Hornet's Nest (Andy Brazil Book 1)

I have been a huge fan of Patricia Cornwall. This book, however, seems to have been written by an entirely different person. Filled with annoying, unrelated, wandering detail, it's the worst kind of writing you'd expect to find in a sophmore english class. The characters are cartoonish, the plot simplistic and utterly incredible. It goes on and on in agonizing mediocrity, with no hint of redeeming prose, for 377 pages.

I've heard myths of publishers pasting the names of established authors onto manuscripts of lesser scribes. Now I believe it.

Save your money and your time--if you have nothing else to read, RE-read a Scarpetta novel and should you have the misfortune of acquiring THIS book, save others like me from the dismal fate of exposure; compost it.

As a faithful Patricia Cornwell reader I looked forward to this author's unique story telling capablilities in Hornet's Nest. I knew going into the book that this was not a Kay Scarpetta novel, but I looked forward to Cornwell's ability to develop new characters in a different environment. This book was a total disappointment, from plot to character development. It was hard to figure out what exactly the story was or what the point of the book was. I, for one do not believe Patricia Cornwell wrote this book! If she did, she temporarily lost her unique talent for auhoring some of the best novels written by a contemporary female author.

I know that changes in direction are often disturbing to regular readers, but I adored this book. The heroines were human and believable and the hero too was an interesting study in obsessed and damaged youth. All of these people, the Police Chief, Deputy Chief (good that they are women) and the reporter are carrying burdens of one sort or another and their success in supervening is a tribute of sorts to the human spirit.

I read this book and then got it on Audible for a second 'read'. There are so many layers and weaves in the fabric of the story that I have found it twice to be addictive. The Audible version read by the multi-talented Lorelei King is going to be a regular listen for me, and whilst I can see that the last page will leave some readers unsatisfied I felt it left the door open for a future episode.

Don't give up on this book just because it's a little unusual for Patricia C. She's a master and I loved the psychic cat Niles, whose contribution to the outcome is somewhat unfairly underated.

After reading all of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta books, it was such a relief to pick up "Hornet's Nest." Although addicted to Kay, I find her and all of her co-characters incredibly irritating. At last, at last, Cornwell has come up with characters who are LIKEABLE. Andy Brazil is downright endearing, and Chief Hammer is the character Kay Scarpetta wishes she could be. A lot of people have complained that "Hornet's Nest" looks like a book written by a completely different author. I have to agree, but not as a complaint. It looks to me like Cornwell has finally learned to write.

While I was at first disappointed not to have Kay Scarpetta in this delightful gruesome story, I was pleased at the entrance, from stage left, of reporter/police officer Andy Brazil. From Patricia Cornwell's descriptions, he must be a total babe. So I'm wondering, why isn't a picture of this guy on the cover? I loved the plot, even tho Kay could have been involved somehow too. But the relationship between Brazil and deputy chief Virginia West is hilarious and worth perusing. Cornwell has done it again, except this time from the police officer's point of view. I just think maybe Kay Scarpetta and Andy Brazil should meet in a future book?

The Hornet's Nest diverts Dr. Kay Scarpetta fans, and shows a different angle on the profile of death. The ME in Hornet's Nest is a polar opposite of the reknown Scarpetta, but he is just a minor role in this book. The major 3 are Hammer, West, and Brazil. Two highly trained, skilled, and powerful female officers. One sensitive, athletic, naive 22 year old male. Together and individually, their perspectives on a city's latest murder spree are analyzed, by Cornwell. While the MO of these murders is always identical, the suspect remains at large, free to repeat at will.
This book doesn't pay homage to the great cooking or ME prowess of Scarpetta because it is not her world we view. This book exists to tell the stories of women (officers, wives, mothers, hookers, waitresses...) as only a woman can. Her descriptions of Brazil are a little two dimensional, usually focusing on his physical appearance or his immature emotional reactions to new situations. I would have preferred a stronger character in this role, but my guess is she needed to show what he was so she can show what he will become.

