Book Description
The astonishing novel
Brave New World, originally published in 1932, presents Aldous Huxley's vision of the future -- of a world utterly transformed. Through the most efficient scientific and psychological engineering, people are genetically designed to be passive and therefore consistently useful to the ruling class. This powerful work of speculative fiction sheds a blazing critical light on the present and is considered to be Huxley's most enduring masterpiece.
Following
Brave New World is the nonfiction work
Brave New World Revisited, first published in 1958. It is a fascinating work in which Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with the prophetic fantasy envisioned in
Brave New World, including threats to humanity, such as overpopulation, propaganda, and chemical persuasion.
Customer Reviews:
I kind of expected it to be different.......2007-08-01
but this was a pretty good book I read an article in a magazine that peaked my interest and then went to the library and read some more articles, I got this edition because I wanted all the other stuff too, this book I really enjoyed
Great Social Commentary.......2007-06-26
Brave New World is a fascinating read, in which Aldous Huxley satirizes society (society in 1932, but still to a certain extent, society in 20-07) by portraying a world steeped in dystopia and a people repressed, though not repressed in the common sense. In Huxley's novel, people's desires are pandered to by the government; all of their greatest longings are fulfilled in a society that offers unlimited sexual pleasure without the idea of marriage or monogamy and unlimited "soma," a drug used to alleviate stress and send the user into a euphoric state of ecstasy.
People are geared from an early age to accept the state of the world through hypnopædia, a sleep-teaching technique, and a manipulative genetic procedure that allows the government to extract multiple embryos from one to make thousands of the same looking individual. A hierarchy is created by further manipulating individual embryos into producing either scrawny, short humans (Epsilons) or strong intellectuals (Alphas). Huxley's vision (as opposed to Orwell's vision of a society kept in submission through fear and physical force) is one in which the government does not repress the people overtly; rather, it allows them the freedom of abandoning old moral values, such as marriage, commitment, and intellectual curiosity, for more pleasurable values, such as promiscuity and drug addiction.
The book as a piece of literature is not so much plot driven or driven by its characters; rather, it is a book of ideas. So, if you're looking to read something that's going to appeal to you from a literary standpoint, then this probably isn't the best book since Huxley's characters are simply there to accentuate his ideas. Overall, in regards to the validity of this piece, I don't really see many parallels to contemporary society: yet. For example, the genetics discussed in the book are not really plausible at this point and I'm skeptical as to the capabilities of hypnopædia.
Brave New World Revisited is another fascinating work, in which Huxley tackles subjects like over-population (a phenomenon he believes will allow leadership to become more manipulative due to the increasing distance between representatives and constituents) and propaganda. While I don't really subscribe to the ideas expressed in works such as We, Brave New World, and 1984, I'm always awe stricken by the social and political prowess of these books, and I would wholeheartedly recommend Brave New World.
Brave New World Review.......2007-06-09
An interesting and insightful book, of which some of the predictions seem to be coming true. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but would have liked it to have been longer
As relevant today as it was in 1932........2007-06-01
Not reading this book is the biggest regret you will ever have. It amazing to me how something written so long ago as a social commentary and a warning of "potential" evils to come, could have so accurately predicted the development of society 70 years later.
The most interesting sections of the book were the first few chapters and the final few. It was there that we see Huxley's future world fully visualized and rationalized for all to see. The early dialogue on mass produced people, pre-natal conditioning and government control will leave most readers with an eerie feeling of familiarity (Fertilization drugs, Gene therapy). The final chapters will certainly leave most asking serious questions about their religious beliefs.
Huxley's future world is similar in some ways to the ideal society as described by Plato in "The Republic". A society in which "everyone belongs to everyone else", where no child has a father, nor a mother. Plato would be proud.
This book will appeal to people from all walks of life (particularly those with backgrounds in philosophy, psychology and organizational behavior).
If you liked this book, you'll also like "1984", by George Orwell. This edition of the book contains a very interesting letter from Huxley to Orwell on the last few pages. Another gem that makes this edition stand out from the others is the inclusion of "Brave New World Revisited". You'll really get an idea of how far ahead of his time Huxley was as he wrote this in 1958. His warnings about rampant overpopulation and resource exaustion may not have been concerns during his lifetime but are ever relevant topics of concersation today.
