| Title | : | Point of Origin (Kay Scarpetta, #9) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0751530484 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780751530483 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 440 |
| Publication | : | First published July 6, 1998 |
A body amongst the ruins
Dr Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner and consulting pathologist for the federal law enforcement agency ATF, is called out to a farmhouse in Virginia which has been destroyed by fire. In the ruins of the house she finds a body which tells a story of a violent and grisly murder.
The fire has come at the same time as another even more incendiary horror: Carrie Grethen, a killer who nearly destroyed the lives of Scarpetta and those closest to her, has escaped from a forensic psychiatric hospital. Her whereabouts is unknown, but her ultimate destination is not, for Carrie has begun to communicate with Scarpetta, conveying her deadly - if cryptic - plans for revenge.
Chillingly mesmeric in tone, labyrinthine in structure, Point of Origin is Patricia Cornwell at her most dazzling.
Point of Origin (Kay Scarpetta, #9) Reviews
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Book Review
3+ of 5 stars to
Point of Origin, the 9th thriller in the "Kay Scarpetta" mystery and suspense series by
Patricia Cornwell. I enjoyed this book a lot, especially given the focus around Lucy and Benton. Cornwell gives such depth to her characters, you can't help but love and hate them at the same time. They feel incredibly real, and almost as if you've met them before. The suspense is at an all time high in this book. It's a very psychological book, especially given the two parts of they stories and how/when they might come together. If you're looking for strong characters, can take the blood and guts, and like being angry with your characters, this series is for you.
About Me
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More of the same. Dedicated "with love to Barbara Bush". The way Scarpetta keeps oggling her naked niece's body gets more and more disturbing, esp. since I doubt Cornwell will make a real f/f incest case out of this. Poor Benton has his "still surprisingly supple" body dutifully admired, and pale feet like her niece.
The blurb as usual proclaims not only that she does it best and has bad imitators, but that this one is "her best and bleakest" (don't get up my hopes - or maybe that just means the guy will die (to resurrect later)) and praises the "sinister atmosphere ... cool prose" = as usual the most puzzling thing about this series. Could she be so famous for political reasons? At least it's quick to skim through.
ETA: 100 pages left to go, so a little about the "plot": we're back with Temple Gault! You thought she finally killed off that least threatening, most boring serial killer of all, but there's still his partner, who is similarly off-screen, has similarly inexplicable superduperhumannatural capabilities that enable her to work from inside prisons and across states in no time and with no money - where was I? Oh, yes, and Kay is so very scared and terrorised again because Claire is as much a scourge as Temple was *yawn* and so she makes a few extra-flights to run after her niece for no reason other than the descriptions of banal manual tasks hadn't filled enough pages yet. The "death" of Benton was of course only a paragraph but will duly be revisited as the trauma of her life, see all past novels. The FBI for the first time ever gets gently criticised, with disclaimers all around, indicating again her political involvement (I have no interest in finding out who took over the FBI when). The only one of her many personal-political opinions I thought good was the case of a child dying because it's parents were against medicine because god heals, but that was also gently done because - fitting with her politics - KS is more and more religious.
There are less things to quote this time, so I will later add the pertinent lines - ignoring all the insane comparisons and semantically wrong conversations (just the sun bouncing like a manic child with her ball, no "his voice was as muscular as his body" this time, and I'm focussing on the interpersonal).
But for now, just this: I actually threw back my head and laughed out loud at the ... well, perhaps it was meant a horrifying, tragic ending, but it was all too much: first the only other murders KS hadn't cleared yet were retconned to Carrie's new partner, who has nearly as stupid a name as Temple Gault but whose motive was that he had bad acne. Not. Kidding! And then, after spending the whole book talking about the ever absent Carrie as "the monster" and "evil", Kay and Lucy *shakes with sad hilarity* get into a helicopter battle with them ... *cracks up again* ow ow ow. Sob? -
I took a quick glance at previous reviews for this book on Goodreads and found an abundance of deep hate for Point of Origin (book nine of the Kay Scarpetta series). I was actually surprised. I didn't love this book, and I'll elaborate on that in a minute, but I certainly didn't hate it!
