| Title | : | Unnatural Exposure (Kay Scarpetta, #8) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0751530492 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780751530490 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 370 |
| Publication | : | First published August 1, 1997 |
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Virginia Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta has a bloody puzzle on her hands: five headless, limbless cadavers in Ireland, plus four similar victims in a landfill back home. Is a serial butcher loose in Virginia? That's what the panicked public thinks, thanks to a local TV reporter who got the leaked news from her boyfriend, Scarpetta's vile rival, Investigator Percy Ring. But the butchered bodies are so many red herrings intended to throw idiots like Ring off the track. Instead of a run-of-the-mill serial killer, we're dealing with a shadowy figure who has plans involving mutant smallpox, mass murder, and messing with Scarpetta's mind by e-mailing her gory photos of the murder scenes, along with cryptic AOL chat-room messages. The coolest innovation: Scarpetta's gorgeous genius niece, Lucy, equips her with a DataGlove and a VPL Eyephone, and she takes a creepy virtual tour of the e-mailed crime scene.
Unnatural Exposure boasts brisk storytelling, crackling dialogue, evocative prose about forensic-science sleuthing, and crisp character sketches, both of familiar characters like Scarpetta's gruff partner Pete Marino and bit players like the landfill employee falsely accused by Ring. Plus, let's face it: serial killers are old hat. Cornwell's most vivid villains are highly plausible backstabbing colleagues like Ring, who plots to destroy Lucy's FBI career by outing her as a lesbian. Some readers object to the rather abrupt ending, but, hey, it's less jarring than Hannibal's, and it's the logical culmination of Cornwell's philosophy about human nature. To illuminate the novel's finale, read Cornwell's remarks on paranoia in her Amazon.com interview. --Tim Appelo
Unnatural Exposure (Kay Scarpetta, #8) Reviews
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Book Review
Unnatural Exposure, the 8th book in the "Kay Scarpetta" thriller series, published in 1997, by
Patricia Cornwell, get 3 of 5 stars. By this time, fans of the series know Kay Scarpetta really well, and you either love her or get annoyed by her but love the mysteries. I generally like her as a character, but she did push a few buttons in this installment. Now that shes become fairly famous in her field, she's a little holier-than-thou... probably rightfully so, but still, a little goes a long way. This one features more of her niece Lucy and a rival ME who seems out to get her. The chase revolves around a serial killer with a body count both in Virginia and in Ireland. Is is the same person? A copy-cat? An accident? When it turns out there is potential of a lethal virus being released, Scarpetta goes into over-drive and pushes everyone further and further. It also seems someone's out to take her down, as well as anyone she's close to. I liked the medical aspect of this book and the foray into virtual reality, but I like reading thriller books for the mystery, not the ultra technical aspects. They've always been technical, slightly ahead of their time... but this one is a bit heavy-handed. A good read, but fell middle of the pack for me.
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Patricia Cornwell portrays the relatable quirks of professional and personal life. The focus of Kay Scarpetta’s morgue staff is mercifully not on that job but on what a day is like for them as people. In this series, it is fun to know the early internet well. I had PCs before most people and smile at the FBI’s technical prowess in 1997. Computers had 8 mgs of RAM: the size of one JPG photo or MP3 song, in 2019 today! They connected to the internet like I do in rural Manitoba: via telephone modem. These novels are fantastic time capsules, spanning 1990 to 2016. I love the observable increase in modernity.
Each case is different, this one opening in Dublin and shifting to a Virginia island. However, prolific novels vary in quality. I gave this one two stars for expending detail on threads that were dropped and for a motive that was too trite for an act of horror. Lack of career advancement is not a plausible cause!
“Unnatural Exposure” has two mysteries: identifying dismembered torsos and why they contain smallpox; an old threat to humanity that vaccinations made extinct. That was interesting and urgent. The perpetrator taunted Kay by e-mail and the FBI pinpointed an empty location. Considering collaboration with the FBI, disease control quarantining the island, and unidentified victims: readers have the impression of a tough case to crack.
