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The latest adventure from Patricia Cornwell's no nonsense heroine Kay Scarpetta, Chief
Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Virginia, is yet another example of how a solid
thriller can be made even better when adapted for audio. There is much emoting in BLACK
NOTICE, and the chief emotions portrayed --- grief, anger and fear --- lend themselves
well to spoken performance. The result is that this competent and interesting novel
becomes, when performed aloud, a compelling and very intense audiobook.
Of course, we obtain this result largely because the spoken performance in question is
delivered once again by the excellent Kate Reading, whose polished and precise narration
ably echoes the formality and precision of series protagonist Dr. Scarpetta. But look out,
Scarpetta is still shell-shocked from a major tragedy in the previous series entry, POINT
OF ORIGIN, so her sense of control is definitely on the back burner. At least, it gets
shoved to the back burner when Scarpetta finally confronts her grief in some memorable
scenes early on and midway through the story. It's then that we see that Ms. Reading
performs not only a terrific Scarpetta-in-control, but an amazing Scarpetta-as-a-mess,
too. Ms. Reading movingly brings Scarpetta's grief to life in scenes that just may have
you tearing up yourself, as well as dramatically fleshing out the frustration and anger
that often goes hand in hand with heart stopping, senseless tragedy.
But fear not, thriller fans. Though Cornwell delivers an effective, nuanced exploration of
the affect of tragedy on loved ones left behind, the author is interested in other things,
too. BLACK NOTICE generously gives us an unusually creepy serial killer; a new police
commander who has it in for Scarpetta and her longtime detective buddy, Pete Marino (who's
been busted down to patrol cop); a saboteur in the Medical Examiner's office bent on
ruining Scarpetta's credibility; another crisis and potential breakdown facing the
doctor's overachieving niece Lucy (won't this young woman ever get her life together?);
and lots of clues gained through autopsies and forensic work. Beginning to end, performer
Reading underscores material that is interesting in itself, resulting in some involving
listening. It's no wonder that no else has been performing the unabridged versions of the
Scarpetta audiobooks since Ms. Reading began doing so three books ago with CAUSE OF DEATH.
Because I'm still waiting for a real sit-up-and-take-notice plot from Cornwell, the
Scarpetta series is not yet an absolute favorite of mine. However, I have a definite soft
spot for the series (BLACK NOTICE is the ninth entry in the Scarpetta oeuvre). This may
sound a bit strange, but I think that what I like most about these stories is that
Cornwell isn't afraid to make her regular cast of characters crabby and downright
unlikable at times. Though ultimately revealing themselves as heroines and heroes when
push comes to shove, series regulars Lucy, Marino, and Scarpetta herself are often
selfish, impatient, unfair to one another, and frequently outright
dysfunctional. There's something reassuring in that, I think. After all, if
these people can act like that yet still manage to rise to the occasion and do the right
thing in the end, maybe the rest of us aren't so bad, either.
--- Reviewed by Joe Menta, Jr.
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