After taking a one-book break from fiction's favorite Medical Examiner, Patricia Cornwell returns Kay Scarpetta to us in UNNATURAL EXPOSURE. Despite the often gruesome circumstance of the Scarpetta series, they are always a fast and fun read. Cornwell's latest is no exception. This time, an outbreak of a never-before seen pox virus infects some people on an island located off the Virginia coast. Even the remaining torso of a horribly mutilated homicide victim in Kay's morgue shows signs of having had the disease. Dr. Scarpetta, her overweight, irascible police investor friend Marino, and FBI agent niece Lucy are baffled. Where did this disease come from? Will the outbreak call for a national emergency? How can a cure be found if no one knows exactly what the disease is? Why was the murder victim chopped to bits if she was going to die of this horrible illness anyway? In true Cornwellesque fashion, these questions are answered with broad hints along the way. After reading some truly depressing novels in recent weeks, UNNATURAL EXPOSURE came as a pleasant diversion

this was the first Kay Scarpetta book i ever read. It is what got me hooked. Since then, i have read better ones, and worse ones. But none of them have been bad.

This is another great one. The plot is nicely original, fast paced, and punchy. The writing is the same. (I love her writing)

Kay is back, and her usual superwoman self. Lucy too is back, but here seems far more human and likeable than in some of the other books. (but hey, i still like ger a great deal. i dont know what most people's problem is with her.)

Theres some more good forensic detail (although often she needs to explain things just a tad more) which adds dimension to the book, and even more interest.

really, theres not a lot i can say about this book, apart from repeating things that i have said about all her others, which i cant really be bothered to do. Rest assured, though, that here again Patricia Cornwell has produced another excellent forensic thriller that is easy to read, with a superb writing style. Highly reccomended. (As are all her books.)

Kimberly Jelley

OOOO Patricia Cornwell knows how to grab a reader's attention. Every page of here novel, Unnatural Exposure, lured me into the twisted fate of Dr. Kay Scarpetta. This character known to her friends as 'Scarpetta', was a strong woman with a 'man's' job. She was the chief medical examiner for the state of Virginia, and was looked up to by all of her colleagues. The book unravels as the reader gets involved in the murders and unfathomable deaths laid upon Dr. Scarpetta's ice cold examining table. Suspense captures the reader until the very last sentence of the thriller. The writing style portrayed in this story can best be described to you on page 214, when Scarpetta nervously states her conclusion on the motives of the killer. "I'm saying that we might be dealing with biological warfare. A unabomber that uses a disease." This phrase summarizes the fear and confusion that the characters exhibit throughout their journey to find the murderer, and their reasons. Dr. Scarpetta is in charge of uncovering the cause of death, finding the serial killer that mutilated so many people, and escaping this insane person targeting her over the Internet. The use of America Online serves a major purpose in discovering the murderer, his motive, and why he/she has sour feelings for Dr. Scarpetta. This novel brings you apprehension, irony, and page upon page of new terms and medical knowledge that only Patricia Cornwell can provide. "Unnatural Exposure" is easy to read and will not leave you bored or too frustrated with suspense. This novel teaches you to never discount that evil may lie right where you least expect it. Overall I felt this novel was very powerful and it deserves a chance to be read by all readers interested in science and mystery. I personally award Unnatural Exposure, by Patricia Cornwell four stars.

As far as this being one of Cornwell's best books, it would not qualify. The book started off too abruptly and didnt give as much detailed background as it should have. In the beginning it introduced us to a mysterious death. There was a peson killed on a dock. Dr Skarpetta was the person in charge of investigating this crime. It goes on and on about this, not really introducing any new material. This made the book less attention grabbing. The same happened over and over throughout the book, and really didnt feel like we were getting anywhere. The only thing that gave it a weird feeling was the fact that it took place on New Years Eve. Normally Cornwell keeps you wanting to read the next page, Cause of Death just didnt cut it. Dont take this, as if she writes bad books, since most of hers that I have read were excellent. I just wouldnt go out and get this one until you have read some of her others.