All that emphasis fell flat, for Kay to abruptly end up at the killer’s house and see who it was. It was as if the combined forces dominating this novel were irrelevant. We do not learn if Ireland’s victims had the same murderer. Animal testing was unapologetically discussed, despite attesting that results are inapplicable to humans. However, I own Patricia’s other books, which I am sure to like better. -
After the last Scarpetta book, which I one starred, I was worried about this, the eighth in the series. Five headless and limbless bodies turn up in Ireland... and four similar corpses turn up in Virginia! During the investigation of this likely serial killer Scarpetta has to cope with an unscrupulous rival, a budget freeze and a possible biological warfare threat! Almost back with a bang, good to see the series still alive and kicking!
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I listened to this as an audiobook on several long drives this week. Kay Scarpetta was a great companion on my journey.
Unnatural Exposure felt like a couple of different mysteries wrapped into one book as one horrifying crime scene led into a completely different horrifying scenario. And, of course, everything tied together neatly at the end. I always feel like I learn so much whenever I read a Kay Scarpetta book. This time I got to learn about pathogens and the little fishing island of Tangier Island.
There was a definite feeling of suspense throughout the book. I didn't feel that the pace ever slowed. I didn't predict the end until Cornwell brought it to me and then I was slapping my head and saying, "of course!!" So it was very enjoyable.
Personally, I wish there was a little more Marino in this book and a little less Wesley. The interactions with Marino are just way more entertaining than listening to Kay go on about her on again, off again feelings about Wesley. I never did approve of that relationship, so I don't care where it goes. But like I said, that's all a matter of personal taste. ;)
Now to reserve the next installment in the series. I may get through them all yet! Thanks to my public library for providing the listening material so I could enjoy this great book! -
This mystery featuring Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta reminds me of why I was so addicted them a decade ago. You get an irascible, brilliant hero pushed to her limits, the thrills of a dangerous chess match with a serial killer, infighting with jealous competitors, and supportive teamwork from her cool lover Benson, a whiz with the FBI profiling squad, her irreverent blue-collar detective liaison Marino, and her tough techie niece Lucy.
This is the 8th of 20 in the series, and, having read 13, I feel this was the last one that was really satisfying to me. To me it was a pleasure because the story stayed focused on her perspectives on the case and her skills in medical forensics and public health. Unlike some of the later books, this one didn’t divert excessively into the soap opera of her relationships with Marino, Benson, and Lucy. Others may object for the opposite reason, i.e. that it didn’t develop those relationships very much. There is a major public health and infectious disease aspect to the story that appealed to me, although others may be bored with the technical detail or jaded from more thrilling medico-techno thrillers from the likes of Crichton and others. Yet credit is due to Cornwell for helping spawn the current popularity of technically oriented CSI procedurals. And despite the technical detail, the draw of these stories for me is Scarpetta’s personality, tough with those who get in her way and kind and empathetic to those in need. -
By this point I found Scarpetta unbearable. She's stopped resembling any human, and become some sort of paranoid superhero. [Of course, someone always is out to get her, but it's different someones all the time]
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Due to a conspiracy of postal workers, I'm still stuck with Cornwell. As usual, the relationship between KS and BW happened between this book and the last and now she's sick of him. While there seem more general personal/private moments, they are of the empty variety. She even adds a bloody recipy at one point. The true disappointment though is that Val McDermid's praise is on the cover - Cornwell not only doesn't marry cutting edge science with old fashioned horror, she makes what is genuinely tragic seem boring. Of course McDermid must (have) genuinely admire(d) her, but characters standing up to abusive fathers or getting AIDS in crime novels is not that extraordinary to say Wilson copied it, and the review still grates. 150 quick pointless pages in, we have the usual conniving upstart who can't be touched, the usual plane journeys to visit a guy with a microscope, the usual M=fate + L=skinnylovely + B=imposing blablabla.