You'll also like "I am Legend", by Richard Matheson. Though the Savage isn't the last man alive, the comparison to Matheson's last man standing
is easy to make.
!932.......2007-05-05
It's spooky how relevent this story is to the world today. I read this book in high school and it was like okay...the scary thing is that everything Huxley describes I feel so relates to the world today. I was so impressed by this story that I called up my 82 year old grandmother to discuss this book and see if she had read it and I mentioned to her how inciteful I felt Huxley was and how when I read it at 16 It didn't seem so relevent.
My Grandmother told me that's because life was fantastic when I was growing up.
I'm not sure of that either. But I think it was easier to grow up than it is today.
I'm sooo impressed by this guys incite to the future. What a legend.
Book Description
The astonishing novel Brave New World, originally published in 1932, presents Aldous Huxley's vision of the future -- of a world utterly transformed. Through the most efficient scientific and psychological engineering, people are genetically designed to be passive and therefore consistently useful to the ruling class. This powerful work of speculative fiction sheds a blazing critical light on the present and is considered to be Aldous Huxley's most enduring masterpiece.
The nonfiction work Brave New World Revisited, first published in 1958, is a fascinating work in which Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with his prophetic fantasy envisioned in Brave New World, including the threats to humanity, such as overpopulation, propaganda, and chemical persuasion.
Customer Reviews:
THIS WAS A BIRTHDAY GIFT.......2007-02-07
MY FRIEND STARTED THE B OOK AND OF COURSE LIKED IT. WHO WOULDN'T LIKE ALDOUS HUXLEY.
Brave New World by Huxley.......2007-01-04
Shining Brave New World turns into nightmare gradually... page after page... And it is a reality of our days... When you see crowds during Bull Race in Spain or during any European football game... all taking SOMA (oh, sorry, beer or cheap wine...) and happy after it... millions playing LOTTERY with the only desire to become rich for free... the only desire of entertainment.. computer games even on cellar phones... and free cannabis in Holland... excited people in supermarkets buying a lot of unnecessary goods... cheap Chinese goods everywhere uselessly processing not-renewable raw materials... You understand that nightmare is around... I don't call for primitive live like in Reservations of Brave New World, but recommend to read this book with one's own conclusions...
The edition to savor and keep for the next generation.......2006-11-10
Impressively high quality edition with an excellent intro by Hitchens and complete with both crucial works by Huxley for an excellent price. If only all hardcover books were of this physical and visual quality as well as being so comfortable in the hands.
WOW..........2005-12-24
The future, Brave new world written by Aldous Huxley is the most mind provoking crazy but seems possible book I ever read. People are mass produce; sex is a child's plaything, drugs are considered a vacation, the clones are color coded by how genetically perfect they are, clones are also brain washed using electric shock to fear flowers so they cant escape into nature and to hate books so they don't ever try and have a free thought or opinion. And having sex with only one partner is frowned upon there are neither marriages nor couples just friends and acquaints.
Basically the book is about control of the masses, control of the working class, control of the mind, in a world were free thought has been banished few character like Bernard the main character start to wonder why, they start to think, they start to learn, they start to ask questions about their freedom these people are forced to live in a perfect society of happiness and ignorance and just because these clones don't know what the problem is doesn't mean they don't have one or need one a life of no challenges, a life of no discomfort I life of lies, is what they live in and who wouldn't wish for more.
If you want a book that will not want to put down read brave new world. It should blow your mind away.
Brave New World.......2004-05-29
Nothing about this book really caught or held my attention. The premise of the novel is of course very original and a thought provoking idea, but the novel just didn't live up to the ever-present hype that surrounds it. I gave it three stars for the originality of ideas and detailed descriptions of future distopia, but in the end this novel did nothing for me. "1984" was much more effective and interesting in my opinion.
Book Description
When the novel Brave New World first appeared in 1932, its shocking analysis of a scientific dictatorship seemed a projection into the remote future. Here, in one of the most important and fascinating books of his career, Aldous Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with his prophetic fantasy. He scrutinizes threats to humanity, such as overpopulation, propaganda, and chemical persuasion, and explains why we have found it virtually impossible to avoid them. Brave New World Revisited is a trenchant plea that humankind should educate itself for freedom before it is too late.
