Scan barcode
cerisecarrot's review against another edition
1.0
Can’t believe I finished it. Total muddle of stories. If I’d read this first, I’d never have picked up another Patricia Cornwell book.
jimbowen0306's review against another edition
3.0
Patricia Cornwell is probably best know for her Scarpetta series, where Virginia’s Chief Medical Examiner solves crime. This book is set in the same area, but looks at the female Chief of Police for Richmond (Virginia’s capital), as she and her sidekick (Andy Brazil) solve crime.
The story has potential. It looks at the growth of gang culture in Richmond, and watches what happens when a gang tries to set up in the city. There are a number of problems with the story though.
First I’m not sure that Ms. Cornwell knows what to do with the story. Should it be noir, or comedy? It would have read much much better, had it being noir. Comedic writing is a skill, and I’m not sure it works here.
Second, the gang members are in the main… rebels without a clue. Sure there is a murder towards the end, but for most of the book, they’re High School Seniors who are wannabe thugs. they go from holding up people at ATMs to killing people (to facilitate a plan) in a couple of weeks.
Thirdly it felt like some characters were introduced to move the story along, without it seeming to happen organically/naturally.
Finally, I just didn’t rally care for the characters. The Chief of Police is smug and self-satisfied, while Brazil is the only one with a modicum of common sense, which isn’t a ringing endorsement for the reader to like him.
So overall, not the most fun book I’ve read.
The story has potential. It looks at the growth of gang culture in Richmond, and watches what happens when a gang tries to set up in the city. There are a number of problems with the story though.
First I’m not sure that Ms. Cornwell knows what to do with the story. Should it be noir, or comedy? It would have read much much better, had it being noir. Comedic writing is a skill, and I’m not sure it works here.
Second, the gang members are in the main… rebels without a clue. Sure there is a murder towards the end, but for most of the book, they’re High School Seniors who are wannabe thugs. they go from holding up people at ATMs to killing people (to facilitate a plan) in a couple of weeks.
Thirdly it felt like some characters were introduced to move the story along, without it seeming to happen organically/naturally.
Finally, I just didn’t rally care for the characters. The Chief of Police is smug and self-satisfied, while Brazil is the only one with a modicum of common sense, which isn’t a ringing endorsement for the reader to like him.
So overall, not the most fun book I’ve read.
devonforest's review against another edition
3.0
There were a few things that bothered me slightly about this book. First, I wasn't too impressed with the writing style itself. It seemed very awkward at times. Second, there were a lot of separate parts all working together. Usually I don't mind separate plots that tie together in the end, but there were just too many here. And some of them didn't really seem to connect. Third, the ending seemed very abrupt. All the loose ends were tied up for the most part, but it still seemed like a few more pages were needed. And last, the plot was just very vague in general. There didn't seem to be much point in the story. For example we never did find out exactly Smoke's plan was and that bothered me. And what was the point of the coon hunting? There just seemed to be a lot of random sections that didn't help the plot at all, what little there was. I don't remember the other books I've read by Cornwell to be like this, so I'm hoping if I ever read more by here it's more like her other books and not this one.
belanna2's review against another edition
1.0
I can't believe her publishers actually allowed this to go to print. This book is all over the place with no cohesive story or plot; it just rambles along. The whole time I forced myself to finish this book, all I could think was WTF is this and what did I just read. She's lost the pot. Completely.
bookswithlydscl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
dhilderbrand's review against another edition
1.0
I just don't like Cornwell's writing that much. The story was incredibly disjointed for me. The characters don't interest me...
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
Not too bad, better than the previous book in the Hammer/West/Brazil series but not as good as her Scarpetta series although found it quite amusing in parts and really enjoyed the character of Weed. Probably wouldn't read it again though.