Chaos

A Scarpetta Novel

By: Patricia Cornwell

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell returns with the remarkable twenty-fourth thriller in her popular high-stakes series starring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

In the quiet of twilight, on an early autumn day, twenty-six-year-old Elisa Vandersteel is killed while riding her bicycle along the Charles River. It appears she was struck by lightning—except the weather is perfectly clear with not a cloud in sight. Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the Cambridge Forensic Center’s director and chief, decides at the scene that this is no accidental Act of God.

Her investigation becomes complicated when she begins receiving a flurry of bizarre poems from an anonymous cyberbully who calls himself Tailend Charlie. Though subsequent lab results support Scarpetta’s conclusions, the threatening messages don’t stop. When the tenth poem arrives exactly twenty-four hours after Elisa’s death, Scarpetta begins to suspect the harasser is involved, and sounds the alarm to her investigative partner Pete Marino and her husband, FBI analyst Benton Wesley.

She also enlists the help of her niece, Lucy. But to Scarpetta’s surprise, tracking the slippery Tailend Charlie is nearly impossible, even for someone as brilliant as her niece. Also, Lucy can’t explain how this anonymous nemesis could have access to private information. To make matters worse, a venomous media is whipping the public into a frenzy, questioning the seasoned forensics chief’s judgment and ""a quack cause of death on a par with spontaneous combustion.""

WOW

Patricia Cornwell never fails her Scarpetta fans! I only wished Kay had killed Carrie because she has terrorized them enough. I loved the narration! So another year until we get our next one! 😢

Slow then a hurried ending & BAD Narrator

The story took too long in developing. The ending then rushed up and all the action took place in the last few chapters. I have always enjoyed the Scarpetta series, but it has been underwhelming since Scarpetta's Virginia days.

This narrator was the wrong choice. She was painful to listen to. Half the time it seemed she was reading a children's book. Other times it was just bad acting.

the ending is a mind bender didnt see that coming.

a little disappointed she didnt tell us what happened at the end of the last book in this one but the ending is unexpected and nails you in a way only Patricia Cornwell can do!

Predictable and disappointing

Ms Cornwall seems to be stuck in a perpetual realm of Scarpetta's paranoia and family drama. I was looking forward to a juicy murder mystery but instead was inundated with "everyone's out to get me" syndrome and deeply seeded sibling hatred. The murder mystery was also boring and unrealistic, especially for this particular series. The build up of the FBI's involvement was ridiculous and the misdirection of international connection made no sense. Finally, the narrator, who is normally very good, portrayed every single character as angry or snide. It was not enjoyable to listen to so much angst.

Sooo slow starting!

This was not the gripping tale that I've become accustomed to from Patricia conrnwell. Such a slow moving story literally chapter 22 before anything of interest. Very descriptive flowery writing - not action packed as with usual Kay Scarpetta stories. Disappointed:(