Scarpetta, now freelancing with the National Forensic Academy in Florida, digs into a case more bizarre than any she has ever faced, one that has produced not only unusual physical evidence, but also tantalizing clues about the inner workings of an extremely cunning and criminal mind.
Predator by Patricia Cornwell
She and her team — Pete Marino, Benton Wesley, and her niece, Lucy — track the odd connections between several horrific crimes and the people who are the likely suspects.
As one psychopath, safely behind bars and the subject of a classified scientific study at a Harvard-affiliated psychiatric hospital, teases Scarpetta with tips that could be fact — or fantasy — the number of killers on the loose seems to multiply.
Are these events related or merely random? And what can the study of one man’s brain tell them about the methods of a psychopath still lurking in the shadows?
~ Synopsis from goodreads
Oh, how I mourn the old Patricia Cornwell. It seems that each book in her Kay Scarpetta series has gotten progressively worse. I really don’t know why I bother with her stories any more. The brilliance is gone and all is left is the bizarre.
While this book wasn’t as bad as the last book of hers I read, it definitely comes close.
The plot starts with a lot of promise. There are multiple murder cases that are being investigated. As the story proceeds, we come to know that these murders may be related.
However, nothing is really simple in Scarpetta’s convoluted world.
After reading this book, I have realized Scarpetta can never solve a case unless it is personally targeted at her. I swear, in every book, Scarpetta is targeted by someone who has some sort of grudge against her or her friends. However, I am not surprised. If I had to hang around Scarpetta and her dreary friends, I might want to commit murder/suicide too.
I read this book feeling utterly fed up of Scarpetta and her friends’ narcissism and their utter disregard of other people’s feelings. They are just unable to communicate within or outside their group without being condescending, dry, pedantic, rude, and boring.
In spite of these huge flaws in the characters, I continued reading on to find out the solution to the murders and I was disappointed here too.
Warning: Spoilery Stuff Ahead
I am not sure why I am warning about spoilers because surely you are not going to read this book after I have just ripped it apart here? Anyway, still adding the warning so I can avoid angry comments later
.The ending was so abrupt and flimsy. Throughout the book from the killer’s POV, it seems like he/she has a personal grudge against one of his victims. However at the end, nothing is revealed about the reasoning for these murders. It ends abruptly without any explanation whatever.
All in all, an utter waste of reading time, and I highly recommend not reading this book. This is now the book to beat on my worst books of 2014 list that I will put out at the end of the year.
Have you read any duds lately?