Cheap Hornet's Nest (Book) (Patricia Daniels Cornwell) Price

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Customer Reviews of Hornet's Nest

Her earlier books were not only good to read but were important. They were part of a wave of detective novels which lifted women from decorative parts to being at the centre of the action and in control of events.

This book is a departure from these books and does not use Scarpata as a character. The book also a different style of narrative and tries to blend humor into the story telling. There is one central mystery that, of yet another serial killer. Despite this the book has a fragmented narrative structure. That structure deals with the lives of three characters, two high ranking female police officers in their forties and the other a young male journalist who plays the role once reserved for females. That is a Mills and Boon love interest who has the main characters having their blood pressure increased with sexual passion. The stories move around and interconnect and involve a sort of buddy relationship between the journalist and one of the police officers. The plot mechanics are that the journalist is assigned to cover the beat. There are early disagreements but over time they develop help each other and develop a relationship. One can imagine that the book was written with a film deal in mind.

The books is not nearly as good as the Cornwell's earlier efforts. The humor is particularly painful. For example there is one courtroom scene in which a judge called Bovine enters with her herd. (Bovine means cow get it yuk yuk a pun) The police want a certain outcome and are able to do it by keeping the judge on the bench when she wants to urinate. She becomes upset and does what they want. Cornwell's other books at no point attempt to be light hearted and this book struggles when it tries to be light hearted.

Crime novels generally tend to be right wing. The reason for it is relates to the mechanics of plot construction. Authors want people to cheer for the main characters who are the police or detectives who solve the crime. Criminals are painted in a way to lessen any sympathy for them and to get the reader cheering for the police.

Whilst one can understand that this underlies the structure of any crime novel, there is often a variation in the realism portrayed. Some of them will speak about some of the real issues the poverty and despair in areas in which crime occurs, police corruption and incompetence. Other novels tend to have the realism of a Batman comic. This novel tends to fall more into the Batman comic class presenting a simple message with simply drawn evil villains.

Despite all this it is an easy book to read and ideal for plane and bus trips. My daughter loved it.

More about characters than story
If you're a fan of the Kay Scarpetta series, it's hard not to be disappointed going to Hornet's Nest. The writing in the beginning of the book hit me strange, almost non-cornwell. There is very strong character development here, and while the overall story is just okay, there are parts that do shine. Enjoyable but I'd probably steer a friend toward other Cornwell books.

did cornwell really write this book??
i'm skeptical that patricia cornwell actually wrote this book. i think Putnam hired a third-rate ghost writer OR published a manuscript she wrote when she was 6. okay, so i didn't read the dust jacket to learn this book introduces a new cast of characters in charlotte, VA so it was a bit of a shock to meet some reporter dude named Andy Brazil, who's playing side-kick to deputy chief Virginia West. i don't mind my train derailed by a new characters, but the writing in this book is simply awful. granted, i read only 50 pages, so perhaps something magical happened on page 60, but i found the plot a flimsy backdrop for an inevitable sexual tangle between andy and virginia, who're both preternaturally attractive, according to their descriptions. i'm no prude or PC advocate, but i was disturbed by peeks of thinly-veiled homophobia -- and indeed the whole tone of the book (or the first 50 pages) seemed mean and rough, with little accompanying graces. again, thank god for the library, cos this book SUCKED and i experienced no qualms of regret giving up on it.