Despite all that, perhaps due to not expecting anything anymore, the first half was a fast read, but then her thin excuse of a "plot" again fades behind pointless chapters on wonderful military achievements - the worst of that was of course Potter's Field and Body Farm especially, two fascinating RL areas she (ab)used for titles and at a flimsy, illogical pretext for her "plots". Not only would I prefer to read the textbooks than what she filters through from her research, she also keeps explaining how one can "mail" photos after "scanning" them in a book published in 1997, adding to the weird mix of condescencion and Crichtonesque info dump.
Worst of course is the good Doctor, who goes in unprotected to a body she was told had surely smallpox, and when other people are shot for violating quarantine, she's travelling blithly around, angry that Marino is scared of getting a lethal disease from her - I'm actually too angry to point out all the idiocies about when and how who and what is protected or not. Least of all I care about her second ultra-sensationalist plot though - atom bomb last time, plague this time, she'll run out of James Bond threats soon - this writer is so beyond the pale I'm only glad there's nothing to like.
Oh, I liked that KS went and for once helped the wrongfully arrested gay guy - except it was utter overcompensation for the times she did nothing, esp. when it concerned her own employees, and Cornwell's gay men (only/always) weep, and whenever she brings someone soup, they DIE. The criminal is as usual someone we never go to know but KS knew for ages *yawn* and KS's criminally insane stupidity was ok because she knows best that she wasn't rilly sick.
The absolute low/high point was the end though. After the - never shown, seen or described - time she spent with BW, she couldn't stand him and he wanted to marry her. Somehow the death of the ever absent Mark (that also happened somewhere between books and cropped up as an aside) is now the big stumbling block she never got over. He was the love of her life? So she has to fly back to the UK again - she might one day well fly to the bloody moon to get a better look at the outline of the USA, if she keeps that up, but anyway - there she makes a scene until the smart FBI guy caves in and confesses Mark had had a woman with him, so she tells BW that she loves him, the end.
PS: The only love here is of course for Lucy, who isn't only the smartest, strongest, most beautiful young goddess alive, but in this book there is actually a scene where they nearly land in bed together and KS thinks that she's not Lucy's girlfriend. -
Kornvelovu često upoređuju sa Tes Geritsen zbog načina pisanja i dubioze ulaska u svetu one medicinske strane, obdukcije, analize mrtvog tela i slično. Gotovo odmah se prepozna autorkino umeće pisanja, žanr kojim dominira. Priča je krenula lepo, razrada je delovala veoma zanimljivo ali je u jednom trenutku autorka malo skrenula sa puta te je moja finalna ocena 3⭐️.
Svakako ću i dalje čitati njene romane. -
It's odd reading this in 2012, fourteen years after its publication; it must have seemed absolutely up to the minute in '98, with its online goings-on (on AOL!) and its virtual-reality recreation of the crime scene by Scarpetta's whiz-kid niece. And the supervirus/biological terror fears of our time (whether it be AIDS, which is specifically referenced, or bird flu, which is not) are skilfully exploited. But one is constantly just slightly jolted by the careful explanations of technological things that are every kid's playground this scant decade later; and also by the deep, deep sadness surrounding an HIV positive status, which is still treated in Cornwell's text as an automatic death sentence. And I winced at the assumption that the niece's lesbianism absolutely *had* to be kept quiet so as to preserve her FBI/military job; though maybe that wince still isn't entirely gone in the States.
Anyway, I won't spoil the ending. It's a classic old-sins-come-back-to-haunt-us one, and a not terribly obvious villain. Really I wasn't reading it for the solution of the mystery anyway; more for that strange sense of culture shock. Cornwell isn't in my top tier, mostly because her autopsy scenes are a bit too graphic for me (she no doubt appeals greatly to the CSI crowd), but this one didn't lose my attention for a minute. And that despite the fact that I am less than enthralled by a protagonist who can't seem to make up her mind amongst several highly presentable suitors. -
Much better than book 7, Cause of Death. Whereas the prior novel had more to do with wacky cult conspiracy theories, this one was firmly focused on Scarpetta's gory morgue work.