Download Description
Huxley looks backward and forward in this brilliant extended essay published a quarter of a century after his controversial, dark visionary novel. Analyzing America at mid-century against the tomorrow of the BRAVE NEW WORLD, Huxley finds some answers and
Customer Reviews:
An essential reading for mankind.......2007-08-05
Huxley's work of nonfiction here is superbly presented and very well-thought with an undeniable amount of research to support all of his thoughts and grim prophecies. Albeit not long, its volume in information lends much support to its considerable importance and potency to the intellectual reader. There were times where i was audibly saying "wow" and times when i was so immersed i couldn't contain my excitement. Ironically this very excitement distracted me at times, where i was deep in thought and contemplation of previous passages that i was actually missing out of what i was reading at the moment. Thankfully those instances were few and i was able to comprehend the majority of it. The outlining problems, he explains, come from over-population and over-organization. Each can be summarized as an internal and external dilemma that we as individuals and a society must face. From propaganda to mind-manipulation, he covers all that human society is currently struggling with and will undoubtedly continue to deal with as the situation worsens.
Profound, both in its horrifying connection made and it's enlightening message given, this book is definitely worth looking into for anyone that is even somewhat interested in Huxley's work.
Lucas.
The best book you can read. period........2006-02-24
If you haven't read Brave New World and 1984, I suggest you read both of those first. Then you can truly appreciate this work of staggering insight into the world of today.
This is the book (or collection of essays) written by Huxley in 1958, 27 years after he wrote Brave New World. He begins by reevaluating his previous work and Orwell's 1984. Then he will open your eyes to some of the biggest problems we face today. It has been almost 50 years since this book was written and many of the things Huxley predicted are happening all around us. It floors me that so few people have read this amazing work. So quit reading this review and read the book already!
Excellent.......2005-12-07
A brilliant look back at Huxley's "Brave New World" by the author along with an insightful analysis of foreshadowed conditions up to 1965. This book is even more important reading today. The birth control pill had not even been invented when this book was written, and yet Huxley refers to its importance. Scholars of historical science can see the writing on the wall. We should all be reading it.
Beware the Enemies of INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM!!.......2005-07-30
+++++
This non-fiction book of essays, by author Aldous Huxley (1894 to 1963), examines the predictions he made in his fascinating science fiction novel written over a quarter of a century from the time he wrote this book. Huxley explains:
"When [my science fiction novel] `Brave New World' [1932] was being written, I was convinced that there was plenty of time. The completely organized society, the...caste [or class] system, the abolition of free will by methodical conditioning, the servitude made acceptable by regular doses of chemically induced happiness, the orthodoxies drummed in by...sleep-teaching--these [threats to individual freedom] were coming all right, but not in my time...I feel a good deal less optimistic than I did when I was writing [my science fiction novel]. The prophecies made in [my science fiction novel] are coming true much sooner than I thought they would...Impersonal forces over which we have almost no control seem to be pushing us all in the direction of the Brave New Worldian nightmare...impersonal forces which are now making the world so extremely unsafe for democracy [and] individual freedom."
This is what this book does. It looks in depth at the above threats or forces to or "enemies of" individual freedom and others mentioned in Huxley's science fiction novel and applies them to the modern world. The author examines in depth the following six threats or forces:
(1) overpopulation
(2) over-organization (or bureaucracy)
(3) propaganda (in a democratic society and under a dictatorship)
(4) brainwashing
(5) persuasion (chemical and subconscious or subliminal)
(6) hypnopaedia (sleep-teaching)
His analysis made over a quarter century ago (from the year of this review) is amazingly accurate. I'll give one perfect example:
"Our contemporary Western society, in spite of its material, intellectual, and material progress, is increasingly less conducive to mental health, and tends to undermine the inner security, happiness, reason, and the capacity for love in the individual; it tends to turn him into an automaton who pays for his human failure with increasing mental sickness, and with despair hidden under a frantic drive for work and so-called pleasure...Man [and woman are] not made to be an automaton, and if he [or she] becomes one, the basis for mental health is destroyed...People are related to one another, not as total personalities but as embodiments of economic functions or, when they are not at work, as irresponsible seekers of entertainment."
The above example is the kind of insight you'll find throughout this well-written book. There are a few (very few!) times Huxley seems to be wrong, but the majority of time he is spot-on.
In the last chapter of his book, Huxley attempts amongst other things to answer the following question:
"How can we control the vast impersonal forces that now menace our hard-one freedoms?" He does a good job coming to grips with this difficult question.