After reading this novel, I had to ask myself "why was this ever even published?" I've enjoyed Cornwell novels immensely over the years and was horribly disappointed in this piece of rubbish. Set in Charlotte, NC and centering around the local police force trying to catch a serial killer, the characters are simply flat and as a whole evoke no emotional response from the reader. The plot is childishly simple and not specifically engaging. This is not a true effort from a highly talented writer. There are many much better Patricia Cornwell novels. Forget this one and go try something else.

Hornet's Nest finally came out in paperback, so I bought it. I had heard terrible things about it. Turns out they were being kind. VERY kind. This is a new series for her. A police department in Charlotte. A strong but beautiful female chief of police. A strong but beautiful female head of detectives. A weak but beautiful female head of patrol. A strong, though sneaky, beautiful female District Attorney. And a whole bunch of loser men who would have trouble keeping their clothing dry when they go to the men's room. All the citizens in the town drive pickup trucks with Confederate flags on the bumper, have two dogs in the back, and are named Bubba. There is no real dialogue with a Bubba character, presumably because he is too busy trying to figure out if a divorce means his wife is no longer his cousin. If you can get by the cardboard people, there is no real mystery. Fairly early in the book, Cornwell tells the reader who does it, not that you really care, most of the people in the town are so boring they deserve to die. There is no real action, no love interest between characters remotely human, and generally no discernable reason why anyone should waste their time on this book.

I rarely write book reviews, but I felt compelled to warn people to steer clear of this book. As many reviewers of this book have stated, this is not a Dr. Kay Scarpetta book. Don't let that scare you away. It's certainly not the reason why I hated this book.

Written differently, this could have been a compelling book. It had an interesting mix of characters, and a mystery to be solved. And it spent a fair amount of time getting into the heads of characters. I happen to enjoy that. However, this book was absolutely the most egregious example (and I mean egregious in the current usage - as in: exceedingly bad) of politically correct stereotypes I could possibly imagine. And the Southern stereotypes were no better. If this were an episode of "Family Guy" I would have been laughing through the bulk of it. About the only thing it lacked in that respect were the Duke boys and the General Lee.

We learn that women as power figures are something to be feared and the evil, white-male power brokers of the city of Charlotte (who are even in control of all elections, it would seem) regularly plot to squash them where they stand. As any self-respecting white male knows, there ain't nothin' worse than a woman whats don't knows hows to keeps her place; 'cept maybe fer homos. This is not an exaggeration. There's a redneck character named Bubba, for God's sake. And the scene at the seafood restaurant was absolutely choice: our white male hero (who's okay because he's a sensitive journalist) and a gay companion nearly get their bottoms kicked by the redneck, homophobic patrons of a - get this - oyster bar. Right. I personally hate going to oyster bars and crab shacks because of all of the homophobic, racist rednecks there. Of course, we also learn toward the end of this waste of paper that evil, white, rich men can be rehabilitated under the right circumstances. And when I write "rehabilitated" I mean they can be made to understand that everything can be forgiven if only they give large chunks of their ill-gotten gains to the downtrodden, unfortunate masses. The portions of the book devoted to the inner thoughts of the reincarnated Abyssinian cat, while entertaining from a cat owner's perspective, are undiluted (and unbelievable) fantasy. And, of course, we also learn that there really is no right or wrong if we just spend the time to understand what unfortunate circumstances victimized the characters into acting the way that they do.

To end this on a mildly positive note, the interactions involving the misreading of one character by another based upon body language and situational framing were good. It was reminiscent of the novel "Thinks..." by David Lodge. And it's not the evolution of the character's philosophical underpinnings based upon their deeper understanding of others that bothers me; Cornwell uses this to great effect in her other novels. It's the clumsy, preachy way in which she approaches this that I found so annoying.

If this were the first Patricia Cornwell book that I had ever read, it would also be my last. Fortunately, her other books are not plagued by these faults. I highly recommend her other books; this one, however, is a stinker.