I have read all of Cornwell's books and can now honestly say I am deeply depressed by the author's galloping ego. Lucy irritates me endlessly. Her relationship with Kay bounces back and forth with remarkable clarity however. It's perhaps the most convincing relationship in the series. I hate Kay's affair with Benton Wesley with a passion. Not only is it contrived and embarrassing - how can he be so ethical and yet so base? It would have been far more interesting to team up Scarpetta and Marino. I love Marino. He's so real, I can practically see the egg stains on his tie. Benton, clearly modelled on John Douglas, the former charismatic head of the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, has lost something in the translation. He has become quite improbable since he took up with Kay. Why oh why did Cornwell bump off the boyfriend Mark? And this I think is the crux of the problem. Firstly, we are told of Mark's death in an earlier book - in the past tense! We are not allowed to really share her agony, even though we by now, care deeply about Kay Scarpetta. In Cause Of Death, Cornwell pulls the same stunt. We have to wait for nearly 100 pages to see Benton and Kay together - and we learn, they've been split up for months! Quite conveniently, Benton is getting a divorce - at his long suffering wife's request. I guess Cornwell got stung by so much criticism of the extra-marital affair. In the context of the books, it seems highly unlikely Connie Wesley would really run off with another man, but okay, I'll rent the idea for now. Still, the medical aspects of the books continue to inspire, in spite of the laughable, clunky final set pieces.. A nuclear power plant? Please! I miss the earlier Kay back in Richmond with her squirrel and no-life. This one is too Cosmo, too Rambo-lina. However, the earlier diving sequences are fun and the locations as usual, make me jealous as a writer. Cornwell has been there, done that. I can't wait for the next book

I have read all of Cornwell's books and can now honestly say I am deeply depressed by the author's galloping ego. Lucy irritates me endlessly. Her relationship with Kay bounces back and forth with remarkable clarity however. It's perhaps the most convincing relationship in the series. I hate Kay's affair with Benton Wesley with a passion. Not only is it contrived and embarrassing - how can he be so ethical and yet so base? It would have been far more interesting to team up Scarpetta and Marino. I love Marino. He's so real, I can practically see the egg stains on his tie. Benton, clearly modelled on John Douglas, the former charismatic head of the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, has lost something in the translation. He has become quite improbable since he took up with Kay. Why oh why did Cornwell bump off the boyfriend Mark? And this I think is the crux of the problem. Firstly, we are told of Mark's death in an earlier book - in the past tense! We are not allowed to really share her agony, even though we by now, care deeply about Kay Scarpetta. In Cause Of Death, Cornwell pulls the same stunt. We have to wait for nearly 100 pages to see Benton and Kay together - and we learn, they've been split up for months! Quite conveniently, Benton is getting a divorce - at his long suffering wife's request. I guess Cornwell got stung by so much criticism of the extra-marital affair. In the context of the books, it seems highly unlikely Connie Wesley would really run off with another man, but okay, I'll rent the idea for now. Still, the medical aspects of the books continue to inspire, in spite of the laughable, clunky final set pieces.. A nuclear power plant? Please! I miss the earlier Kay back in Richmond with her squirrel and no-life. This one is too Cosmo, too Rambo-lina. However, the earlier diving sequences are fun and the locations as usual, make me jealous as a writer. Cornwell has been there, done that. I can't wait for the next book

The Last Precinct by Patricia Cornwell G.P. Putnam's Sons NY 2000

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is at the end of her tether. At the end of the previous book she had barely survived the murderous attack of "la loup garrou" (werewolf), Jean Batiste Chandonne, and now she has to move out of her house and stay with her good friend, psychiatrist Dr. Anna Zenner. Under Anna's care, Kay begins to come to grips with the death of her former lover, Benton Wesley, the previous year, and the tumult of her life as Chief Medical Examiner. She then is brought before a Grand Jury on suspicion of murder of the former Chief of Police (one of the werewolf's victims).

Jay Talley , Kay's friend and lover from Paris, working on the werewolf cases in France, shows up on her doorstep when it is found that a New York murder two years previously was also a victim of the werewolf. The story gets even more complicated when two other murders and the strangling of a young boy cloud the investigative waters. Kay eventually comes out the other side of this tangled mess but not before she discovers who the real instigator of Benton's death was and finds out who her real friends are.

This book starts immediately after the end of the last book "Black Notice" ends and needs to be read before starting this one. This is not one of Cornwell's better books. It serves to tie up a number of loose ends in Kay's life but the story line is weak and cluttered with too many dead bodies whose presence only minimally contributes to the story. I am glad that Cornwell got this out of her system and hope that Kay Scarpetta can find a new and exciting life as she is recreated.

The first time I started 'The Last Precinct' was almost 6 months ago. At that time I was simply not able to get past the first hundred or so pages of Kay Scarpetta 's problems. It may just be my perception, but even before Benton Wesley's death, Virginia's Chief Medical Officer has had a tendency towards the negative. Now, with Wesley dead, Scarpetta recovering from a violent attack by Jean-Baptiste Chandonne, and the police firmly in charge of her house and car during the investigation, she is simply devastated. Neither her colleague Captain Pete Marino, her niece Lucy, nor her friend Dr. Anna Zenner seems able to shake her from a continuous flow of angry self pity. As a reader one can only be so sympathetic, and I lost patience with the book far earlier than I usually do.

