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    Cruel and Unusual
    Cruel and Unusual
    Cruel and Unusual
    Audiobook11 hours

    Cruel and Unusual

    Written by Patricia Cornwell

    Narrated by C. J. Critt

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When an executed murderer's fingerprints turn up at a new crime scene, Kay Scarpetta investigates. Prepare for the kind of riveting suspense this best-selling author delivers so well.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 25, 2011
    ISBN9781456124496
    Cruel and Unusual
    Author

    Patricia Cornwell

    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 Creasey, the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Prix du Roman d’Aventure. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography, and three more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston. 

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    Reviews for Cruel and Unusual

    3.5/5

    1,125 ratings42 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Another good read. Complex plot about a man on death row, the woman he murdered 10 years earlier and the efforts of people in power to hide their story. Bit gruesome in places but PC obvious researches things very thoroughly.
    • 3/5
      This is the third in the Kay Scarpetta series, and is another great forensic/police procedural. It had the same elements as her earlier two books, although the political element was a lot more convincing and worked well into the plot line.I was happy to find there was less time spent on the romance with the FBI character Mark, and I enjoyed seeing Marino pick up his act and give himself a makeover.I would have liked more of an insight into the killer; however, it was a good ending and I look forward to the next in the series.
    • 3/5
      It's interesting to read these early books in the series after reading a lot of the later ones. Fills in the blanks on some of the back story. Overall, this one was pretty good, though there was some stuff jumped over in the end, like Cornwell didn't want to go over a certain number of pages, so she just refers to it instead of actually writing about it.
    • 5/5
      This is an awesome book. I highly recommend it. loved it.
    • 4/5
      Kay Scarpetta is called to the scene when an abandoned jeep is found that is thought to belong to a missing couple believed to be the the victims of foul play. Couples have been disappearing for months in the Richmond, Virginia area, only to turn up months later and too badly decomposed to determine even a cause of death. These murders weigh heavily on Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner, and pressure is building to come up with leads in the case. The latest disappearances involved the daughter of a prominent political figure and possible suspects abound, from government agencies to drug lords.This was a fast-paced thriller filled with information about the medical side of crime scene investigation. The characters can be rather dull and lifeless, but they are not the focus of this novel. I was not immediately impressed with the story, but as it continued it became a deeply engaging work of crime fiction with several twists and turns. The mystery and suspense of the murders and the investigation keep you guessing until the end and no one is safe.
    • 4/5
      Quick fast-paced mystery. Third in the Kay Scarpetta series; Forensic pathologist, Kay's character is developed more, as well as her relationships, (romantic and work).Young couples are being murdered, Kay is the Chief medical examiner preforming the autopsies. The FBI is involved and Kay feels that they are hiding important facts about the cases. Things come to a head when an important political personality's daughter and boyfriend go missing and are suspected to be the newest couple in the serial murders. Things progress quickly, and there are possible governmental and media conspiracies. Many twists and turns make it hard to put own.
    • 4/5
      Conditioned by my previous experiences with detective novels whenever I begin a Scarpetta book I expect a straightforward mystery, and every time Cornwell crafts a story that's everything but. Oh, there is a mystery alright, but there is also a very strong human element and the more I get to know Kay Scarpetta and her circle the more clearly I see it. It is possible of course that this human element is becoming more prominent, with every consecutive book being more about the people than the crime, the crime being a catalyst for this humanity to manifest itself and provide a macabre backdrop for it. And you know what? I like seeing something more layered than an cold investigation into disappearances and deaths, I like seeing characters stretch themselves, doubt themselves and their friends and colleagues, struggle through life's problems and emerge changed, even just a little bit. I like seeing relationship develop through the mundane things, and Cornwell delivers that every time. In case you're wondering what it is I'm talking about: here Kay doubts her friendship with Abby Turnbull, the reporter she first met in Postmortem, because Abby isn't being particularly straightforward about her involvement in Scarpetta's latest case. It is also in this book that she realizes that the more she works with Marino the more she likes him, despite his unkempt appearance and irritating behavior, and a true friendship begins to emerge. And last but not least there are the frustrations of finding herself in the middle of basically a face-off between the FBI, the DA's office and higher echelons of government. Cornwell uses these situations wonderfully to develop her characters and since they are so significant in the story they become the stage of power plays and the really dramatic scenes. Politics is big in this book and Cornwell explores the effects of it on people's lives with her usual delicate but firm touch. The potential of a cover-up in her daughter's murder case pushes a prominent politician over the edge and the question of whether she ruined her own career or was helped along the way is a major point of contention in this book. There is also the matter of whether being a public figure at a time like what this politician's family is going through is a blessing or a curse and the reality that there is more than one answer to this question. The fact that Cornwell raises these issues and that everything filters through Kay, the protagonist, makes her a complex individual who navigates a personal and professional maze every day and knows that things are much less straightforward than she would like them to be, a person who regularly thinks about life and people, and not just on a simple day-to-day level. My only concern with this novel is that if Cornwell continues along the path she is on the politics will grow to dominate the story and while it is a fertile field for character development I would hate to see it happen - politics tend to make things convoluted and much talk about views and positions on issues is not something I enjoy in my fiction. I think she struck a nice balance in this book and hope the next novels don't veer off into a lot of talk and little action.
    • 4/5
      Cornwell really knows how to keep the pages flying! When young couples begin disappearing, medical examiner Kay Scarpetta must use her intellect to find the killer. With a fast pace, engaging characters, and a bone chilling mystery, Cornwell delivers big time in the third novel of her Scarpetta series.
    • 5/5
      can't remember how it ended, must have liked it though, wrote great have to check into it again
    • 4/5
      Another gripping story about Dr Kay Scarpetta, Medical Examiner.
    • 1/5
      I liked the content of the book but I couldn't keep listening. The narrator ruined it for every you hear her taking nasal thick heavy breaths. Very distracting
    • 3/5
      A serial killer has been coercing couples into the woods and horrifically killing them for the past number of years. A string of clues left behind leads the Coroner toward the killer. This book was good but somewhat long winded and also gruesome.
    • 5/5
      Always have loved Ms. Cornwell book reading or listening.
      Audible is best just sit back & listen ?
      HAVE FUN
    • 5/5
      Pathologist Kay Scarpetta searches for the cause of death in the case of five young couples whose decomposed bodies are found without shoes and socks deep in the woods. Bones, fragments of clothing, and a jack of hearts are all that remain.
    • 3/5
      One for lovers of gruesome autopsy reports. After all Cornwell' s serial killers in Richmond VA, I don't understand why anyone still lives there.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book!