In this one, garbage dump workers discover what appears to be a section of a body at a Virginia landfill. A local cop named Ring suspects the driver who reported it first, but Kay advises a slow and steady investigation - particularly since there may be a connection between this murder and several unsolved cases in the UK. Later, she and her assistant discover strangely clustered pustules during the autopsy. Dr. Scarpetta sends several slides for analysis and expects a report of chicken pox, or similar.
It's not chicken pox.
Other stuff that happens: Merino is more of an ass than usual. Now that he's finally divorced, Scarpetta tells Benton she's tired of sneaking around like they still have something to hide. Lucy and Janet are fighting over their individual FBI assignments taking them away from each other. Lucy's whiz-bang technology helps Scarpetta learn where the killings took place.
This one was definitely a step back up. I'm starting to see how inconsistent Cornwell's quality is from novel to novel, and I hope the next few remain as interesting as this one was. -
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Kay Scarpetta is starting to get on my nerves
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Good book
I am rereading this series in the year 2022 and finding eerie similarities to current events happening now. A monkey virus us spreading as I read. Another good book! -
I don't think I would be nearly as hard on this book if it weren't in my "501-must-reads" list.
It's a perfectly fine mystery book, where instead of a cop or a reporter, it's a medical examiner who leads the way. Very Rizzoli & Isles, if you ask me. It's possible that this book was somehow groundbreaking when it first came out, but somehow I don't feel that it was. There were also a lot of open-ended story lines that didn't get resolved. I'm giving Cornwell the benefit of the doubt that these story lines are resolved in the next book in the series, and not just left out to die. Overall, the mystery just wasn't really a mystery though. It was one of those "serial killer on the loose" books except that you aren't given the opportunity to try to solve the case. There are no red herrings. No real clues or suspects and practically no final showdown. It all wraps up extremely neatly in the last chapter with some random character you met in an early chapter and never heard from again. MAYBE if I read the previous 7 books, I would have guessed this random person, but then I think that's a flaw in a book in a series. Each mystery should at least be able to stand on its own.
If I had just picked this up randomly, it would probably have been a 3 because it was entertaining and a quick read. But because I was told it was a "must-read", I must judge it more harshly and I find nothing particularly amazing about it - therefore, it only gets a 2. -
This had another dark, creepy crime to solve and some great character moments.
Kay continues to be a fave of mine and this reread journey is reminding me why I love her so much. Her commitment to staying true to herself, without apology, is so empowering. She's a force and I'm a fan!
Yet another audio + book book reading experience and both were great! -
Review pending and rating withheld until I am less annoyed.
I was not impressed with the last one. This one was worse. There was one story line I enjoyed, but of course it ended immediately. I have the next 3 borrowed from a friend so I'm at least going to finish those but idk about continuing this series after that. The later books I've read have improved in some ways and declined in others. The writing is pretty decent on the whole but the characters are extremely unlikable.
_____Update: 2.5**, not rounding up.______
Beware, there are book and series spoilers if you keep reading.
This book starts with Dr. Scarpetta in Ireland. She’s been on the trail of a killer dismembering bodies. Ok, very cool. I want to catch this guy. That's what this book is about, right? Right?
Back in Virginia, a dismembered body shows up in a trash dump. A sloppy, self-aggrandizing investigator with VIP family connections thinks the cases are linked, but Scarpetta doesn’t. This investigator is a jerk who hates Scarpetta and Lucy. He's an all around human turd. His feud with them continues for the entire book as he arrests the wrong person and targets Lucy. Meanwhile someone, possibly the killer, is emailing Scarpetta photos of the body before it was dumped.
My favorite part of this book was the food. That’s probably the only truly good part of the book. The crabcake recipe made me hungry.
In most Scarpetta books, I run into something interesting on a technical level where I end up looking up articles on the science behind the cases, which is a major draw I can see this series having despite my issues with it. Unfortunately, this book was the exception. The plot ran more on Scarpetta's outrage and personal persecution complex than the actual details of the case. Moving on...
