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Book of the Dead Hardcover – October 23, 2007
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The "book of the dead" is the morgue log, a ledger in which all cases are entered by hand. For Kay Scarpetta, however, it is about to take on a new meaning. Fresh from her bruising battle with a psychopath in Florida, Scarpetta decides it's time for a change of pace, not only personally and professionally but geographically. Moving to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, she opens a unique private forensic pathology practice, one in which she and her colleagues-including Pete Marino and her niece, Lucy-offer expert crime-scene investigation and autopsy services to communities lacking local access to modern, competent death investigation technology.
It seems like an ideal situation, until the new battles start-with local politicians, with entrenched interests, with someone whose covert attempts at sabotage are clearly meant to run Scarpetta out of town. And that's before the murders and other violent deaths even begin.
A young man from a well-known family jumps off a water tower. A woman is found ritualistically murdered in her multimillion-dollar beach home. The body of an abused young boy is discovered dumped in a desolate marsh. Meanwhile, in distant New England, problems with a prominent patient at a Harvard-affiliated psychiatric hospital begin to hint at interconnections that are as hard to imagine as they are horrible.
Kay Scarpetta has dealt with many brutal and unusual crimes before, but never a string of them as baffling, or as terrifying, as the ones confronting her now. Before she is through, that book of the dead will contain many names-and the pen may be poised to write in her own.
The first name in forensics. The last name in suspense. Once again, Patricia Cornwell proves her exceptional ability to entertain and enthrall.
- Print length405 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherG.P. Putnam's Sons
- Publication dateOctober 23, 2007
- Reading age18 years and up
- Dimensions6.32 x 1.38 x 9.54 inches
- ISBN-100399153934
- ISBN-13978-0399153938
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Product details
- Publisher : G.P. Putnam's Sons (October 23, 2007)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 405 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0399153934
- ISBN-13 : 978-0399153938
- Reading age : 18 years and up
- Item Weight : 1.4 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.32 x 1.38 x 9.54 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #891,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,133 in Medical Thrillers (Books)
- #23,007 in Women Sleuths (Books)
- #38,847 in Suspense Thrillers
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
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.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book enjoyable and refreshing to read. They appreciate Cornwell's writing style and find it well-written and thought-out. The book keeps readers on their toes and on the edge of their seats. However, some find the language confusing and stilted, with long paragraphs of detail. They also mention that the pacing is slow and disjointed. Opinions are mixed on the suspenseful plot, with some finding it interesting and exciting, while others feel it's hard to follow and the ending weird.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book enjoyable and well-written. They find it refreshing to read an ongoing series that breaks the rules. The story is interesting and well-thought-out, making it a fun Cornwell novel.
"Entertaining fifteenth book in the Scarpetta Series...." Read more
"...I love Ms. Cornwell's writing style because she tells a story worth reading and reflecting upon for the open minded who are not enmeshed in their..." Read more
"...It was boring, but she bit the jackpot with this one! Buy, read it, enjoy it. I surely did.😇..." Read more
"...characters (Scarpetta, Marino, Benton Wesley, Lucy) have become very unlikeable. As a reader, I can't bring myself to feel sympathy for any of them...." Read more
Customers appreciate the writing style of the book. They find it well-paced, thought-out, and engaging. Readers also mention it's one of Cornwell's best works.
"...of these types of career risks in her characters and has written a compelling and informative book that invites a person to examine one's own life,..." Read more
"...a case - sometimes in graphic terms...and solves the case...A taut writing style is told in 1st person to get us involved with Kay and co., and in..." Read more
"...Her writing is nothing short of engrossing...." Read more
"...As always this is another fast paced, well thought out, and well written "who don-it". There is the usual cast of characters plus some new ones...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's plot twists that keep them engaged. They find the book action-packed and can't put it down. Readers appreciate the authors' research and dedication to obtaining the most accurate information.
"...I love following never tiring authors, who research to obtain the most plausible plot, and all the tedious decisions, that can make any reader..." Read more
"...Book of the Dead, is a maze of characters and plot twists that holds the reader down and keeps him hostage...." Read more
"this book was one I couldn't stop reading. I had to find what was going to happen next in the story. One of the bretter reads." Read more
"...out and the settings changed from Europe to the U.S., and not once losing the reader...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the story. Some find the plot interesting and exciting, with lots of twists. Others feel the plot is hard to follow at times, and the ending is weird. They also mention that the autopsy information and personal angst are overdone.
"...IMO, this book is riveting, extensively detailed and a revelation of the psychological and emotional burnout endured by Scarpetta and her..." Read more
"...The plot of this book is so complicated and so implausable, it is almost funny. The fates of 3 of the 5 main characters are in the air...." Read more
"This was one of the most exciting stories I have read this year...." Read more
"...than in the earlier books, but this one is readable, the story is fairly interesting and suspenseful...." Read more
Customers have different views on the characters. Some find them wonderful and well-developed, allowing readers to feel the emotions they experience. Others feel the characters are more disjointed, mysterious, and lack depth. There is also a lack of character descriptions in the dialogue, leading some readers to feel the characters are unfocused.
