I used to be able to read a Scarpetta book at least twice. Now I have trouble getting through the first read. I guess the author isn't the only one who has lost interest in the series. I'm tired of outlandish and cartoonish killers and I wish Cornwell would learn how to write endings. It's all so old. Kay's mates are killed off, Lucy is nuts and miserable and gun-happy, but always in loving relationships. Kay is always the killer's target. People are always out to get her. There are always a number of amazing coincidences to tie things together in a hasty knot that passes for plot. I'd like more crime and much less of Kay's messy, uncontrolled inner life. Now THAT is a frightening place and I don't want more than glimpses. I don't want to know how unhinged Kay is becoming. I thought I was buying a CRIME novel.