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Chaos

By: Patricia Cornwell
Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
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Publisher's Summary

Number one New York Times best-selling author Patricia Cornwell delivers the 24th engrossing thriller in her high-stakes series starring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

©2016 Cornwell Entertainment, Inc. (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic Reviews

Praise for Patricia Cornwell and the Kay Scarpetta novels:
"Cutting-edge." ( Sun)
"A pioneer of the genre of forensic psychological thriller." (BBC)
"America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction." ( The Times)
"Devilishly clever." ( Sunday Times)
"She is a brilliant writer and I was absolutely gripped." ( Mail on Sunday)
"The top gun in this field." ( Daily Telegraph)
"Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns" ( Mirror)
"The Agatha Christie of the DNA age." ( Express)
"One of the best crime writers writing today." ( Guardian)
"Few writers match Patricia Cornwell when it comes to writing crime and her latest Scarpetta novel is one of her best." ( Daily Express)
"When it comes to the forensic sciences, nobody can touch Cornwell." ( New York Times)
"Dazzling.... After reading Cornwell's thriller, most others will pale in comparison." ( Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
"Magnificent plotting, masterful writing, and marvelous suspense." ( Booklist)
"Cornwell's instincts are dead-on." ( Chicago Sun-Times)
"Cornwell remains a master of the genre, instilling in readers an appetite that only she can satisfy." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Chaos

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Bored

For the first 7 chapters it seemed to waffle on and on.....going no where. Talk about the CIA. To listen to the main characters keep information of vital importance from each other I found a joke..... the science was interesting but that’s about it I’m sorry to say.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Conversation in minute detail. Not worth reading let alone listening to.

A good author has plummeted to the depths of nothingness
What a shame. This is one of the worst books I have read. When a phone conversation informing a death to the Chief Coroner takes almost a complete chapter with no detail of the death given one has to wonder just what has happened to the criminal author Patricia Cornwell. Is this just someone 'scripting ', a story on her behalf?

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good plot but dragged out a little

Narrator was a bit better. Not as loud but still not clear “voices” for each character. Some things are repeated too many times. I also don’t understand why people who trust and love each other don’t share information. The story was good and interesting.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Average story

Once again the performance was disappointing, it is difficult to tell characters apart & I felt the narrator was constantly yelling.
The story was slow but intricate, however, I felt it was predictable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Another brilliant thriller from Patricia Cornwell. It never ceases to amaze me at how involved I get with Cornwell’s writing. She keeps us on our toes till the nail biting last. Time after time she has me on the hook and now can’t wait to read the next one in the Kay Scarpetta series!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

Absolutely loved the story! I didn’t want to stop listening!! I’m devastated that I have to wait for the new book! I don’t want it to be over

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Another chance

I gave Patricia Cornwell another chance after her being a favourite author of mine many years ago, sadly I could not finish this book. I tried but 8 chapters in when the story had still failed to materalise, I gave up.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another griping Patricia Cornwall

I only listen when I’m driving and there were times I sat parked out the front of my house just to see what happened next
It was great and I loved it

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Better narration needed

great book, enjoyed the story but spoiled by narration, whic was too slow and lacking animation

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Persistence pays off

Having been a fan of Patricia Cornwell for around 20 years I was keen to read this latest chapter. The problem is though that with every passing novel PC is slowing the action down to a snails pace. Sometimes you just want to scream because there are more time spent on painstakingly detailed descriptions of luxurious houses than any movement of story. The same goes for the constant explanations of the main character’s relationships with each other. So much of it feels like it’s been cut and pasted from the last novel. We get it! If you’re reading this novel there’s a pretty good chance you’ve read the others. We know whose who in the zoo. The constant internal dialogue is making poor Scarpetta sound more like and old grandma than a super sleuth.
So... if you can wade through the achingly slow pace for the first half of the book, the rewards are there. Bizarrely things finally get moving - and resolved - with some twists for good measure.
The performance is also pretty annoying to start, and it feels like everyone’s yelling at each other. That too passes. Just stick with it for a solid finish.

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