"I enjoyed the book although the author’s characters are becoming more unbelievable. I still can’t put down a Scarpetta novel." Read more
"...It's really not that bad. The characters are more disjointed than in the earlier books, but this one is readable, the story is fairly..." Read more
"...Cornwell is experimenting with the characters and exaggerating their traits and flaws in a way that I find interesting...." Read more
"...in this work, I found it surprising that Will 's character was only briefly touched upon and the illumination of his character remained that of..." Read more
Customers find the book's language confusing, stilted, and difficult to read. They mention it contains scientific jargon and dialogue that distract from the plot. The information overload and excessive details make the story hard to follow at times.
"...They've never seemed like any couples I've ever met and its all very stilted. Still worth a read for anyone who liked the earlier books...." Read more
"...distant; Benton is basically there to move the plot along, offering no new insight, considering he's a brilliant profiler; Marino is more surly and..." Read more
"...There's no mystery here; it's an awkward amalgam of forensic science (interesting, I guess, but with no real human element), a poem to Rome, a Dear..." Read more
"...IMO, this book is riveting, extensively detailed and a revelation of the psychological and emotional burnout endured by Scarpetta and her..." Read more
Customers find the book's pacing slow. They mention the conversations are repetitive and the relationships are strained. The characters are described as flat, predictable, and lacking confidence. Many readers feel the story is disjointed and hard to follow due to the constant whining and rambling dialogue.
"...Their relationship seems juvenile in its arrangement as well, for people their age, and that makes it really hard for the reader to take at all..." Read more
"...in "Book of the Dead" is confused, lacking in confidence, and a bit whiny. I found it hard to feel any real sympathy for her...." Read more
"...It was disjointed and rambled on and on and on with endless boring dialog. And enough already with Lucy and her ridiculous exploits!..." Read more
"...Cornwell's characters are, if anything, more disturbed and obnoxious than ever...." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2023Entertaining fifteenth book in the Scarpetta Series. This book begins with the brutal murder of a teenage American tennis player who was a guest on the Tv show of Dr. Laura Self that Benton Wesley and Kay Scarpetta consult with for the police in Italy. Scarpetta is now living in Charleston, South Carolina. In Charleston the body of a little boy who was abused to death is found in a desolate marsh. While Marino is having a hard time and drinking and abusing testosterone cream and spending time with a sleazy woman named Shandy. The killer is calling himself The Sandman because he puts sand in his victims' eyes and glues them shut.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2007I appreciate Patricia Cornwell's work on many levels. IMO, this book is riveting, extensively detailed and a revelation of the psychological and emotional burnout endured by Scarpetta and her investigative team. The characters have "seen so much" as they professionally endure the on-going horror of dealing with the aftermath of psychopathic inhuman behavior toward other humans. Scarpetta, et al are burn-out "crispy" in their heads, hearts and lives. You keenly feel a sense of leadened "reactions" and deadened "senses". For this immense insight, I applaud Ms. Cornwell for her extensive and sensitive portrayal of this part of the reality that does happen to people who do this kind of work in real life, and the courage required to take the risk and share it with her readers.
Kay Scarpetta is now 50 years old, she has reached a crossroads weary and unwilling to continue in a career as a metaphorical "spoke" in a larger, increasingly political "wheel" which she perceives as spinning out of control. She wants a positive change in her life. Along with this Kay is addressing the energy changes of her natural, biological passage in life and is seeking a different pace and peace. Kay has refined her skills and her interests and in choosing a new path she hopes to find fulfillment at this new stage of her life. Cornwell's subtle aging of her characters brings new dimension to them and reveals her finesse in understanding and writing about life's passages in a layered way.
Further, Scarpetta has been forced into a solitary lifestyle by her career choice and it's demands; she is always under attack by someone with an agenda; she is threatened with personal danger from psychopathic persons like the killer, and, once again, by Dr. Self, etc. Added to Kay's constant nightmare is the threat of Marino. Pete's self-destructive delusions; his ignorant, narcissistic self pity; his sexually frustrated anger twisted and enhanced by topical hormonal sexual stimulant evolves in to a raging man out of his senses. The hormone side effects motivate aggressive behavior and fuel his ever-present irrationality. His warped self loathing evolves into a drunken vindictive rage and deteriorates into violent confrontation. Kay has to fight off his rape attempts and mauling in her own home. This profound, shock, and betrayal of 20 years of trust so damages Kay she is berift. There is no recovery from this for Kay. Nor is there any for Lucy for whom he was a surrogate "father" figure. She goes after him and the ax falls. Marino's disappearance in this story was an event horizon long expected and yet it turned into a double edged sword for all parties.
Kay is trying to find some happiness in her personal life by moving around from state to state. However, in effect, she is running from ghosts. Her "self-talk" is tortured when she wrestles with indecision over the engagement ring and her late-blooming promise to marry Benton. One empathizes with her ambivalence since Wesley was assumed "dead" leaving her heartbroken, feeling guilty, unfulfilled. Imagine the experience of the "dead" arising and the shock of trying to resume a relationship with that person who hurt you the most? Kay has become emotionally remote. Who could blame her? Their history clearly impacts their ability to relate in the here and now.