I have to agree with the other one star reviews. I tend to read all of a favorite author's books in sequence and had enthusiastically read several of the Scarpetta series before finding a cache of PC books at the used bookstore. I jumped into Hornet's Nest by its publication date without realizing it was a new group of characters, who BTW have silly and unrealistic nouns for surnames. What's up with that?? I kept persevering, thinking that things would begin to gel, but the climax seemed to be in the last few pages with some excitement finally. However, nothing seemed to be explained just because the crime was solved. What was the motive for the killings and the reason behind the MO and the selection of victims? And WHAT was the point of the cat and its private musings? The subordinate characters were stereotypical and only incidental to the limp storyline. It is hard to believe this was written by such a talented and experienced author. The only redeeming factor was not paying full price for the book.

I have read several Patricia Cornwell books, and most of them have been out of order. When I opened this book at first I was very eager to read this book have read so many so far, but after 4 pages I was wondering what in the world I was doing. I'm just glad this wasn't the first book of her's I read. This is not a Kay Scarpetta series, and it is not worth your time. Please don't waste your money on this book. After about 50 pages I finally had to give up on the book, and am now reading another of her books which is much better. But I am still trying to finish this one. It is so boring and tedious I find that I am reading about 3 pages per day. If you are looking to read her books in order please skip over this one, unless you want to find yourself really bored.

It's not a Kay Scarpetta thriller--Thank Goodness! Instead of labyrinthine and unlikely plot twists, irritating and unlikeable characters, and completely flat character development, Patricia Cornwell has written an engrossing, human, and funny book!
Don't expect a classic mystery. It's more of a slice of life of police enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina. All of the characters, good and bad, come from families (good and bad), have connections, make mistakes, and do the best they can, even if the best they can is hanging out with homeboys and robbing Hardee's.
Unfortunately for this book, if the Kay Scarpetta series has turned you off already, you are unlikely to bother with another Patricia Cornwell book. And if you've come to expect the over-written plot, flat pacing, and judgemental and irritating characters of the Kay Scarpetta works, you may find yourself in new territory with this one.

An embarrassment for all concerned. The most intriguing aspect of the book was trying to figure out if the book was simply "payback" for events that were occurring in the author's private life. The idolized female police captain (whose wardrobe seems to have been the largest factor commanding respect and devotion from her staff) suffers a petty, overweight husband lacking any redeeming qualities. Oh, and he manages to contract flesh-eating disease on his butt. This was the high-point. Fascinating in the way a car crash is riveting. Truly awful

I read Patricia Corwell's books because she writes about strong female characters. She wonderfully describes the powers that draw people together. I like the parallels she draws between the chief and her husband and the deputy chief and the newspaper reporter. But the thread she uses to walk the reader through the book -- the police reporter who works as a volunteer police officer, especially with the newspaper's permission -- just does not hold water. Ms. Cornwell, who takes credit as being a newspaper reporter, should know better. No large or small newspaper will allow their police reporter to be a volunteer cop and to collect news stories while being a volunteer cop. (If Ms. Cornwell can prove me wrong, please do.) This creates a conflict of interest, which begs the question: Does the reporter work for the police or does the cop work for the newspaper. What you have is a reporter who short changes his newspaper and its readership. What you have is a cop who his co-workers and the public cannot trust to protect them. Okay, she tried to show the conflict, but allowed the news editor and police chief to ignore the conflict. But I'm not all too sure this was important to the story. I just wish she picked a more realistic thread to take me through the story.

Don't waste your time reading this book. There was no plot. It is simply a bunch of unrelated incidents strung together.
Part of the problem I had reading this book was its omniscient point of view. Omniscient POV is difficult to write and she didn't do a good job of it. It made it difficult to get into any of the characters. I didn't like any of the characters either.