      In this book, Susan, one of Kay's people has been killed and Kay is a suspect in her death! At the end of the book, we got to see the trial. At which, Kay was cleared.

      And then Moreno and Kay went to a house and I think they found the true killer.

      But I don't know whether they caught him.

      C.J. Critt did a fantastic job performing this story! I thoroughly enjoyed her narration.
    • 2/5
      I've enjoyed the adventures of Kay Scarpetta
    • 4/5
       The third Kay Scarpetta novel, which I read second, was more enjoyable for me than the first, as it did not appear to rely as much upon shocking situations and horrendous events to keep the reader interested. In the first novel, the crimes seemed designed to be as awful as possible, in what seemed to me to be a direct attempt to get a reaction. In this book, people are still confusingly out to get Dr. Scarpetta, medical examiner, but the evidence and the plot progress at a nice speed and I don't feel like I'm being manipulated into rooting for the "good guys" simply because what the "bad guy" does is so very awful.
    • 5/5
      Terrific characters, fast pace, and snappy dialogue make this a page-turner. Now I am eager to read the rest of the series!
    • 4/5
      Patricia Cornwell’s early novels featuring Dr Klay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Virginia, were great commercial and critical successes. They combined detailed insight into forensic procedures with well-constructed plots and highly plausible characters. This was the first on them that I read, shortly after it was published in the early 1990s, and I was sufficiently impressed to go back and read the preceding volumes in the series, and then to await its successors.With the benefit of hindsight, I view this as perhaps the last of the good books in the series – hereafter, I think that the quirks of some of the characters began to predominate, to the detriment of the books as a whole.Reading it again nearly thirty years later, this still seems a good plausible novel – even the advances in the various avenues of technology that feature don’t detract from the impact of the novel.
    • 4/5
      I know that I have read several of the books in this series, but it has been awhile. I wasn't sure if I had already read this one, but after starting it, I knew that I hadn't. I enjoyed reading this book. I like stories about medical examiners. It seems like an interesting career. This book was a pleasure to read. It was well written, and held my interest throughout. Even the parts that were more character exposition than action were interesting. I love her niece Lucy. I remember her from future books in the series, and it was nice to see her at an earlier age.