You know how some long book series can be read out of order? The Kay Scarpetta series is like that - with a few exceptions. This book is one of those exceptions. Much of what happens between the pages of Point of Origin relies heavily on characters and events in the past eight books. If you don't read the previous books, you won't be confused. But you certainly won't feel invested in this story in the slightest, which is where I think at least some of the hateful reviews are coming from. Meanwhile ... my personal thoughts on the book are below.
I feel like I learn something new in every Kay Scarpetta book I read. This time I learned a lot about how fires work. I always find the little tidbits fascinating. I love to learn. Patricia Cornwell is very good at filling her books with little bits of academia without talking over my head or making me feel like an idiot. That's a skill that many business writers could learn, actually! Kay always finds interesting little artefacts in her autopsies that seem to come back to be really important later in the story. She found one in Point of Origin and I knew exactly what it was and why it was there. I kept yelling at her that she should know this, meanwhile hoping I was wrong because wouldn't it be an amazing twist to be wrong about something I felt so sure about? But no. I was right. I think Cornwell might have played down Kay's intelligence a bit too much in this regard. I was a bit disappointed. Also, in the beginning chapters of the book one key question was how did the fire burn so hot so fast with no catalyst. I'm not sure that question was ever answered, unless I missed it somewhere.
Another disappointment came at the end. While Cornwell is very good at building the suspense, throwing in the red herrings, detailing the evidence; she doesn't seem so good at the big action scenes that conclude the story. This is the second book in the series where I'm prepared for a big showdown at the end (equivalent to a "boss battle" in a video game) and I'm left feeling like the action scenes were glossed over. I hope this is improved upon later in the series!
And then there's the things I can't get into because they involve key points in the overarching series. Let's just say there were some emotional scenes that nearly broke my heart. I still believe Pete Marino is my favorite character of the series. And even though she tries to come across as cold and clinical, I still wanted to give Kay a great big hug.
In conclusion, I give Point of Origin 3 out of 5 burning stars. There were a few disappointments that were too big to warrant more stars. But I still have a deep attachment to the characters and want to continue the series in the hopes that future books will be back up to 4 or 5 stars. They all can't be perfect when there are so many to be read, after all! -
Number Nine in the Series. Ok, you've read a series of mystery books before. Is it ever a good idea when the same serial killer shows up for the third time (at least)? And the killer just happens to be the former lover of the lesbian niece? Desperation thy name is Cornwell.
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This book was so bad that I can’t even bring myself to go into any details because that would mean reliving this atrocity. Halfway through I removed all of the unread books from this series from my TBR list. I looked ahead to see if any future books looked better and found that 14 books later the same characters are still having the same problems and literally nothing has changed. Also the main character has a REALLY unhealthy attachment to her niece that just gets more disturbing with each book.
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Just arrived from Germany through Bookmooch.
One you've read one book by Patricia Cornwell, you won't find anything different or so original in the following books. -
When I finally finished this book I was so annoyed … … well, let’s just say in my defense, I was able to catch the book on its first bounce off the wall. Anyone who writes a book deserves at least one star. Cornwell knows a lot about fires and autopsies. Most of the book is about those. The protagonist, Kay, does a lot of autopsies and investigates a lot of fires, many by way of flashbacks. None of them even pretend to have anything to do with the storyline. Cornwell likes minutia. If she were writing about an interview with me, before the first question the reader would get the following: On left corner of Glen’s cheap, pressed-wood Stanton desk is a paperback copy of “Point of Origin” by Patricia Cornwell. It is sitting askew on an annual property tax bill from the County of San Bernardino. Next to that are several business cards from various officials of US Bank spread haphazardly. There is a wire handled magnifying glass. To the left of the glass are several credit card charge slips. Near the far corner on the left is a brass key from the Chi Epsilon Fraternity, an honor fraternity for Civil Engineers. Next to that is a six-inch diameter globe of the Earth. Next to that is a marble business card holder decorated with small brass elephant heads holding cards advertising Glen’s Neandertal trilogy. On the desk in front of the card holder are tickets to California Theater for the upcoming musical, “Evita.” Okay, I’m going to give you a break and not describe the right side of the desk. If you are reading a mystery and I’m a main character, several of those items could be important clues. However, if you have placed them in your memory to help you solve the case, you will be disappointed to find out that Glen is really not a part of the story, neither he, nor the junk on his desk, nor the information gleaned from the interview will appear in the book again. You have wasted your time and valuable memory space. Page after page we learn about fires and autopsies and every bit of minutia Kay comes across in her travels. We also learn about her niece, her lover, and a female murderer she sent to a mental institution where she is being held until her murder trial comes up.