Having read several of Cornwell's books in the past, I was anxious to start this one. I'm so sorry I ever picked it up. Every character was so stereotypical and contrived, I wanted to throw up. The whole book was like a very bad cartoon. And the ending was a total mess!! The worst of it was the ridiculous notion that Niles, the cat, was not only interpreting the criminal goings on at USBC, but was trying to get his powerful(NOT!), no-nonsense(confused, hormonallly challenged) owner to understand his three syllable meows (which of course she does) and the meaning behind him dropping panties and money on her face as she slept. What the hell? The only thing worse would be a movie from this script. Or a follow-up novel. Or warts.

forget scarpetta! this book is a complete departure and i think cornwell might have had more success to publish this one under a pseudonym. i loved the book once i pretended the author was some anonymous talent. The writing is lyrical and the plot progresses with finesse. scarpetta grabs you by the throat, but andy brazil grabs you by the heart. i loved this book, from the quirky characters to the murky subplots. self-acceptance versus self-transformation, the bonds of love, from shame to sex... this book has it all, and the best part is the way the good guys just don't give up. WOW!

This was the first Patricia Cornwell book I read, and it made me decide to never read another one of her books (thankfully I changed my mind later). It is confusing, has too many dead ends and unanswered questions. The Andy Brazil character must be schizophrenic he has so many conflicting personality traits. The relationships between the characters goes hot and cold at the drop of a hat. The search for the killer is haphazard and slow. He might as well have jumped out in front of them and said "I'm the killer" at the end. Essentially the plot was stupid and the book frustrating to read.

You know, I used to love Patricia Cornwell's books. When the first "Kay Scarpetta" novel arrived, I devoured it in one sitting and eagerly awaited the next. The first several were great, but then the law of diminishing returns set in. And now we have HORNET'S NEST (a non-Scarpetta book). Sigh. What can I say? This is the most dreadful novel I have read in the past twenty years. And I read a book every two days or so. The only redeeming quality that can possibly save this rambling, inconsistent, tedious piece of work is the fact that it is a veritable "how-not-to" book: namely, a treatise on how NOT to write a good novel. For example, the characters are cardboard, the plot is dull, there's no dramatic tenstion, and the point-of-view (POV) meanders all over the place. Now, there's nothing wrong with shifting POV per se, but you have to know how to do it properly. In HORNET'S NEST, you not only get the POV of the three main characters, you get the POV of almost every single other person who even makes an appearance. If the chapter is being told from John Doe's POV, then we shouldn't be getting the inner thoughts of some guy crossing the street in front of John Doe. It's confusing. It's irritating. It's just plain bad writing. Clearly Cornwell has become such a populist bestseller than no one dares edit her work any more. This is a shame, as she is, or rather, WAS, a gifted writer. Remember, no book is inviolate. Not even the Oxford Dictionary. And there isn't a writer, dead or alive, whose work couldn't have been improved, even a little, by the input of a good, thorough, diligent editor. That said, I think one star is too high a rating for this book, but there isn't a lower option. However, HORNET'S NEST should be purchased by every beginning writer, just so they can see how it shouldn't be done.

Having read my share of police thrillers I must say this is the dullest, most boring and plainly dumbest I ever read. The author obviously has no clue about police work (I am a cop), if she ever would read this, she might for example learn that cops don't have "scanners" in their cars but radios. And on it goes, blatant stupidity seems to reign this police department where about every rule in real-life PDs is broken (for example unarmed volunteer cops riding RMPs alone and fighting armed gangsters. Come on, give us Superman any time but don't put him into a blue uniform). But, if you have Superwoman and Batwoman together at the helm of this department, the two are just so superhuman that they do all the crime-fighting alone. Well, if there would be any crime. But I stopped reading at page 138 because nothing had really happened yet in this city which is totally run by women. I am not against this idea, but the simplicity of this picture is just insulting to the reader's intelligence: all the leading people in this city are women (the two heads of the PD, the D.A. and so on) = good people, all the stupid and evil ones (even named "Bubba" for crying out loud) are of course male. Oh yes, the author noticed that this might just be too easy so she throws in a male lead character who has the maturity of a 5-year old and loves to play Keystone Kop and a female serial killer who is so off the reality track that she too sounds like a slapstick movie character. Even if the idea of this book is to foster feminism and not to write a good police thriller, at least it would have deserved some "thrill". But the main problem with it is the utter boredom it evokes. This book is an insult and should be thrown to the trash immediately.