It was amusing when Scarpetta had "had enough" of her neighbor
spying on her yardman Bull as she yells a wonderfully "snarky" zinger out of her open window at the nosy old troublemaker. Benton obliquely criticizes Kay. Her rejoinder was great. Given what we know of Kay's testy interactions with Benton, that joust strongly suggests that this "romance" won't ever mature into a marriage. They are too set in their ways and neither will sacrifice for the other or stop the not so "merry-go-round" of the past. Choice is their message here. The ghosts continue to haunt.
I think Cornwell has captured the reality of these types of career risks in her characters and has written a compelling and informative book that invites a person to examine one's own life, reaction and coping mechanisms when faced with personal loss, and the challenges of maturing and it's refinement of interests and values. This added dimension makes Cornwell's work timely, valid, viable.
I love Ms. Cornwell's writing style because she tells a story worth reading and reflecting upon for the open minded who are not enmeshed in their own preconceptions and hypercritical judgements of how a story is told or "should" or "ought" to have been written. Cornwell is deep.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2023This was one of the most exciting stories I have read this year. The last Scarpetta book I reviewed I was unkind and very critical of the way the writer described Kay's kitchen, how she made certain Italian dishes, what certain machines did in her lab, and how intelligent she is. It was boring, but she bit the jackpot with this one! Buy, read it, enjoy it. I surely did.😇
- Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2008After the disaster that was "Predator" and some of the other recent books, I had very low expectations for this. I thought reading it would be painful, but I'm pleasantly suprised. It's really not that bad.
The characters are more disjointed than in the earlier books, but this one is readable, the story is fairly interesting and suspenseful. The characters continue to grow, regress, evolve, and we get a look at their actions, pasts, and what drives them. Cornwell is trying to make them three-dimensional people again, and while it's not at the level of her earlier books, it's more than enough to hold its own with other authors in the genre - thank goodness!
Now the more specific stuff:
I really wish she would cut Marino a break. First he becomes the kicking dog of everyone in the books, and now she's trying to make him so despicable that we'll feel its ok. I'm over it. He started out as the type of good ol' boy cop that was believeable in his job, and the inclusion of his flaws made him believable, a realistic, relatively well-developed character. Now, he just continues to regress and get worse as he ages. It would be more realistic, I think, if he were to learn from his mistakes, grow a little wiser with age, etc., as the people around him seem to do. If he's intelligent enough to have been an asset to Scarpetta, in the beginning at least, and to keep from getting killed through all of these books, it seems that a little of that street-saavy would carry over into his personal life. It's less believable that it doesn't, and that he just becomes such a loser that the incessant kicking he gets in each novel seems almost deserved. I wish Cornwall would quit making him more and more criminal, more and more stupid, more and more like a rebellious teenager, and let him be an adult man, flaws and all, and grow a little as a character.
And like some other reviewers have mentioned, the Benton-Kay relationship doesn't ring as true as most other interactions in the book. When they talk, they sound more like a high-school couple. Their relationship seems juvenile in its arrangement as well, for people their age, and that makes it really hard for the reader to take at all seriously - which, frankly, I would love to do. I think Cornwall does a great job of depicting people's attachments to each other, but has consistently failed to do so with any depth in this one couple. They've never seemed like any couples I've ever met and its all very stilted.
Still worth a read for anyone who liked the earlier books. Maybe Cornwall's great writing abilities are on their way back...
Top reviews from other countries
- Gillian WilkesReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 8, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Book
Good read
- BrigitteReviewed in Spain on June 7, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent
i've read all Patricia Corwell's Scarpetta novels.
Sometimes, I couln't stop reading and have spent nights without sleeping.
I like the fabulous descriptions of the characters, from the protaginists to, for example, Rose, the secretary,
I'm looking forward to the next Scarpetta novel.
Normally, Amazon tells me if I have already bought a book, but this time, they haven't, so I bought 2 books I had bought before, which I don't
understand. I was so happy because I thought: Wonderful - 2 more books to read, but they are the same I already had.
I highly recommend the Scarpetta books.
- VENKATARATNAM GAREKAPATIReviewed in India on December 30, 2016
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
ok
- Penelope ChittyReviewed in Australia on July 3, 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Like all her books it was very riveting and hard to put down.
- Sarah TrickeyReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2023
4.0 out of 5 stars Better
The last few I have found very long winded and not liking the characters any more has made it more difficult for me to like the series anymore. However I did find this one more captivating and held my interest a lot more. I still don't see the point of her bringing back Benton and I still can't stand Lucy but their characters weren't as central this time to the story and I think.that's partly what made it more enjoyable. I also don't like the direction Marino has gone in I feel like a it's a bad representation of who his character was and I feel like the arguments thrown in are petty and the old Marino wouldn't have been like that. I do as a whole enjoy the series so I will carry on I just hope these issues I have are straightened out a bit more.