It all starts with a letter from the woman in the mental institution that is highly coded and impossible to understand – this is actually a great start for a mystery – the best part of the book. Then there is a fire where a beautiful blonde is killed and burned to death along with a herd of expensive horses. Kay and her co-characters go through experiences that tell the reader about them. This is good background and character development, except after learning a few things about the characters, they continue to do stuff, but it all only confirms what we have already learned. Cornwell keeps giving us details about fires and autopsies, and minutia, but nothing new – the story doesn’t move. Cornwell decides to really impress us with her medical knowledge by blending in statements like, “… kidneys show hyperosmolar vacuolization of the proximal convoluted tubular lining cells. Meaning, instead of cuboidal pink, they're clear, bulging and enlarged.” Kay calls a father to inform him of the results of the autopsy on his son. “Your son's cause of death was acute pneumonia due to acute diabetic ketoacidosis due to acute onset of diabetes mellitus. I'm sorry for your pain, Mr. Quinn.” This poor guy is a member Christian Science Church – you can pretty well bet he is not going to be familiar with those kinds of medical terms. Then there are all kinds of suspicious, childish actions like someone ordering a pizza delivery to Kay’s house, but it turns out none of them are connected with the plot. Though an occasional clue to the crime is woven in, it’s obvious that the story is not moving, the characters are not developing, and nothing is going on but page count.
Speaking of page count – on page 281 the actual story begins – it will basically end on page 392 – only 110 pages left. However, Cornwell cannot stop stalling it with descriptions of minutia, so there are actually only about 60 to 70 pages of story. What we have is a short story that could possibly be stretched to a novella. Ultimately, the conclusion was totally unsatisfactory. I won’t be a spoiler and tell you what it is. On top of that there are many questions unanswered. For instance, one character has built up a collection of items over a period of decades beginning in Ireland and then all around the United States. Each of these items requires special care, especially when it is shipped someplace. There is no question the collector has spent an incredible amount of time and money amassing the collection, caring for it, and moving it around. At the end, he simply walks away from it, with no effort whatsoever to preserve it and there is no reason why he couldn’t, though he would have had to leave pictures of the individual items to be found as part of the plot. In Cornwell’s defense, she has fans. -
This is #9 of Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series and if you have read the previous 8 this one should be very familiar. Now Temple Gault is dead (I think) but Cornwell once again brings back Gault's partner in crime Carrie who also once had thing with Kay's niece Lucy. Carrie it seems has escaped from the loony bin in New York and is determined to get even with Kay, Lucy, Weston and Marino. Add to this the arson/slash murders that have been taking place all involving pretty people and you have the background for this one.
It is tough to read a series that was written years ago and be fascinated with the twists that Cornwell has set out in this one. Let's just say there is a big twist but I took it with a grain of salt knowing that things will change in later books in the series. Kind of an unintentional spoiler for me after reading the backs of other Scarpetta books I have purchased already.
Things are still the same with the characters. Kay is a mean lady who is also getting creepy with her lustful looks at her lesbian niece Lucy. Kay just isn't a nice person. She is mean and rude to people. Lucy is still messed up and has switched jobs again to work with the ATF for Teun McGovern (who Kay is jealous of-creepy). Marino (who is really my favorite character is still overly protective of Kay and is needy for a relationship. Benton Wesley and Kay are still dating. Not much new in their relationship (or is there?). -
This one was TERRIBLE. So far, her later books are a lot better. I don't expect much from my guilty pleasures, but I would like some entertainment and not sigh and facepalm so much.