I'm an avid reader of mysteries and after finishing Patricia Cornwell's Hornet's Next, I haven't read many as bad as this. The characters were whiney and insipid and the plot was very slow to develop. After wading through this book hoping things would imrpove, the ending was a complete bomb. I haven't read many Patricia Cornwell books, but all that I have read were much better than Hornet's Nest. Think I'll stick with Hillerman, Hiaasen, Grafton, Evanovich, P.D. James and Elizabeth George.

Since Patsy and I both went to Davidson College, I thought that after a long period of bashing her, I would actually *read* one of her novels to discover for myself the source of the world's fascination with her work.
Unfortunately, I picked up this one.
Harlequin Romance novels are better than this. Legal briefs are better than this. Self-induced pain is better than this.
You get the point. I'm embarrassed that the world knows about Davidson from this book and associates Davidson with Patricia Cornwell. The irony? She endows a scholarship for up-and-coming freshmen that show special promise in writing. At least there's some justice, because there's no mystery here: it's _all_ bad.

The constant switching between storylines could have worked if the stories had gone somewhere. Each time I picked up the book hoping to find the trademark Patricia Cornwell style, I struggled through a few more chapters til I had to rest. I was looking forward to getting to know a new group of characters, but instead I learned more about guns & ammunition that I ever imagined I'd need to know. I'm a staunch fan so I will keep on reading her books. Maybe next time will be better.

I really liked this book. The characters were 3d and real, they had real problems and reacted to them in a real way. I can understand why others wouldn't like it but personally I hope to see more of these people. This was a people book, the crime, the jobs were backgrounds.

Secondly, I think that it is a good thing that she took the time away from writting Scarpetta books. The last one wass a little lame and this excursion into other areas may make the next less stale.

Unreadable - though I'm ashamed to admit I forced myself through till page 214 ,most of the way with no wine. I don't know what's happened to Cornwell, but she just rides her little hobby-horses through this dull thing with characters about 1/2 inch deep.

There comes a time, when an author is popular, that whatever he or she writes will sell and the pressure to produce new novels causes a marked degradation in quality.
Even though I find the plots and characters of the KS series somewhat streched at times, I usually enjoy her books (Body Farm is my favorite). This one was a COMPLETE turn-off. PC has written one too-many books with this one. Had she written it under a pseudonym, this book would never had sold.
The plot is more suitable for a Danielle Steele novel (I like her/she hates me, I like him/he hates me, how did our marriage end up this way?) than an author known for crime novels.
The writing is also terribly clumsy: it would not pass an introductory writing class. Voices and points of view change in the middle of paragraphs. Too many changes between paragraphs. Arbitrary chapter delineation. Pointless flashbacks and points of view from minor characters. Stereotyped characters (the jewish banker, the beautiful gay men, the sleazy reporter, the god-like never-needs-sleep-and-runs-8-miles-a-day hero with a drunken mother, unmarried childless beautiful strong woman). The characters are static and only evolve/grow/progress slowly and in minor ways.
I hope the same thing won't happen to K.J. Reich.

Perhaps the problem was that I read Southern Cross first. I thoroughly enjoyed that book, and picked up this one in hopes of gaining more insight to the characters and the general Brazil/West/Hammer story line. What a disapointment! The plot was riddled with inconsistancies, parts where you wanted to know more were cut short, others were drawn out way to long, and sometimes you were just teased without anything happening. Not a total waste of my time, but the book needed a good editor.

Hornet's Nest demonstrates evolution of Cornwell's fiction. Kay Scarpetta, like other marytrs needs a long rest.
Virginia West and Judy Hammer are composites of what many professional, past girlish readers fantasize for their own lifes. Opportunities to dump the millstones (Seth) and play with boytoys (Andy). Lot's of role reversals. The cat was a riot. Not intended as a police procedural, read McBain if you want narrow predictability. Bonnie Campbell

This book appears to have stirred up a stinging nest of its own, based on reviews from other readers ... I haven't read Cornwell before, but I found this book very readable. I, too, thought her style was more forensics and was looking for that, but obviously the interaction of the characters was more the point of this book. I finished it this morning and was disappointed with the ending ... I'm on line now because it seems fairly obvious that Cornwell was setting the scene for more with these characters. Did someone say, "Southern Cross?"

