Product Description

Leaving behind her forensic pathology practice in South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta takes up an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured patient in a psychiatric 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. He says his injuries 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 only thing Scarpetta knows for certain is that a woman has been tortured and murdered - and that more violent deaths will follow...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #832 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-14
• Released on: 2009-05-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

About the Author
Patricia Cornwell's first novel, POSTMORTEM, was published in 1990 and won five international awards. Her Scarpetta novels have since become Number One bestsellers throughout the world.

Customer Reviews

Huge disappointment
Used to be a Patricia Cornwell and Kay Scarpetta fan but not any more. It was a huge effort going through the first 50 pages and I just gave up. And this is the first time ever I did not complete a book I had started. Enough said.

Scarpetta no longer cuts it!
Sorry Patricia but this latest offering has no guts, the story is laboured and dull I thought I'd give you one more chance (haven't rated your last two books) but I'm disappointed again and won't be back for more!

Almost Unreadable
So basically Patricia Cornwell has decided that her female characters (Scarpetta and Lucy) are the most sought-after, beautiful, intelligent, witty, clever, fit, sexy and fascinating women in the whole entire world. How do I know this, you may ask? Because all of the characters in teh book keep repeating it over and over and all of the men and/or women are simultaneously in love with both of them at the same time. That is the only reason I know, since not a single one of these characteristics were evident to me at any point in this woeful, glacial-paced, confusing, pointless novel that appeared to me to have no discernible plot.

It's a pity. Because the actual "mystery / crime" part of the book is interesting. But this book is not a "mystery / crime" book, it is about how wonderful Lucy and Scarpetta are. There is so little by way of "mystery / crime" elements in the book that when on the very rare occasion that a crime storyline pops its head out of the pages, it is startling, confusing and impossible to follow.

It took me a very long time to finish this book, and I only persevered past page 10 because it was a present from my husband and I didn't want to hurt his feelings. After I finished it I gave it to him to read. He could not get past page 10.

If you like crime, go for Kathy Reichs or Karin Slaughter instead.