Better review to come. -
This was one of my favorite series many, many years ago.
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I'm so invested in this series and even though it's been ages since I read it am amazed at how many details that I remember.
This book was yet another pivot point in the series and I love the continued evolution of the characters and how cases and events of the past continue to influence their current moods, behaviors and actions.
What I am finding even greater appreciation for this second time around is how problems are not wrapped up in a bow at the end of each book and how characters continue to fluctuate from doing well, to backsliding, to succeeding, to doubting, to feeling good, to feeling awful, to overcoming and to saying and doing some hard to read things. These characters are complex and so well crafted and messy and human and I love that element of the stories.
I also like that we're getting Kay's perspective on getting older and evaluating her life and her work and her relationship with herself. Her awareness of the changes in her relationships and her role in them. I also love the evolution of the character's relationships with one another and that we keep getting great, new, strong characters in these books.
I also really enjoyed the mystery of this book - again....I'll never solve them but will happily listed as Kay & Co. puzzle together the pieces, using science, evidence, research and logic to solve these cases. -
A very weird scene of Kay looking at her niece’s naked body with a lot of interest
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Scarpetta returns in an explosive thriller sure to send fans rushing out to read it. When a fire at a horse farm leaves a mysterious body in the rubble, Scarpetta is tasked by ATF to investigate. All fingers point to the farm's owner, whose known to Scarpetta from past media encounters. Could the body and the fire be the work of someone with a larger agenda? Meanwhile, an old nememis escapes from prison with the goal of wreaking havoc on Scarpetta's life. The story comes to a head when paths cross and Scarpetta is left to put all the pieces together. Who'll get the last laugh in this cat and mouse game and can Scarpetta outwit this criminal mastermind and bring them to justice...again? Cornwell at her best, no doubt.
The ongoing character development of Kay Scarpetta continues to entertain the reader in this novel. Much of her personal life has come to light over the last few novels and this one adds another layer to the story. Scarpetta, and those around whom she is surrounded, continue to grow and develop, entertaining the reader throughout. With some great plot and excellent storylines, Cornwell does not disappoint or leave the reader bored.
Kudos Madam Cornwell on another great novel. -
***SPOILER ALERT ***
I have been anxiously waiting to read this book for years; I've missed Kay, Benton, Lucy and Marino, it's been a long time. But, unfortunately, this book just fell short, on too many levels. I wasn't drawn into the story like I should have been, it just wasn't suspenseful enough. You'd think bringing Carrie back into the mix would have spiced things up, but it was the opposite, I was completely disappointed in how our infamous villain was addressed in this book. And don't even get me started on how anticlimactic Benton's death was, or even how anticlimactic the final 'fight scene' with Lucy & Carrie was. Just fell flat all over and was quite a disappointment. I've read the next two books in the series and I remember I liked them; I hope the ones following are better than this as well. -
Nikad duze nisam citala neku knjigu. Jedva dvojka.
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Patricia Cornwell’s main series begins in 1990, when the internet was new and her computer whiz niece, Lucy, was little. I enjoy watching computers advance through software and hardware capacity that I remember, Lucy grow-up into an F.B.I. agent, and Pete Marino build true friendship with them. F.B.I. profiler Benton Wesley is also family. This approach to their team is why I am willing to read violent crime cases of a chief medical examiner; notably the first woman chief in Virginia. I do not read thrillers, with very few exceptions.
The next novel is in 1999 and I like moving towards our modern environment. I am glad a trio of mutilating psychopaths has been terminated. Many cases pertained to their gruesome crimes. I prefer fresh plots and characters per novel as it is, which is conducive to originality. Kay Scarpetta is always tired or busy, or has doubts about who she is dating and dreary weather is emphasized too often too. It causes blandness; not seeing Kay energetic about anything. Her job is gruelling but everyone has favourite music, television, animals... that animates them. Furthermore, Kay is only in her early 50s but acts ancient, which bothers me additionally. The nature of crimes and her job cannot be happy, therefore scenes of these characters’ personal time need brightening; some levity. Kay, Lucy, and Pete moaning at home as well as on the job, denies their stories of relief from the blandness.