"Hornet's Nest" is a significant departure from Ms. Cornwell's standard dark, gritty Kay Scarpetta novels. Instead, in "Hornet's Nest" Ms. Cornwell comes up with a light novel about a young civilian ride along and an older female police officer. The book reads almost as a series of wry, funny anecdotes "from the streets of Charlotte and the halls of Justice."
Those readers expecting Ms. Cornwell's usual dark, thrilling fare will be rather sorely disappointed. On the other hand, if the reader does not require a thriller of a novel full of dark, realistic details, then the reader will be pleasantly surprised at the wry sort of humor exhibited. In short, "Hornet's Nest" by Patricia Cornwell is not Ms. Cornwell's usual fare of thrilling police procedural mystery, but is instead a sort of "Opera Bouffe" look at policework, not terribly unlike the televison show "Cops."
For those who enjoy that sort of wry humor (c.f. the science fiction novels of Lois McMaster Bujold), "Hornet's Nest" is an entertaining read -- a read made made more entertaining by Ms. Cornwell's very vivd descriptive style. For those who want a dark, gripping thriller -- turn elsewhere for novels of that type.

Patricia Cornwell's book, Hornet's Nest, was an incredible adventure that let your imagination reach it's full potential. It has been one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. It is set in the large city of Charlotte, North Carolina. In the book, the main character, Brazil, is always changing the actions of the story. Brazil is a newspaper reporter that becomes a volunteer cop to write about what happens in the real world. Deputy West is assigned to have Brazil as her tag along. Brazil is struggling in life with emotional problems caused by his mother who is an alcoholic. He is with West when the serial killer violently murders his first victim. The book is based around the police trying to find their serial killer before it is too late, but there are many other events that change the outcome of the book. The chief of police, Hammer ,is a very power-hungry woman. She has an emotionally unstable husband, Seth, who fakes killing himself because Hammer has caused him such pain he wanted to give her a little taste of what he has went through all those years. This book has to be read more than once to catch onto all the little details subtly given throughout the entire story. If you like mystery and suspense then you will love this adventurous tale of love and everything that could possibly go wrong in life.

Patricia Cornwell, author of the Scarpetta books, ventures from her usual black against black areas of life to a more grey-ish spot, complete - though - with the same frustrations and horrors as always. The books reads like a script for a 45 min. episode of some TV crime series, and Cornwell even tries to be funny. Occasionally. With no luck, obviously. In Ms. Cornwell's literary universe nothing ever quite succeeds, no-one comes through, and all arrows - quoting a poem - points to the heart, and it's dark. Bleak, dark, and lonesome. This is what the Scarpetta books are all about, and Cornwell is a master of creating a sense of despair. Funny, however, she is not. The characters in "Hornet's Nest" are all caricaturized, and the male hero hardly seems credible. The most interesting are the two females, Virginia West and Judy Hammer, the not-as-such-mother-and-daughter (as Scarpetta is not-as-such Lucy's mother), set up to act in accordance with some kind of unresolved mother complex. Of Cornwell's. Patricia Cornwell is a good writer, and one expects a lot from her. One should. If you've read the Scarpetta books, and enjoyed them, read this one as well. If you've never read a book by Cornwell, do it! Just don't start with this one. This one, I think, was a miss.

This book is totally different from Cornwell's previous novels. It is set in a different area with different lead characters and starts off rather slowly. It develops into a good, highly detailed, police story. It does seem to be written in a rather vague, jumpy context. Some details seem to get in the way of the subject at hand and not all issues seem to be resolved. After the fact those issues are resolved but not in a way that we are aware of

Maybe we should blame the publisher's credo, that in the mystery genre, one must write and publish one sequel per year to be successful. Cornwell's first 3 or 4 books were new, exciting and passionate, but then she started to slow down. In Hornet's Nest she comes to a parade rest. Worse, it's obvious she doesn't know WHAT to write about. Personal agendas jump out at you from every alley and crime scene. Plots start and stop like the 5:22 local to Patchogue. It's probably a cliche to say the characters are cliched, so how 'bout shallow and underdeveloped. "Quit while you're ahead," would be good advice to authors like Ms. Cornwell, Mr. Ccichton and Ms Anne Rice, whom she seems to be stalking!