Do you have to read Huxley's previous science fiction novel to understand this book? NO. When he refers to his science fiction novel in this book he does not make any assumptions that the reader has read his science fiction novel. However, as a person who has read his previous novel, I can say that this book had more impact on me than if I had not read the previous novel.
Finally, the only problem I had with this non-fiction book is that it has no references and footnotes (or notes). Huxley to be sure uses information and statistics from other sources but no credit is given to them. Huxley, in his main narrative, does sometimes give informal credit to his sources but many times, he does not even do this. All information sources should have been properly referenced.
In conclusion, this is an insightful, prophetic, fascinating book that makes the case that our society may be heading in the wrong direction due to forces attempting to take away our individual freedoms!
(first published 1958; forward by author; 12 chapters; main narrative 185 pages)
+++++
The Sharp Social Analysis behind the Novel .......2005-05-07
In this book, Aldous Huxley examines modern society and shows how elements of his fictional dystopia in "Brave New World" (BNW) became real even faster than he imagined. In a dozen pithy chapters, he examines the "modern" world of 1958, and discusses the rise of huge organizations, the methods of modern propaganda, the role of the mass media, over-conformity, over-specialization, salesmanship & commercial society, brainwashing, and drug-induced happiness - all of which appeared in "Brave New World." Overall, I found this to be a pithy, insightful, and prescient analysis of society. In fact, I thought it was as good or better than "Brave New World" itself.
Here's a sampling of some points he covers:
BNW depicted the non-violent manipulation of people through pleasures rather than violent oppression. In BNW, for example, the "system" creates people who are psychologically conditioned from birth to have the "correct" views on the world; the government sponsored drug use to keep people happy, and social interactions were ritualized and controlled. All this provided social stability.
Huxley also writes that today's world has also become similarly over-organized, and people are manipulated by pleasures. We've created a vast commercial machine for the mass production of goods and entertainment. As cogs in the machine, people can become highly specialized automatons who subsume themselves into their organizations, making it's goals their own, suffocating their independent human spirit. Although highly productive & peaceful, Huxley claims the resulting social harmony is superficial, and doesn't fulfill us as human beings. People interact with each other from a distance, merely as workers or pleasure seekers, never as total personalities.
Huxley's thoughts on propaganda also fill many of the chapters. He shows that the large organizations of the modern world (governments, corporations, the military, political parties, churches, etc.) have all become very savvy in using propaganda to control "their" masses. As Hitler knew, the masses hate reason; so his key is to create simple, repetitive, emotional appeals that spoke to them and appealed to their secret desires. Not coincidently, advertising uses this same formula; find a common desire or widespread unconscious fear or anxiety, then relate it to the product you sell, then build verbal or pictorial bridge from their dream to your product, and repeat the ad over and over.
So, what can we do to improve the world? Huxley offers few solutions, but one key point is that we must be aware of propaganda. To do so, we must learn the proper use of language, and learn how to dissect and critically analyze the messages aimed at us. Also, we should try to reconnect with our neighbors & communities fully as people, without intervening organizations. Finally, we should try to decentralize economic and political power as much as possible, since what is good for the economic or political "machine" isn't necessarily good for us as human beings.
As I mentioned, this book was packed with insights, and a quick, enjoyable read. It's also a superb follow-up to Huxley's famous novel. Recommended.
Average customer rating:
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Brave New World Revisited
Manufacturer: Harper & Brothers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000DN6NX2 |
Customer Reviews:
A very usefull helper.......2003-01-15
This cliff notes helped understand this book.(I am a high school senior). And I would tell anyone who has read this book, if they need help to pick this book up.
Good Review, but Needs a Few More Pieces of Information.......2000-05-08
In this Cliff's Notes booklet, the reviewer, Warren Paul of Columbia University, provides the following (in order): a brief biography of Aldous Huxley, a 6-page history of utopian/dystopian novels, 1-and-a-half pages containing the general plot, one or two lines describing each of the characters, a detailed description of each chapter (each with a few paragraphs of commentary), a critical analysis of the novel as a whole and of the characters, definitions of the terms (e.g., Malthusian Belt, Musical Bridge) used in Brave New World, a chapter-by-chapter summary of Brave New World Revisited, review questions for the student, and a "Selected Biblography." All in all, this Cliff Notes succeeds in providing the details the student of Aldous Huxley needs to do a book report on either of the two books for which it provides commentary. It also serves to stimulate interest in utopian and dystopian novels. The review would have been better if there had been more assessment of how Brave New World Revisited was received by the public compared with the reception of its predecessor, and of the very different treatment of the new world in the two texts (a novel in the first case, and an extended essay in the second). I also would have appreciated a list of all of Aldous Huxley's novels and other literary works in chronological order to help me put Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited in their proper perspective with regard to the author's literary career. Lastly, the Selected Bibliography consisted of only four texts, many of which were old when this Cliff Notes booklet was written. I would have expected at least 20.