“Point Of Origin”, meaning where a fire started, mixed too many layers. It entailed the worst mutilations and extended to the death of a major character. It was depressing in the extreme! The death of horses multiplied that; a needless, sad increase of drama that yielded no explanation! I hope there is a tone of renewal from now on. -
Recently someone handed me a bag of paperbacks and asked if I wanted to borrow them. Well, of course, I did. But I answered without really looking. And when I did look, I noticed that approximately 6 of the 8 books were Jodi Picoult. And those’ll be great in a week or so when I get on a plane, but in the meantime I needed something else. It was the middle of the night—no bookstore or library open—so I picked one of the non-Picoult’s: Patricia Cornwell’s Point of Origin.
Point of Origin is one of nearly twenty books featuring the protagonist Kay Scarpetta and her niece Lucy. (I’ve read exactly 0 of the others, but if another turned up in my bag of paperbacks, I’d give it a shot.) Medical examiner Scarpetta must help determine what caused a fire at a wealthy man’s estate. In the midst of trying to solve the case, an old adversary escapes from the mental institution where she was being held.
The novel reads fairly quickly, and I dare say that if you are a fan of crime fiction, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. Me, I could do without the descriptions of charred bodies and other gory details.
Though the novel is part of a series, it can easily be read alone. While there are references to occurrences outside the scope of this novel, everything is adequately explained without being overly explained. -
Patricia Cornwell is the master of suspense and she delivers another helping in Point of Origin. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia is back and faced with an evil from her past. In collaboration with her niece Lucy, Detective Pete Marino, and Profiler Benton Wesley, Scarpetta takes on the case of a deadly fire that turns into a plot even more sinister. Well written as always, Patricia Cornwell has delivered another thrilling tale of murder,deceit and mystery. Another page turner in the Kay Scarpetta series!
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Algo largo para lo que quiere contar, con un final que mejora la novela. El libro me ha costado bastante acabarlo la verdad, el final es interesante pero me ha parecido que el ritmo del libro era muy lento. Regular.
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another one bites the dust -queen
this sparks my curiousity -tesla trooper -
Aussie Reader's Challenge: 2019 Annual Series Challenge - Read book #7, #8, #9 and #10 in the Kay Scarpetta Series
Aussie Reader's Challenge: 2019 Winter Challenge - Women's Equality Day is 26th August so read a book with a strong independent woman
I first read this book about 20 years ago and I am reading it one last time before I send it off to the second hand book shop to find a new forever home (or just a home where it will be read and past on).
This was more of the same - but this is unfortunately one of my least favourite Scarpetta books. Serial Killer Carrie comes back to haunt them all (YET AGAIN) and the resolution of Carrie and all those years (aka books) of torment was just wrapped up a little too quickly for my taste (in a paragraph or two????). I have also read further than this so I knew the twist at the end of this book so it had less impact this time around especially given that .
This book was also about fires (thus the title) and I found the idea of all those horses being burnt really distressing (it is always the animal scenes that do my head in) and I confess that I didn't find the forensic aspect of this book as interesting as I usually do in her books as the fire talk just didn't engage me as much. I also felt like there was a lot of info dump especially when someone may be explaining something very obvious to another qualified professional and you are like "this so does not sound authentic" as you know the real purpose is to explain to the reader as professionals in the field would not talk to each other like this.
This was a quick read at just over 300 pages and I am keen to continue my re-read of this series and at long last get to later books in the series that I have not read yet (I think there are over 20 of them now!). -
OK, so this is as far as I got when I read this series as it was released. I quit reading because I was downright angry at Patricia Cornwell. She KILLED him! Yep, it was a good plot twist. Yep, it built tension, suspense, empathy. Yep, it proved that I care about the characters. But it really pissed me off. So, I am trying again, and even though it didn't shock and surprise me this time, it did still anger me.