Scarpetta is nasty to coworkers which is nothing new. In this book, she makes a big deal about not wanting anyone to touch or rearrange anything (Marino and the files on her desk, Wesley and literally touching dishes). Like look, I get not wanting anyone in your stuff. I dare you to touch my embroidery or my knitting. Scarpetta takes this to a whole new level though. It’s like she resents people breathing around her.
If you’re planning a Scarpetta drinking game, do not drink when Scarpetta tries to intimidate someone either with her medical license or her law degree because you might die. This is something that has annoyed me in other books, but in this one it is overwhelming. This book is full of her ego. Highlights include threatening to sue reporters over a parking space and making judgmental assumptions about female nurses.
I think I rolled my eyes hard enough to get whiplash when Scarpetta leaves quarantine after a smallpox exposure to perform an autopsy because it’s her case. Like, girl, tell me you’re insecure without peeing on your territory.
I have skipped around in the series. I have read later books that include Carrie but this is the earliest mention of her I’ve run into. I gather her affair with Lucy and the crimes that sent her to prison occur in one of the books I’ve missed. Anyway, this book sees the characters anticipating the trial.
Scarpetta makes a big deal about not exposing anyone to an infectious disease, but we know she’s full of BS because she doesn’t know she hasn’t been exposed to smallpox. She insists it’s the flu without evidence and interacts with coworkers even when another doctor tells her what the incubation period for smallpox is. Scarpetta just decides she’s right and gets mad anyone who questions her.
Speaking of not having evidence… one of the subplots involves the jerk of an investigator arresting/harassing a worker from the dump. Scarpetta believes he’s innocent, but the investigator thinks he dismembered and dumped the body himself rather than just being there when it was found. The guy strings together a flimsy circumstantial case, and while he does have a few coincidences, most of his case seems to be based on the fact that the suspect is gay and the investigator is a homophobe. When it gets back to Scarpetta that the investigator is making comments and looking into her and Lucy, Scarpetta ends up talking to a Sheriff to get the situation sorted out. Scarpetta goes to the Sheriff and makes a bunch of outlandish claims which she doesn’t back up at all and the sheriff just takes her word for it and decides to help the guy who might be a serial killer. Ok. Then Scarpetta crosses what might be a professional line where she arranges to help the suspect get legal representation and bail.
Wingo was a missed opportunity. We see him emotional and maybe overreacting to a corpse with signs of chickenpox in the early pages of the book. Then we learn he has just been diagnosed with HIV. He is struggling. Wingo mentions being afraid of ending up in hospice alone when discussing his diagnosis with Scarpetta. Wingo contracts smallpox during the case when uses a contaminated product sent to his house by the killer. I wish his story had been expanded on more. It only takes up a few pages. He passes away in the end. I recently read Rebecca Makkai’s The Great Believers about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. While I am glad that Wingo didn’t die the lingering death he talks about fearing, I do wish we had gotten to see more of his world. (Feel free to drop book recommendations in the comments).
I did find it weird that she’s getting Wingo’s permission to contact his doctor and consult with on his case. Ok, she’s a doctor, but not that kind of doctor. How much help is a pathologist going to be to an infectious disease specialist? It comes off as Scarpetta being arrogant and overvaluing her opinion as well as having control issues. In other books, Scarpetta has a strange way of checking in too closely on Lucy (talking to her bosses, at one point thinking about if she should talk to Lucy’s psychiatrist and wondering if Lucy is struggling with undiagnosed bipolar disorder). This overbearing nosiness does not sit well with me. I can’t decide if I think this is lazy writing and this is just how the author chooses to dispense information when writing in 1st person pov or if this is supposed to be Scarpetta being supportive and compassionate.