I have not read other Patricia Cornwell books, so I can't compare to her Kay Scarpetta books. I can say how dissappointed I was in this book, and happy to see that others agree with me. Characters were sort of interesting, yet I didn't care about them at all. Why is everyone so emotionally stunted? Isn't it interesting that her female characters are all forty-soemthing, smarter than everyone else, and extremely beautiful and Cornwell is also in her forties? Yeesh what an ego. Her male characters, including Brazil were from Mars, since I have not met anyone on earth like them. Plot - what plot? The ending was quite silly, and the person who killed everyone was someone I didn't care about (hate or otherwise) even remotely. And what was with that cat? I'm a cat lover and I didn't get him at all. I will have to be alone on an island bored to tears before I give her another try, even with Kay Scarpetta...who I bet is 40 something, beautiful and smarter than everyone.

I seem to have missed something. Was this really supposed to be written by Patricia Cornwell? A retarded monkey could have written a better novel. I've heard more sensical gibberish from drunks on the street than was contained in this abomination. I'll be borrowing her next book from the library before I commit to buying more of this crap. I just wish Jonathon Kellerman would hurry up & write another Alex Delaware novel

Unfortunately, I had not read the Customer's review before purchasing the book. I think maybe Patricia got fed up with the story and gave up writing the book, passing the task to someone else who had not read the previous chapters... The plot gets lost in the middle, the end has nothing to do with the original plot, and where the heck has that psychic cat come from ? Sorry, Patricia. No more books from you in my library.

I thought the book was very good.Totally different from Scarpetta.People reading the book are the problem.I enjoy the variety and knowing Cornwell doesn't have one track mind.I also like Scarpetta books alot but I'm not so shallow as to want Scarpetta all the time (what about anticipation?).I also thought this book was very funny!It had me laughing out loud:D.I hope Cornwell brings virginia & Andy back.

I thought the book was very good.Totally different from Scarpetta.People reading the book are the problem.I enjoy the variety and knowing Cornwell doesn't have one track mind.I also like Scarpetta books alot but I'm not so shallow as to want Scarpetta all the time (what about anticipation?).I also thought this book was very funny!It had me laughing out loud:D.I hope Cornwell brings virginia & Andy back.

I would hazard a guess that this work is actually one of Ms. Cornwell's first attempts at writing, and the publisher decided to print it to seduce a bit of extra cash out of her loyal fans, as they've done with Stephen King and others whose books sell on their name alone. It's a scam, pure and simple, and should be boycotted by everyone. There IS no plot, so don't waste your time looking for one, and don't waste your money.

I was disappointed in this book. The story never seems to take off and grip you the way that the Scarpetta series books do. Perhaps many of us have been spoiled by the excellent plot and character development of the Scarpetta series, but - like many others - I found this book to be disappointing and slightly tedious. Still love Cornwell's writing, but if she wants to carry on with this character, the next book will need to be a major improvement.

As a faithful follower of Patricia Cornwell's work, I was not only surprised, but utterly disappointed with this novel. Who really wrote this is what I want to know. Cornwell's Scarpetta novels had me up all hours of the night. I finished all of the books in this wonderful series within one week. It took me a total of five weeks to choke down Hornest's Nest. Cornwell cruises through hyper-space with her lights off. The serial murder plot was there, but so distracted by Brazil, West, and Hammer's off beat problems that never really did tie into the story line. Each paragraph was never over 15 lines long, and each one contained a different story it seemed. Needless to say, this novel was very UN-Cornwell like. I highly doubt that I will even attempt to swallow Southern Cross. I'll just sit back and wait for The Last Precint, which I know will once again put Cornwell on top of the readers lists.

