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Black Notice |
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 Black Notice byPatricia Cornwell Putnam & Sons 320 pages, 1999 ISBN 0399145087 Reviewed by Nancy Mehl "I knew what evil was. I could smell it and recognize its features when it was in my midst." The 10th novel in Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series is a kaleidoscope of emotions and fear. Kay, numbed by the brutal death of her lover, Benton Wesley, is being systematically sabotaged by someone posing as her through e-mail messages and a strange on-line site. Her reputation and her job as chief medical examiner for Richmond, Virginia are on the line. Her long-time friend, police captain Pete Marino, has been suspended without pay and her beloved niece Lucy is involved in a dangerous undercover police operation in Miami. All three are trying to cope with Benton’s death in their own way. Their anger and grief set them against each other while outside forces seem determined to attack them while they are their most vulnerable. The discovery of a badly decomposed corpse in a locked container on a cargo ship that has arrived in Richmond’s Deep Water Terminal, sets the tone for the introduction of Cornwell’s most terrifying villain yet. Unbelievably, the dead man’s makeshift tomb bears the inscription "Bon Voyage, le loup-garou." Le loup-garou is French for werewolf. A series of bizarre murders draws on Kay’s forensic skills to track down a monster who doesn’t just kill his victims. He destroys them. Kay and Marino follow the tracks left by the homicidal maniac all the way to France and into the heart of Interpol where Kay is asked to carry top-secret evidence back to Richmond, further jeopardizing her already vicarious position with the new deputy chief, Diane Bray. Upon her return, she finds that Bray is no longer her worst enemy. "Le loup-garou" has cast his murderous eyes in another direction and now Kay’s life is at stake. Black Notice, a macabre tale chilling nestled in the middle of the Christmas season, is the best Kay Scarpetta novel to come down the pike in quite awhile. Those who are absorbed in the fascinating world of forensic science will find themselves fully satisfied. Anyone brave enough to read this novel alone will find themselves checking and re-checking the locks on their doors. This is a brilliant novel. Impossible to put down. |
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