How it ends:
The killer is a coworker who feels like her career was destroyed years ago by an accident someone else caused. This has resulted with her being passed over repeatedly and caused her to become bitter. Remember that nugget of gold, because we’re coming back to it. Anyways, the killer stole smallpox samples from a lab she worked at in England. She bioengineered the virus at home… somehow without contaminating anything dying of it herself. Ok. That stretches plausibility but I’ll buy it. Maybe super brilliant archenemy PhD lady can cook viruses safely in her kitchen.
What I don’t buy is how the case is solved. Scarpetta finds out that her coworker also has the flu and so Scarpetta decides to take this woman a meal of her home-cooked stew and talk about the case with her at her home. Yea, Scarpetta who is rude and inappropriate with every single person she works with decides to bring a meal to someone who is sick because she’s such a nice caring person. This is completely out of character for her. I could believe that Scarpetta found out that her coworker took home some important paperwork and driving over to retrieve it and berate her but helping someone just to be nice… Nah.
Anyway, Scarpetta walks into the woman’s house and sees that this is where the e-mailed pictures of the crime scene were taken and BOOM--case solved. I don't have a problem with the fact that the case is solved by accident. Sometimes luck happens. Back to how the killer claims that years of being passed over made her bitter--she stole the smallpox samples immediately before the stigma of the accident settled on her, and by the time she's in working with Scarpetta no one even really remembers she involved in the first place. She comes off as a cackling, megalomaniac whose actions are extreme compared to the slight she suffered. I don't see someone who would react with that level of overkill (crossing international borders to create a new smallpox virus and target her oh-so-perfect boss the great Scarpetta) being able to blend in with normal people for the years it took to carry this out. -
Well, I've finished the book. The mystery that starts this book never gets solved. Lucy and Kay- still not likable. Still don't like Benton. Please give Marino someone who loves him and cares for him, because Kay is pretty awful to him. I just started the next book and Kay actual says to someone- I don't know why you put up with me, and to that I say, I don't know why either... -
Kay Scarpetta moet een lijk onderzoeken waarvan de ledematen en het hoofd verwijderd zijn. Ze ontdekt vreemde blaasjes op het lichaam.
De romp werd gevonden op een stortplaats. Er wordt gedacht aan een seriemoordenaar die zowel nu in Amerika als vroeger in Ierland werkzaam geweest zou zijn.
Maar dan wordt er op een eiland nog een lichaam ontdekt, een volledig lichaam ditmaal, ook bedekt met blaasjes en wonden. Reden tot paniek, want het gaat hier om een variant van het pokkenvirus, dat uitgestorven zou moeten zijn.
Het wordt een race tegen de tijd om de epidemie te stoppen, en de dader op te sporen, want nu wordt deze zaak beschouwd als terrorisme.
Het boek is wel spannend, maar de ontknoping kwam nogal abrubt, en er werd ook nooit meer melding gemaakt van het onderzoek naar de seriemoordenaar van de andere slachtoffers.
In de epiloog komt Kay eindelijk te weten wat er echt gebeurd is met haar overleden man Marc, en kan ze dit deel van haar leven eindelijk afsluiten.
Niet slecht, spannend genoeg om verder te lezen, maar Cornwell is toch niet mijn favoriete schrijfster. -
Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta has two current problems: the latest case of a headless/limbless torso found at a landfill site in Virginia, & her relationship with Benton Wesley. The torso is similar to five cases in Ireland, plus four in the US but are they related cases? Scarpetta is sent disturbing emails from an anonymous source calling themselves 'deadoc' with photographs of the Virginia torso at the kill site. During the investigation Scarpetta is exposed to smallpox, a disease eradicated in the wild but still kept at some secure locations, & the CDC & a military germ warfare task force get involved. Scarpetta is put in quarantine & tries to lure deadoc into conversation online so the FBI can track them down. By the time Scarpetta is out of quarantine, it seems the killer has tried to create a smallpox epidemic on Tangier Island, but one death hits closer to home.
This was an ok but not great read. Scarpetta was at her most annoying at times, especially after starting to feel sick with an unknown illness. Did she put herself back into quarantine? Did she heck! She was taking taxis, flying on planes, & generally being a possible one-woman germ disseminator. Fair enough she is a medical doctor & said she knew she wasn't contagious, but this was not the run-of-the-mill smallpox.
