I received a free copy of Depraved Heart for my honest review from TLC Book Tours
About the Book:
• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (January 3, 2017)
Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a highly suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link seems to be from her niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.
As Scarpetta watches she comes to grips with frightening secrets about her niece. That first clip and others sent soon after raise dangerous implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, alarmed, and not knowing where to turn. The diabolical presence and singularly “depraved heart” behind what unfolds seems obvious—but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that’s the message they send when they start harassing Lucy and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.
In the latest novel in her bestselling series featuring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell captivates readers again with the jolting twists, high-wire tension, and cutting-edge forensic detail for which she is renowned, proving yet again why she is the world’s number one bestselling crime writer.
About the Author:
Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the world’s top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Anthony, the Macavity and the Prix du Roman d’Aventures. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography and two more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.
Find out more about Patricia at her website, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
You can purchase Depraved Heart at Harper Collins
My Opinion:
My opinion is that I am a total idiot. I think my issue is that I read so many books. I didn’t realize this was a paperback release of the hardback I had read back in November. I happily picked up the book, started reading and shortly realized that it all looked very familiar.
Sigh.
I do apologize. I am copying my review below so you can read what I thought. I can only blame my love of Ms. Cornwell’s books. I got excited when I saw her name and just forgot the title.
I don’t read many suspense/thriller type books these days. Unless they take place in the past that is – the long, long past. There was a time though, when I loved them and would read almost nothing but those exciting types of novels. I think nowadays I prefer a book that lets me sleep. Having written that I will note that I did have a list of favorite authors and one of my favoritest (is that a word?) was Patricia Cornwell. Any time I would go into a bookstore I would check to see if there was a new Kay Scarpetta adventure to read. She is a truly fascinating character.
Flash forward to my current reading life where I am fortunate in my reviewing; I have a shelf of exciting books at all times just waiting for me to read and review. I chose all of them because they sparked an interest. Then this new book by Ms. Cornwell was offered to me and I remembered all of the reading enjoyment I had received in the past from reading Kay Scarpetta’s investigations. It’s been about oh, I’d say 8 years since I’d read one so I was a little behind on her life. That was OK though, Ms. Cornwell knows how to weave in the details of past stories but I do think it was helpful to have a grounding in the world of Scarpetta rather than to start with her this late in the game.
The book opens with a death – of course – but is it a murder? The local police don’t think so but Dr. Scarpetta isn’t quite as convinced it’s an accident. But she is distracted by a video on her phone. A video over which she has no control. It shows her niece, Lucy’s room at Quantico from some time in the past and it brings back an old nemisis – Carrie Grethen. Even with not having read any books from the Scarpetta series in all those years I recognized this name. I knew EVIL was coming.
In not having read the book immediately previous I didn’t have all the information about attempt on Dr. Scarpetta’s life. I also didn’t know she had married Benton Wesley. The Kay Scarpetta in this book is not the one I remember from the ones I read in the past. She was more reserved, more cautious. I suppose all that caused her to leave Richmond and then be in Massachusetts not to mention almost dying (again) have impacted her outlook on life. This book does focus a fair bit on Lucy, her niece – a character I never really liked and she only seems to be getting more unlikable. I appreciate she is important to the forward progress of the plot but I was happier when she wasn’t in the story.
I was – I don’t know if glad is the right word – pleased to revisit a comfortable and familiar character from my past reading life. The book is a twisty, psychological thriller that has at its core a woman determined to destroy all that Dr. Scarpetta has. The Kay in this book is showing signs of perhaps not being up to the fight. It will be interesting to see how she deals with these feelings going forward. I’m going to be looking for the next book to find out.
Rating:
4