Average customer rating:
- Great Build
- Powerful!
- A Pity Party , Only For Hard-Core Fans
- Good...but could have been great.
- OUTSTANDING
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Black Notice
Patricia Cornwell
Manufacturer: Berkley
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Blow Fly: A Scarpetta Novel
ASIN: 0425175405
Release Date: 2000-08-01 |
Amazon.com
The postmortem is in--Black Notice, the 10th in Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series, is a gore-splattered, intensely exciting read. As winter grips Richmond, Virginia, an air of somberness pervades chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta's world. Her beloved niece Lucy is involved in a dangerous undercover police operation in Miami, and auntie fears for her life. A tyrannical new deputy chief, Diane Bray, wants to get Kay's department under her jurisdiction. Meanwhile, back at the office, someone has tinkered with the e-mail system, stealing Kay's identity, and sending off slanderous and hurtful messages. Emotionally battered, Scarpetta fears she is going insane. Or, could it be that someone is deliberately sowing this harvest of sorrow?
Despite her personal problems, Scarpetta is still the reigning diva at the department of death. She is sent to investigate the putrefied remains of a man found inside a container ship, "eyes bulged froglike, and the scalp and beard were sloughing off with the outer layer of darkening skin." Kay finds strange, animal-like hairs on the man's clothing--the same hairs that she discovers on a murdered store clerk a few days later. In actuality, the bizarre killings extend well beyond Virginia; whoever killed the Richmond victims also butchered people in France. Kay and police captain Pete Marino are whisked off to Paris where they must collect top-secret information from a Paris morgue, and avoid becoming victims themselves.
This macabre tome is the stuff that classic Scarpetta tales are made of: creepy but compulsive autopsy scenes, plentiful plot twists, and the compelling, if slightly more vulnerable chief medical examiner herself. --Naomi Gesinger
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
It's Christmastime in Richmond, Virginia, but no one seems merry--least of all Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, back for her 10th outing as a crime-solving coroner. Actress Kate Reading also returns, reading her third unabridged audio for Patricia Cornwell's death-drenched series. This one finds Scarpetta still recovering from the murder of her lover and in a generally foul mood as an investigation of a badly decomposed body leads her to INTERPOL, and eventually, Paris. Series regulars Police Detective Pete Marino, recently demoted, and niece Lucy are in equally cantankerous states of mind, resulting in more blue language than Cornwell regulars may be used to. Reading proves she's up to the task, maintaining multiple distinct voices and highlighting the occasional humor in the overwhelmingly dark novel. A London-based stage actress, she captivates the listener without careening into melodrama. (Running time: 12.5 hours, 8 cassettes) --Kimberly Heinrichs
Book Description
"Patricia Cornwell lights a fire under familiar characters--and sparks her hottest adventure in years," wrote People magazine about Point of Origin, the instant #1 bestseller by America's premier crime writer. "Evil always smolders when it seems to be doused," said The Atlanta Constitution. "Scarpettans know to keep their security systems armed until the next installment."
Now Cornwell delivers a high-stakes Kay Scarpetta novel with an intrigue that will take Kay an ocean's length away from home. The nightmare begins when a cargo ship arriving at Richmond's Deep Water Terminal from Belgium is discovered to be transporting a locked, sealed container holding the decomposed remains of a stowaway.
The autopsy performed by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta initially reveals neither a cause of death nor an identification. But the victim's personal effects and an odd tattoo take Scarpetta on a hunt for information that leads to INTERPOL's headquarters in Lyon, France, where she receives critical instructions: go to the Paris morgue to receive forbidden, secret evidence and then return to Virginia to carry out a mission. It is a mission that could ruin her career.