She was also pretty awful to Benton at times. His wife left him for another man following Benton's affair with Scarpetta, & Benton now wants to marry Scarpetta - whose reaction is to make herself suddenly unavailable. Even Marino was feeling sorry for the guy! There were one or two things that weren't cleared up by the end - were the Ireland cases related to the other torsos? Was Keith Pleasants bailed at the earliest opportunity? 3.5 (rounded up) -
This is Cornwell's 8th Kay Scarpetta book and it is an improvement over her past 3-4. In fact, so far, this is the best ending Cornwell has put together. I was worried she would have her typical yawner of an ending but she has shown me she can put some twists in play.
As I was reading the book I was thinking to myself, "Whatever happened to just your typical serial killer?" You see in this one we have someone who is killing people with a disease very like small pox and they are threatening to unleash such a plague on the world. This is the second book in a row that Cornwell had used Kay to save the world from disaster. Dismembered bodies were being found in land dumps. The most recent one found had a rash that was later traced to small pox. The killer was then using aroma therapy spray to transmit the virus directly to people including people in Kay's office.
Despite Cornwell trying to make Scarpetta the savior of the world again, this is a good story with a twist at the end that saves the day. Another good thing is that Wesley is now divorced so Kay is no longer the skank ruining his marriage. But get this...now that Wesley is free Kay has pulled back and doesn't want a relationship with him. There is probably some psychological issue there.
Lucy is still in her homosexual relationship with Janet and Marino is still needy. Kay is also not a very nice person at times. She tends to look down on people. Yet, despite all of this, this story is really better then her last few. -
This is the first time I've ever given a murder mystery a 5-star rating. Look, I enjoy murder mysteries. They are the candy of my reading material. I don't look to them for brilliant writing or life changing truths.
But this book was genuinely great. Probably one of the books I have enjoyed most this year. Now 8 books into the story I appreciate Cornwell's growth as a writer and the growth of Scarpetta and Lucy as characters over the course of the series. Scarpetta is relatable in her imperfections and relationship challenges. She is also admirable in her intelligence, leadership, take-no-shit, and perseverance.
More than any other book yet this series I felt the most effort was put into the growth of character relationships between Scarpetta and the other central characters (Marino, Lucy, Benton). The chapter where Scarpetta and Marino go to Graceland was my absolute favourite because you really get a window into them as people, in a rare chapter where nobody is immediately threatened and no major plot points revealed.
I also appreciated that the villain had more complexity than most of Scarpetta's villains do. The whole Temple Brooks plotline in two (three?) previous Scarpetta novels really did nothing for me. But this was a plot that was really well paced through the denouement. A truly well done mystery from start to finish that scrimped neither on character nor plot. -
This was the one I stopped at when I originally read this series, and I very much remember why: it combines three elements of previous and later installations, namely someone politically trying to frame Scarpetta plus and makes a hash out of all three. Wingo is a welcome and poignant reappearance, as are the events of the very last chapter, which hint that Scarpetta may be able to finally move forward with her life and quit being so self-centered and snappish with everyone.
In related news, .
I'm giving this series one more book to get its act together. -
4,5⭐
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Cornwell returns with a powerful mystery that pits Scarpetta against her most cunning adversary to date. When bodies begin showing up, dismembered, both in Virginia and Ireland, Scarpetta cannot help but investigate to determine what sort of brutal psychopath might be on the loose. When the killer begins to contact her with clues and intimate knowledge from her life, the mystery gets personal. Engaged in an ongoing dialogue in chat rooms, Scarpetta comes cursor to cursor with the killer on numerous occasions. When the murders escalate and a deadly virus is added to the mix, the case moves from urgent to cataclysmic. Cornwell pulls out all the stops and brings closure in stunning fashion to this exquisite Scarpetta novel, sure to impress fans and newbies alike.
