell has spoiled us with her early Scarpetta works like All That Remains, that anything less is not acceptable.
Her early books were the front runners for all of the forensics shows on TV now -
Then things went amiss. Cornwell's characters started losing their personalities, roaming from town to town, trying to get the Virginia magic back.
It got so bad that in the last book, Book of the Dead, things exploded, and Marino, who has been treated almost as a cartoon-like character, assaulted Scapetta and disappeared.
So now, in this latest Cornwell book, I was hesitant to read it. But am glad I did.
While it is long winded in terms of the little person who would only talk to Scarpetta, all of the characters (less Rose who passed away) return in a semblance of their former selves.
Marino has lost weight and the bad attitude, and is in a program for drinking. He is still a special investigator and is on a murder case Benton and Scarpetta are on.
Peace is somehow restored, and the chemistry starts again.
The details of the murder, and the kind of easy to guess who done it, well, you will find it an easy and enjoyable read.
Welcome back Patricia Cornwell!

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Ahhhh, she's back!

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2009

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I have been a long time fan of Patricia Cornwell. From the begining her writting style and attention to details draws you in. Her main characters, Pete Marino, Lucy, Benton Wesley and of course...Kay Scarpetta; you just feel like a very close friend of them all. In her recent books, every move, every action, their thoughts and emotions towards each other were as dissected as an autopsy that Scarpetta would perform! It was to the point of ridiculous, they didn't trust each other more often than not. Not only were you looking for the killers you were wondering what was going on between all of them, it was to text book. No one moves in life like that, Patricia Cornwell was over compensating and it was as if everyone was under a microscope??! This new book, AWESOME...none of the main characters were looking over their shoulders at each other like a soap opera on speed. The details and forensic analysis were where they were supposed to be...in the killers actions, the crime scenes and the creative thinking and experience of the characters to solve this. Patricia Cornwell made them human again in this book. All the human faults that are a true part of life not the sterilized and emotionless people they were all becoming in the previous books. I just finished reading it on my Kindle 2 I might add, I just could not put this book down. It was perfect from start to finish! This...this is the writting style and stories I've come to know and love from Patrica Cornwell. The psychological mind of the killer and what he/she does to his victims and how it's unravelled by the experts of Marino, Lucy, Benton and Kay who does justice to the victims of horrific crimes and are treated with dignity and respect. Kay's compassion and professionalism helps capture the killer while she cares to the victim(s) who can no longer speak for themselves. This is excellent; a must read.

4 people found this helpful

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Dr. Kathleen Olsson Nelson

Adept, convoluted, fascinating, and compelling storytelling

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2008

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Scarpetta feels like a book that has come full circle in this fascinating study of a woman who walks a far different career path than most of the women in this world. She has resolved many of the conflicts of her character through intense self examination following the near rape by Marino and the loss of her beloved secretary Rose. The story also resolves questions as to what has happened to Marino her long time loyal sidekick. Lucy has finally maturated into a likeable character.

The story of little people has rarely been told before, certainly not in a high profile way by a top of the trees author such as Patricia Cornwell, and I was very happy to learn more about this topic. The characters were compelling and sad, as was the story of Shrew and the heartbreaking puppy mills that exist in our society. There was a lot of technology introduced that boggles the mind when one considers the state of the science and how Lucy has taken it to levels unimaginable by most of us. The psychopathic killer was a surprise and yet there were clues aplenty throughout. I am also very glad that Kay and Benton have come to a place of peace between them. It is about time. Another excellent and gripping story by this author.

10 people found this helpful

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rosekrystofolski

Sixteenth Book in The Scarpetta Series

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023

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Sixteenth Book in The Scarpetta Series. This book starts with the murder of Terri Brooks, A little person who is a student in forensic psychology and her boyfriend, Oscar Bane is found at the crime scene and asks to go to Bellevue and will only agree to see Kay Scarpetta. Jaime Berger is the DA for the case and Pete Marino is her investigator and they're going over the case and they find all kinds of new evidence that is very hard to explain but they all continue their investigation.

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JSI

Scarpetta: Compelling Characters

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

Cornwell is great at writing characters, however, the plot is something we've read before. The killer is very obvious and ultimately disappointing in terms of whodunit.

Sadly, Cornwell continues the same, hackneyed climax style as nearly every other Scarpetta series novel (i.e. Postmortem, Black Notice, Blowfly) in which at the end, Scarpetta is caught by the killer due to her sheer inattention. You would think after 15 prior entries, both author and character would be on guard for this overused trap.

The title also seems quite disconnected from the titular character: Scarpetta is not at the center of this plot, so why is it named after her? If she were removed from the story, I suspect it would still unfold and conclude the same way it already does.

Still, the interactions between the characters are always compelling and nuanced, which is what carries the story. In many ways, the story act as a vehicle for the characters to hash out their problems with one another, but I just wish the story itself was as compelling as the characters.

3 people found this helpful

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ian anderson

Good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2024

Verified Purchase

Good read. Characters all there. Moves along at a nice pace.

Abhishek Kumar

Good.

Reviewed in India on November 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

After a long time i have bought a book by the author and was thoroughly surprised to like it more than expected. The plot of the story keep you hooked until the end of the book and the characters brought back the good memories of the previous work by the writer. Recommended.

Kevin Carleton

Good

Reviewed in Canada on August 12, 2018

Verified Purchase

Good book

Tita

Me ha gustado

Reviewed in Spain on October 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

Llevaba años sin comprar libros de la Cornwell. Pero eso me ha gustado mucho, se parece a las primeras obras de la autora