On this, my second attempt, I knew what to expect and managed to work past the worst of the tirades. Eventually the complex plot begins to overtake the emotional overtones and the story takes on more interest. Scarpetta seems to be assaulted on all sides. She is wrapped up in the Chandonne case, having blinded him with formalin in her efforts to save herself. Buford Righter, the Commonwealth's Attorney is investigating Kay's possible complicity in the murder of Diane Bray. Lucy has been put on administrative leave by the ATF. And a pair of torture murders baffle everyone with apparent links to the Chandonne case. From Scarpetta's viewpoint the world seems upside-down, and very little makes sense.

To make matters more complicated Jaime Berger, the head of New York City's Sex Crimes Division has asked that Chandonne be tried as a suspect in a crime committed three years earlier. A political deal has been cut, and Berger is suddenly in Virginia, and in everyone's face as well. No matter which way she turns, Kay Scarpetta seems to find a layer of half-truths and betrayals. New themes blend with old to create a heady mixture of facts and red herrings. Only gradually does the architecture of the crimes evolve into a pattern that makes sense.

'The Last Precinct' is an ending, and perhaps, a new beginning. As such the reader will find that many earlier Cornwell novels are echoed again. Countless old characters reappear or are remembered as Kay Scarpetta life is led to resolution, and she is forced to ask herself the tough questions she has so far avoided. As a character Scarpetta deepens considerable, as do those of Lucy and Marino. This is not an entirely enjoyable book to read. We must endure a fair amount of Kay Scarpetta's pain to get at the story. Personally I would have preferred a lighter brush. But if the tale is a bit heavy-handed it provides as much material for the future of the series as it resolves. I suspect we have not yet seen the last of Kay Scarpetta.

Kate Reading does a superb job of reading the book in the tape version, capturing a rhythm and clarity that are not as immediately apparent in the book itself. She manages a variety of accents and deliveries comfortably, without going to extremes. Be warned that the tapes represent over 17 hours of listening.

From page 1 of The Last Precinct, this long-time Cornwell reader senses that great (and welcome) change is afoot. It opens with Dr. Kay Scarpetta, one of far too few literary heriones, trapped under the microscope of watchful law enforcement personnel as she packs up her belongings and what seems to be her life. Her home, her sanctuary has become the very crime scene she has investigated throughout her tenure as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner.

Faithful friend and colleague, Police Captain Pete Marino, is present to protect Scarpetta from her own dark thoughts, as well as the chain of public fools who secretly are plotting her demise. Niece Lucy returns to offer her Aunt Kay protection. And her lover and best friend, Benton Wesley, returns from the dead to offer both Scarpetta and Marino clues that ultimately help save their lives.

If these names don't sound familiar, don't worry. It is not necessary to have read The Black Notice, the predecessor novel to The Last Precinct, or the many other Cornwell Scarpetta novels, to appreciate the book. It is recommended, however.

Scarpetta must she find the inner strength to survive the heinous attack on her own life by the grotesque serial killer, Jean-Baptiste Chandonne, aka the "werewolf." In the midst of dealing with this crisis, she must defend herself against a whole new set of would-be assasins. And do so alone since most of the people she has come to trust in her life prove untrustworthy. She faces an indictment for a crime that she did not commit. Trhoug all of her own personal and professional turmoil, she must muster the courage and will to investigate new crimes that appear connected to Chandonne, including the hanging death of an innocent young boy. And perhaps most difficult for Scarpetta, she must place her life in the hands of a top female prosecutor from New York, Jaime Berger, who has come to Richmond, ultimately to offer Scarpetta salvation.

Cornwell provides many glimpses into the mind of Scarpetta. Her thoughts, her feelings of despair, her questioning of everything known to her. This may bother some readers. But it adds a more human dimension to Scarpetta that the earlier novels lack.

In the end, Scarpetta is able to solve the new crimes by relying on the gut instincts and forensic expertise that has served her so well in the past. And she is able to let go of past demons and look forward to a new life.

Cornwell is smart to move her heroine onward in her career path. The Virginia Medical Examiner's Office was growing stale for material. With one foot still in the public sector -- Scarpetta returns the favor to prosecutor Berger by agreeing to participate in Chandonne's trial in New York -- and the other in the private sector, Cornwell will be able to introduce a whole new set of story lines and characters in future novels. A good read.