The powerful character development for which Cornwell is well known in the series is not lost within this powerful story line and plot. While the detail and attention to nuances is stellar, the reader is not lost in the technical jargon. Cornwell does well to introduce new and exciting ideas into her stories, while keeping her beloved characters and developing their back stories to the point of sucking the reader in. This novel has great development and a whopper of an epilogue to tie up some loose ends left dangling for a few novels.
Kudos Madam Cornwell on an excellent novel and a highly entertaining story. -
Don't let jealousy bite you because it can destroy you. Be content.
This is the first Patricia Cornwell book I've read and I somewhat like it. I love the main character's attitude, namely Dr. Kay Scarpetta. I like that she's firm with a lot of gentleness and kindness to people who needs it.
I hate Ring, too bad the book doesn't say if he's been punished. Maybe that will be in the next Cornwell book.
I just don't like how the book ended. It's like it's cut short and I had no inkling whodunit because if memory serves me right there was no mention of Dr. Phyllis Crowder. Maybe I'm used to other books like this where they give clues as to whodunit and you have to make a choice only to be proved wrong in the end.
No matter, I am still going to read other Cornwell books. That's definite. -
Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars.
Aussie Readers Annual Series Challenge 2019: Book #8 in Scarpetta Series
Aussie Readers April Challenge 2019: Read a book where the lead character is in the medical profession
I first read this book when it was originally published (which is nearly 20 years ago) and for the first half of this book, I could not recall any of the story line. However, when the title is explained about halfway through the book and the pox victim is revealed the bulk of the story line came flooding back to me including the ending - so no real "Aha!" moment. I also find Cornwell has a tendency to rush the ending and this is no different. It is all wrapped up in the last dozen pages.
A lot of the criticism for this book is around the lead character of Kay and while I agree that she was quite arrogant in this book (more so than the other books to date), I still think she is such a beautifully strong (and flawed) female lead in a very male dominated world.
These books do highlight for me how exponentially fast technology is changing as it is quite humorous reading the cutting edge computer scenes in this book (and it was cutting edge at the time). Who would have thought the section on the complexity of scanning/sending a colour picture via email would sound so humorous 20 years later. -
In Ireland a serial killer has dismembered and dumped 5 headless bodies. In Virginia 4 headless bodies have been found. Media are calling this killer The Butcher. Then another headless body turns up in Virginia and Kay Scarpetta is on the case to find the killer.
The usual returning characters we know and love continue in this novel with their professional and private lives. I found this character continuation comforting.
What was so nice about Unnatural Exposure is that this is not a typical serial killer novel. Because Kay spots some forensic differences in body number 10 compared to the other 9. Then this novel turns sharply and the reader is plunged into an investigation involving a smallpox-like virus.
I found the explanations around virus development etc fascinating and Patricia really works up the fear about the unseen and fatal threat posed to mankind by viruses. I fully engaged with all the content about viruses making me think this novel is far better than her previous book Cause of Death.
Some readers could be disappointed that The Butcher was not caught and this book was essentially about the killer of body number 10. However, I suggest you ignore this change of direction and enjoy Unnatural Exposure for what it is - a creepy and frightening threat posed by a new virus. I think Unnatural Exposure is a GOOD 4 star read. -
Every year on my mother's birthday, I honor her by reading one of her many books, even if it's one that I wouldn't normally pick up for myself. Last year it was one of Patricia Cornwell's novels featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta and I thought it was good but not great. So I've tried another this year and came away with the same feeling.
I went into this thinking it was a serial murder mystery that somehow involved a saw (based on the cover art alone, I will admit). Turns out I was correct but the story morphs into something much more: a potential pandemic virus being unleashed via product tampering. It was interesting to read of a fictional pandemic situation while living through an actual one in the real world.
I enjoyed the medical examiner portions of the story and the general building suspense throughout but the ending felt a little flat. Despite that, I still have more Scarpetta novels on my shelf thanks to my mom's collection and plan to read more of them. -
A good thriller. Moves along quickly with lots of action.