It took about the first two chapters to really be able to keep the characters straight with just using their last names. After I got that all straightened out it was smooth sailing and I hated putting it down. It isn't Kay Scarpetta, but, we've had how many books to fall in love with her. Now we need more of both - Kay and Brazil/West/Hammer! I only hope Patricia can keep up the good work

While this was an enjoyable read (a most important criteria for me), I finished the book and wanted to say: "Whatever"! The characters were interesting, but mostly unbelievable in most ways. Also, the plot was unusual - for instance, a crime that no one knows about is solved as the perpetrator of the unknown crime is murdered as part of a set of serial killings. I guess that could happen.
Anyway, I did find myself rooting for Andy and West to get together, even though they had a love/hate relationship that did not bode well for their future.

Cornwell introduces new characters in this detective novel. The writing style is a rat-a-tat Dragnet clip which I found extremely hard to read. The characters are total stereotypes, with most of the women "good" and most of the men "bad". You'll know what everyone's thinking in this book, even the cat. Let's just say I'm glad I took this one out of the library.

The mystery was nonexistent, the killings were so deeply buried that they were almost nonexistent and I finally wondered what is the point of this book? I have enjoyed her other books, but this was pointless, Hammer was the best part of the book and her life. The ending just ended like oh well, I've written over 250 pages let's just quit, I'm bored with it all!

So badly written! Story lines introduced and dropped willy-nilly, characters behaving inconsistently and illogically. I have read many of her books, fun (though not great literature) but this was awful.

This was my first and last Patricia Cornwell book. Everyone says how great the Kay Scarpetta series is, but I was so turned off by Hornet's Nest that I will never pick up another book of hers again.

The other negative reviews pretty much say it all, except for one thing: I hated Andy Brazil. What an incredible loser. Just reading about how this eager beaver kept losing weight and had to switch back to his high school clothes made me cringe.

I wanted someone to slam a fist into his too-pretty face.

And I was mad at Virginia West for getting involved with this baby boy.

Seth's flesh-eating disease was a nice distraction from the rest of the crap this book contained, but it wasn't enough. No more Cornwell for me.

This is the most disappointing Patricia Cornwell novel I have read. Any plot in this novel is secondary. Her main purpose seems to be in describing in great detail what her main protagonists are wearing and how stunning they look, and in making money from sponors from product placement. If the endless references to Blockbuster Video, Shoney's, KFC, Izod shirts and to the extensive selection of cars from the Crown Victoria, to various Toyota Camry's, Honda Preludes, Lincolns etc. were removed, there would be very little of the novel left. The ludicrous antics of two menopausal high flying female police officers as they try to discretely engage with a 22 year old blond adonis junior reporter who is totally unaware of his sexual allure, defies description. I only perservered to the end to find how the killer was apprehended.

Being a fan of Patricia Cornwell's Dr. Kay Scarpetta character, I was very disappointed by Hornet's Nest. The character depth just wasn't as elaborate as in her other books. The characters were actually unlikable to me. I was unable to care what happened to any of them. This was very disappointing coming from the creator of Kay Scarpetta and Pete Marino

I read one other Cornwell book, Point of Origin, and I thought it was bad. But this one really reeks. There is no real plot at all, and her flip-flopping focus makes it hard to figure out what (if anything) is going on. I kept waiting to see which of the "elegant, beautiful, older, intelligent" women, one the Chief of police & the other head of investigations, the 22 year old blonde adonis would end up with. What a waste of time. The characters were unrealistic, the situations implausible, and the plot(?) boring. I find it amazing that Ms. Cornwell continues to be a "popular" artist. Frankly, I think I'd rather have a stick in the eye than have to suffer through another of her "novels". I got nothing from this book. I learned nothing new factually, I gained no insights into people, I got NOTHING. What a waste of time.

Hornet's Nest is a complete disappointment.
As an avid reader of Cornwall's books, I had to keep glancing at the jacket to be sure this was written by Patricia Cornwall and not someone else. The book seems to have been written to meet a deadline - the story is flat, the characters are flat and the editing is nonexistant!
Either this was ghost written or Cornwall has a multiple personality disorder and this personality never took an English or Composition class. Cornwall seems to have forgotten everything she learned about run-on sentences, syntax and punctuation.
Don't bother.