Fred has insisted that I add to this blog - all about my 'educational' and/or 'philosophical' books that I read! I'm not as "well-read" as Fred, at least not anymore. In my late teens and all through my 20's, my main interest was in science - particularly books on cancer/leukemia and blood. I kept up with all the newest research, reading a lot of the current books on those topics. I had seriously considered a career as a doctor, doing research in leukemia, but I had to choose between 10 years of study or partying...no need to say anything more. When I married Fred, he suggested I read a murder mystery book by Thomas Thompson. I WAS HOOKED!! I read everything he wrote and have been reading murder mysteries ever since. When Thompson died, I had to look for a new author(s), and found 2 that I really enjoy - Patricia Cornwell and Sue Grafton. My review below is on Patricia Cornwell's PREDATOR. It's not a new book, having been published in 2005, but I've just gotten around to reading it. Here goes:
PREDATOR by Patricia Cornwell
One reason I like this writer (as with Sue Grafton) is that she usually writes using the same characters - Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner, being the main one. There is also the same group of characters in her books - Marino, Benton Wesley, Lucy, Rose, etc.
This book was a little different than her others, and I wasn't as enthralled as usual. There were a lot of chapters just a few pages each. It's like her thoughts were scattered & she wrote a small chapter for each thought. And also a lot of characters...I had to read a little slower to keep everyone straight - who was who doing what! It took me 3 days to read rather than my usual 2. I knew though, in the end, everything would tie together and everything would be made clear - and it was!
In this book, Kay has left the head position as chief medical examiner in the state of Virginia and moved to Florida, where she is 2nd in command of a company started by her niece, Lucy. Lucy was a former FBI agent, but found there was just too much red tape, so she left and started her own company...doing pretty much the same forensic work as the FBI. In her new position, Kay doesn't do the autopsies like in previous books, but does more in examining the information to help solve the cases. She also teaches - to help students that believe they want to become forensic pathologists.
This book had the murders (how else would it be a murder mystery?), but you had to really work on "who did it?" You think it might be this one person, and then you think 'no,' it has to be this person, or wait..., this person might be working with this person doing the killings... The story takes place in Hollywood, Florida, around where Kay lives, and also in Walden, Massachusetts, where Kay's lover Wesley Benton lives. You wonder as you read how the two areas will tie all the murders together, but you know it will be done.
It begins with an old case being brought to Kay's attention; it was ruled a suicide, but there are those that think it was murder. On examining evidence, it leads to more questions, and other people that have "disappeared" and others being murdered. Kay and her crew continue to examine the evidence, with all of its twists & turns, leading to more & more questions, until the evidence begins to bring everything together - with a twist to the ending that I didn't see coming! The last 75 pages made reading the first 350 or so pages worth it! Another great ending to a Patricia Cornwell book! I am one - I'm admitting it - that for about 25% of the time, will read the ending before I start the book. That way, I can see more clearly how things are done to reach the end. I didn't do it this time, and was quite happy I didn't. If I had known the ending beforehand, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the book with all of its short, what I consider scattered-thoughts, chapters.
One last thing: besides the main story, there is also a secondary story. It's about a man named Joe Amos who is on a fellowship with Lucy's company. It's about all the things he's into to try to ''get-ahead..." Marino, the top-notch cop, figures out what Joe is up to, and gets him in the end!
This book is a good (not as exciting & great as some of her others) read if you're into murder mysteries. If you like them, you will more than likely know Patricia Cornwell.
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