"Predator", by Patricia Cornwell
May. 19th, 2011 12:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mcityWhen I got my copy of Kathy Reichs "Break no Bones", there was a blurb on the inside cover stating that it was may have dethroned Patrica Cornwell as the queen of forensic fiction. The copy I got from the library of "Cross Bones" has not one, but two blurbs about Reichs ascendancy, the first specifically comparing her to Cornwell.
I checked out Cornwell's "Predator" to see what the fuss was about.
It's some sort of given in modern detective fiction that female protagonists can't be happily married, under any circumstances. Men are rarely married either, but even that is a lot more likely. In that, Reichs' Tempe Brennan and Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta are alike, both in long-term relationships with men. In Tempe's case, it's a cop, and Kay likes a shrink. Both authors are blonde women, and Kay is an ME while Tempe is a forensic anthropologist, so the courses are already starting to diverge.
And then there's Lucy.
Cornwell likes girls and is happily married. Kay's niece Lucy likes girls too. This isn't all that unusual, really, since authors tend to be liberal, but sometimes it's easier for people to handle certain sensitive issues gracefully if they're not directly involved. Such as Doctor Who's Stephen Moffat's occasional gay jokes vs Russel Davies' Look at the Alternative Sexuality Character Look At How Cool He Is Look How He's An American Which Is Unusual For The Doctor Look He Gets A TV Show Look.
I am talking, of course, about Rose.
Cornwell, incidentally, is a registered Republican and close friend of Billy Grahm. Also, she had an affair with an FBI agent, just like Lucy.
Lucy spends a lot of her time having one-night stands. This is because she is angsty because of a recent loss. Or it may be another, spoilery factor, and the book never bothers to make which is which clear. Also, Lucy is a gajillionaire because of Internet search engines. And created a prestigious forensic academy so well-funded that any real forensic scientists would give their left arm to work there. And it frequently co-operates with local authorities. And Wikipedia says she joined the FBI at 18, despite the age limit of 21, and she carries a handgun at all times. Speaking of which, she is an excellent shot, even with her extremely expensive Beretta Cx4 Storm from a moving bicycle.
TVTropes indicates that the older books are better, but I strongly doubt that Cornwell turns down on the mess of technical stuff. Reichs talks about autopsies, and anything else germane to the plot. I do a lot of research, but will happily drop it like it's hot if it doesn't develop the plot, setting, or characters. Cornwell beats you over the head with details about Lucy's bike, the occasional gun, phone systems, and citrus canker.
Citrus canker.
This wouldn't be so bad if the technical detail was matched by the actual character development, but it's not. We are repeatedly Told what the characters are feeling, not Shown. We are told Lucy feels sick about the possibility of something, instead of Cornwell describing the hollow in the pit of your stomach you get when you're worried. Of course, it would be easier to have some sort of emotional involvement in the characters if there were really any good ones. You get bad people, and horrible people, and then you get the middling, unsympathetic people, and the horrible people are often easiest to relate to. It says something that the serial killer doesn't seem as bad as Kay's jerk protege, who's mostly only guilty of a few thousand worth of fraud. and being a jerk.
Heck, even Reichs' infodumps are explained in as comprehensible a matter as possible, often simplified into layman's terms. Reichs teaches. Cornwell informs.
Bottom line, Reichs is better, from the, oh two books I've read of hers vs. the one of Cornwell. Maybe Cornwell's earlier works are more palatable, but I won't be trying to hard to find out.
Admittedly, the book has a heck of a plot twist, which I had already half suspected, and dismissed, though it was a lot more intensive than I had thought it was going to be. Still, going from that book--which I finished out of nothing more than a desire for closure--to Reichs' "Cross Bones" was like getting out of a sensory deprivation tank and promptly dropping LSD.
Hypothetically, I mean.
I checked out Cornwell's "Predator" to see what the fuss was about.
It's some sort of given in modern detective fiction that female protagonists can't be happily married, under any circumstances. Men are rarely married either, but even that is a lot more likely. In that, Reichs' Tempe Brennan and Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta are alike, both in long-term relationships with men. In Tempe's case, it's a cop, and Kay likes a shrink. Both authors are blonde women, and Kay is an ME while Tempe is a forensic anthropologist, so the courses are already starting to diverge.
And then there's Lucy.
Cornwell likes girls and is happily married. Kay's niece Lucy likes girls too. This isn't all that unusual, really, since authors tend to be liberal, but sometimes it's easier for people to handle certain sensitive issues gracefully if they're not directly involved. Such as Doctor Who's Stephen Moffat's occasional gay jokes vs Russel Davies' Look at the Alternative Sexuality Character Look At How Cool He Is Look How He's An American Which Is Unusual For The Doctor Look He Gets A TV Show Look.
I am talking, of course, about Rose.
Cornwell, incidentally, is a registered Republican and close friend of Billy Grahm. Also, she had an affair with an FBI agent, just like Lucy.
Lucy spends a lot of her time having one-night stands. This is because she is angsty because of a recent loss. Or it may be another, spoilery factor, and the book never bothers to make which is which clear. Also, Lucy is a gajillionaire because of Internet search engines. And created a prestigious forensic academy so well-funded that any real forensic scientists would give their left arm to work there. And it frequently co-operates with local authorities. And Wikipedia says she joined the FBI at 18, despite the age limit of 21, and she carries a handgun at all times. Speaking of which, she is an excellent shot, even with her extremely expensive Beretta Cx4 Storm from a moving bicycle.
TVTropes indicates that the older books are better, but I strongly doubt that Cornwell turns down on the mess of technical stuff. Reichs talks about autopsies, and anything else germane to the plot. I do a lot of research, but will happily drop it like it's hot if it doesn't develop the plot, setting, or characters. Cornwell beats you over the head with details about Lucy's bike, the occasional gun, phone systems, and citrus canker.
Citrus canker.
This wouldn't be so bad if the technical detail was matched by the actual character development, but it's not. We are repeatedly Told what the characters are feeling, not Shown. We are told Lucy feels sick about the possibility of something, instead of Cornwell describing the hollow in the pit of your stomach you get when you're worried. Of course, it would be easier to have some sort of emotional involvement in the characters if there were really any good ones. You get bad people, and horrible people, and then you get the middling, unsympathetic people, and the horrible people are often easiest to relate to. It says something that the serial killer doesn't seem as bad as Kay's jerk protege, who's mostly only guilty of a few thousand worth of fraud. and being a jerk.
Heck, even Reichs' infodumps are explained in as comprehensible a matter as possible, often simplified into layman's terms. Reichs teaches. Cornwell informs.
Bottom line, Reichs is better, from the, oh two books I've read of hers vs. the one of Cornwell. Maybe Cornwell's earlier works are more palatable, but I won't be trying to hard to find out.
Admittedly, the book has a heck of a plot twist, which I had already half suspected, and dismissed, though it was a lot more intensive than I had thought it was going to be. Still, going from that book--which I finished out of nothing more than a desire for closure--to Reichs' "Cross Bones" was like getting out of a sensory deprivation tank and promptly dropping LSD.
Hypothetically, I mean.