In a story that careens across international borders, Black Notice puts Dr. Kay Scarpetta directly in harm's way and places her and those she holds dear at mortal risk.
"No one holds her head higher than Kay Scarpetta. She is for many readers the capable female writ large--a lightning rod for those who would destroy change at any price, yet a formidable champion because of it." --Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle
Download Description
Intrigue takes Kay Scarpetta an ocean's length away from home in this high-stakes novel from Patricia Cornwell.
Customer Reviews:
Great Build .......2007-06-29
This book weaves Dr. Scarpetta's personal life together with her professional career, but lacks the ending that keeps you wanting more. I enjoyed the explanations of all of the medical examinations involved. The mystery unfolds well and the side tracks to her niece do not bother the overall flow. Yet, I was overwhelmed by a poor ending.
Powerful!.......2006-07-27
This is by far my favorite Scarpetta book. Cornwell does an excellant job of pulling the reader into what each of the main characters are feeling in the aftermath of the death of Benton Wesley. Opening with the letter was brilliant. I read this book in 3 days, I was on the edge of my seat and thought it was a really smart read.
While other people have not favored the ending, I did like it, because it leaves the door wide open for a comeback.
A Pity Party , Only For Hard-Core Fans.......2006-07-18
I stopped reading the Kay Scarpetta series after the first three books, and after reading this, the worst so far, I remember why: because I don't like any of the main characters. Which is a shame, because the author is skilled, the plot lines are really good, and the forensic medical detail is fascinating. Unfortunately this latest effort quickly degenerates into a weepy, whiny pity party for Kay Scarpetta, with everyone explaining everyone else's inadquacies by forcing their own patronizing pop-psychology 'insights' down other's throats. Way too much of the book is taken up with this nonsense, and the dialog becomes totally unbelievable. A hasty last-minute grafting of an international plot twist late in the book does nothing to mitigate the soap-opera quality and irritating personalities of all the people in it.
Lucy, who started in the Scarpetta series as a brat who needed a serious spanking, has developed into such an angry neurotic that it's beyond comprehension that she passed the FBI / ATF psych tests during the hiring process. Of course, Lucy is now a stereotyped lesbian as well. Lucy's subplot in this book is a clumsy and needless complication that serves only to fill a lot of boring pages and never goes anywhere beyond the requisite awful-parent issues.
Marino has also degenerated from an annoying but harmless redneck to a truly wacko jerk. How someone so ignorant, narrow-minded, and incompetent could make it to the ranks of detective is also beyond comprehension. In Black Notice, Marino has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and Scarpetta herself keeps telling him to be quiet and go away. Obviously she doesn't think too highly of him either, so why does she waster her time with this clown? The promising subplot with Marino's new supervisor quickly goes from being his problem to yet another poor-Dr-Kay, being betrayed by her own people issue(yawn) - the sudden resolution of which is a total cop-out, excuse the pun.
And then there's Scarpetta herself, who used to be interesting in the beginning of the series, but changed into a self-pitying, sanctimonious rich witch who is more concerned with her status toys (BMW, expensive house, antique furniture), and safeguarding her official power than with doing her job, except as a boost to her overinflated ego. This is not a character your average pay-check stretching, just-getting-by reader could identify with. And it took her far too long to figure out the 'long, soft baby hair'clue - she is supposed to be a hotshot medical examiner, after all. If she spent less time trying to get back at people out to ruin her, and more on working her actual cases, she'd get these insights sooner. Of course, in a story with so many tangled, unnecessary and ultimately unresolved subplots, it's hard to imagine anyone getting anything done at all.
It's a shame that this book was such a dog. I have great respect for this author's writing ability, which kept me turning the pages even when I wanted to throw the book across the room. I just hope that her future efforts focus more on plot - her great skill - and ease up on the annoyance factor of her increasingly strident characters. Surely they have some redeeming qualities. It's far past time to let them shine through.
Good...but could have been great........2006-07-17
I enjoyed the book but felt slightly let-down by the conclusion.
As ever, the plot and chacterization was spot-on and the story unfurled with ease.
Richly detailed, the novel crackled with energy throughout, so was such a shame that the ending wasn't stronger.
OUTSTANDING .......2005-09-14
Pat Cromwell rocks the medicine world with this wonderful book. It's a great series that I am truly enjoying!