      The central mystery was interesting. The fingerprints of a man recently executed start showing up at crime scenes. And there appears to be a connection to someone in Dr. Scarpetta's office. I enjoyed watching her figure out what was happening, although I was sad to think that that level of corruption and deceit could occur.

      Reading this book made me want to read the rest of the books in this series.
    • 4/5
      This was a well-paced and interesting mystery/thriller. It's nothing life-changing, but Cornwell knows how to tell an engaging story with enough technical details to make you feel like you're learning something without feeling like you're reading a forensics textbook. If you like "smart" crime dramas in the vein of "Bones" or "Criminal Minds," it's certainly worth your time. Fourth in a series featuring Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta.
    • 3/5
      The whole world continues to be against Kay Scarpeta.
    • 3/5
      Synchronicity. I was reading this book, about the execution of a black man in Virginia, when Oklahoma death row inmate Clayton Lockett's botched execution hit the news. Kay Scarpetta, in the novel, solves the crime and saves the day. Where's my next Scarpetta book?
    • 5/5
      I found this book in a box at a yard sale for $0.50. Best 2 quarters I ever spent. I got hooked on Cornwell's writing and the Kay Scarpetta character. Mystery, thriller, police procedural, it has a little something for everyone.
    • 5/5
      Excellent as always. I love this author and thoroughly enjoy every book I have read by her.
    • 2/5
      Apparently unrelated crimes, including an execution that doesn't really happen, converge on the Virginia medical examiners office, and lead to strange places, meanwhile plunging the heroine into a public relations debacle of false accusation. I loved the smart women leads: medical examiner Kay, and niece Lucy. Characters are good, but not great, and the writing is okay, but not great, the technical detail delivered tediously, and the pre-denouement seems artless: this happens then that happens, and voila.... so its not the whip, the rollercoaster, the torrid sex I've come to expect from crime thrillers. Seems geared to a gun-owning audience, and the so-called working class dialog of detective proto-boyfriend is stilted and unrealistic. Amazing though, with all its flaws, how popular this book is, and how rich it has made Patricia Cornwell. Good for her.
    • 4/5
      This was my first foray into the world of Kay Scarpetta and her medical examiner world. I admit I don't read a lot of suspense books as they've never really been my genre. Though I'll be honest, this book felt incomplete. It had a great build up, had you wanting to turn the page to find the next clue. Rarely did we stumble across a completely useless red herring (which I don't think we had space to find). However, it didn't feel like it had a true climax, a true denouement to the book. It just stopped.The writing was good and makes it worth sticking in my collection. But I just couldn't find a satisfaction with the ending. Instead I feel compelled to find if the plot line is completed in the next book.
    • 4/5
      this is another scarpetta novel. i'm starting to get quite hooked on her character. i have another scarpetta book running around my head but for the life of me i can't remember which one exactly. it was intrigueing with an original line of thought about the fingerprints of a man who was just executed found at a murderer crime scene. with a few added twists.
    • 4/5
      WARNING: If you intend to read this as a part of the Scarpetta series and haven't read the previous three books, you might not want to read this review.Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta's duties include autopsies of inmates executed by the state of Virginia. Her latest proves to be a little unusual. Then, when other people connected to the case start dying and the fingerprint of the executed man shows up at the scene, Kay's office is called into question. She's trying to solve several murders, as well as clear her name. I liked Kay a little bit more in this book. She's not all meloncholy and pining over Mark, because he's dead (a fact revealed in the first chapter that made me feel like I must have missed something, or skipped one of the books in the series. I didn't; this information is just dropped on us rather unceremoniously). I like her relationship with her niece, Lucy, who is becoming quite the computer genius. I liked detective Marino more, too. He seems to have really shaped up since his wife left him (something that totally did happen in the last book). He's less overtly racist, sexist and crude. The mystery concerning these murders and their link to the executed man is fascinating, with just the right amount of technical detail and a very realistic timeline. I will continue to read this series.