Here's why: In my opinion Kay, Lucy, Benton and Marino are all too "hard." Their lives are all about work -- and their work is all about the evils in the world. Their relationships humanize them. They need the love, friendship, tenderness and empathy to soften them. So killing one of them affects all of them, and while I understand that might be a good thing for many readers, for me it isn't.
Having said all that, the story in this one is full of crazy action. The villains continue to take all of us on a roller coaster ride as Kay and friends try to catch them. This particular book is one of my favorites of the series, which may seem at odds with the fact that I quit reading after it came out. But I remembered the story all these years unlike the previous volumes.
If you like Cornwell's style you will like this book. But please -- read it. Do not listen. The narration is dull, breathy, boring and simpering. Ugh. I hated it. -
i liked carrie being back, but . . . i wanted resolution!
the whole thing with benton is really annoying me. i hear the series takes a turn for the better after
The Book of the Dead and it's not like i'm going to be putting down these books any time soon, but man, i just don't like them very much right now.
i also find it fascinating that cornwell has written such a strong, smart homosexual character in lucy, while being a lesbian herself. i wonder why she didn't come out earlier? i mean, i know she's a republican, but man. hiding in the closet? i am not saying that it is necessary, or purposeful, or whatever, but i would think that she would be a little more open about it.
anyway. it was better than the last one, but still i feel the endings are rushed. i like kay, and i still want marino to settle down. i'm a little annoyed by lucy, who doesn't seem to age, and is so reckless, stupid and smart - but seriously? she's not in the FBI still? how effing lame. -
For anyone who has started reading this series from the beginning as I have been doing; Scarpetta is constantly transforming herself as she investigates a deadly fire involving humans and animals. I felt this novel revealed a more human Scarpetta; she comes face-to-face with the loss of someone dear, a reference to O.J. Simpson, eats at Burger King with her niece and speaks openly about homosexuality which has been building over the last few books and unless I missed it before Lucy's last name is revealed. If we watched a television show over a time period we'd expect the same kind of progress as characters evolve. The writing seems tighter and more focused; it was one of my favorites so far. There is rather explicit details of doing forensics on a burn victims which requires a strong state of mind. The climax of the book comes quickly with an old nemesis who has been lurking in the background. The paperback comes in at around 400 hundred pages.
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That's it! I'm done with this series, I can't continue along this road any further.
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RTC
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Audio version of this book 📚- Really enjoyable listen , one of the better ones in this series
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Another one where the serial killer is after Scarpetta and her associates. I'm over these themes so losing interest in the series but will go on as I hope it'll just get better.
This time there are a whole bunch of fires set around and people die in them.
It takes a long time for the crew to figure out it's the accomplish of the first serial killer that was after Scarpetta in several books; Gault's side kick Carrie, who Lucy initially fell in love with without knowing she was insane in the membrane.
Now she's escaped her capture AND hooked up with the crook from Unnatural Exposure; The Irish serial killer who left torsos all over the place. They're cutting off the victim's faces and setting the fires to steer the heat off their tails.
Nice.
In the end I was really disappointed that this story would continue (again) on to several other books but thanks to the absurd ending - this was it!
Lucy's now flying helicopters - Yep, she really does it all but I still like her. So in the end she shoots down the two killers in their helicopter. Yeah, I know.
She also teaches Scarpetta some helicoptering so that's interesting.
Carrie manages to kill off Benton, so both Lucy and Kay are grieving in the end. I'm wondering why Cornwell had to kill off another one of Kay's beaus but what can ya do?
They weren't getting on anyway; Benton proposing and Kay not wanting to get married.
I suddenly notice there's nothing scary about these stories. There is no suspense and the intensity of the early books endings is long gone. But I keep going because it's like a TV series you keep watching. -
"La deprimente verdad, sin embargo, era que no había que ser detective, psicóloga o forense jefe para convertirse en posible objetivo de los delincuentes. La mayoría de las vícimas eran vulnerables. Iban en su coche, llevaban la compra a casa o cruzaban a pie un aparcamiento y, sencillamente, como reza el dicho, estaban en el lugar equivocado en el momento inoportuno".