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Kay Scarpetta Series: Postmortem, Body of Evidence, All That Remains, Cruel and Unusual, The Body Farm, From Potter's Field, Cause of Death, Unnatural Exposure, Point of Origin, Black Notice, The Last Precinct, Blow Fly, Trace, Predator (Set of 14)
Patricia Cornwell
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000M12V7C |
Product Description
Kay Scarpetta Series, Books 1 - 14; Postmortem, Body of Evidence, All That Remains, Cruel and Unusual, The Body Farm, From Potter's Field, Cause of Death, Unnatural Exposure, Point of Origin, Black Notice, The Last Precinct, Blow Fly, Trace, Predator
Customer Reviews:
NOT JUST ANOTHER WEREWOLF STORY..........2006-05-28
This is an intriguing and well crafted Kay Scarpetta mystery, which begins promisingly enough with the discovery of an overly ripe, dead body. Found stashed in a locked and sealed freight container aboard a cargo ship from Belgium that has landed in Dr. Kay Scarpetta's jurisdiction of Richmond, Virginia, the male, mystery corpse is covered with loose hairs. This intriguing beginning sends Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Richmond, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, on a hunt for information that turns international in scope. She discovers that this is just one of a number of murders to contain those tell tale hairs.
The murders, themselves, are graphic and the forensic details, as always, are fascinating, and Dr. Scarpetta's critical analysis of the pathology issues are well thought out and highly informative, as she sifts through the forensic evidence in order to profile the killer. Her assessment of the peculiar affliction of this serial killer is intriguing, providing scientific insight into creatures who were called werewolves, but who may have only been persons with a rare and unusual genetic condition, causing them to be especially hirsute, among other anomalies.
Moreover, there are a number of subplots afoot. Dr. Scarpetta, who is recovering from the death of her lover, Wesley Benton, faces a number of problems closer to home. It seems that she has been the victim of identity theft, with her internet screen name being used to set up a phony chat room, and personally destructive emails being sent falsely under her screen name.
To add fuel to the fire, a new Deputy Chief in the Richmond police Department, Diane Bray, and has managed to demote Dr. Scarpetta's long time friend, Homicide Detective Pete Marino. Having her own secret agenda, Bray has turned her sights onto Dr. Scarpetta, desiring to get jurisdiction over the Medical Examiner's Office. Perfidy also exist among Dr. Scarpetta's trusted staff, and her niece Lucy, who is still not operating with a full deck, is on a dangerous, undercover police mission with her lover in Miami, adding yet another worry to Dr. Scarpetta's already full plate.
It is the camaraderie between Pete Marino and Dr. Kay Scarpetta, however, that holds this particular book together. Their repartee and dialogue is wonderful, giving evidence of their comfortable and close relationship, without saying so in so many words. They carp as if they were an old married couple. Lucy, Dr. Scarpetta's niece, however, is still a loose cannon, and it is unbelievable that any police agency would allow her to run around with a gun in her hand, given her record for shooting it off. Mercifully, this annoying character has a smaller role than usual in this novel, and the reader may only hope that she will either be written out altogether or get an attitude adjustment.
The ending of the book, however, is a little too pat. Dr. Scarpetta's actions in the book's grand finale are not really believable for such an astute and normally cautious woman. Given what she already knows about the killer, her actions in the end bespeak more of the actions of an unknowing civilian. Still, this book does not fail to entertain and is sure to provide reading pleasure for many Kay Scarpetta devotees.
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multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Product Description
Hardbacks
Product Description
seven mmpb books. 7 Titles By Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta Series (8-14) : 8 Unnatural Exposure 9 Point of Origin 10 Black Notice 11 Last Precinct 12 Blow Fly 13 Trace 14 Predator
Books:
- Breakfast at Tiffany's
- Cat's Cradle
- Chaos and Fractals: New Frontiers of Science
- Chiral Dynamics: Theory & Experiment III
- Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
- Complex Spaces in Finsler, Lagrange and Hamilton Geometries (Fundamental Theories of Physics)
- Comprehensive Handbook of Alcohol Related Pathology, Volume 1-3
- Continuum Thermomechanics:: The Art and Science of Modelling Material Behavior A Volume Dedicated to Paul Germain on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday (Solid Mechanics and Its Applications)
- Creative Code: Aesthetics + Computation
- Critical Problems in Physics
Books Index
Books Home
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