Nov 22 2007
Patricia Cornwell Asks if You Are a Real Fan
Happy Thanksgiving Dear Author Readers. I came across a special tribute by one Patricia Cornwell to all her fans and had to share it.
I saw on David J. Montgomery’s website a message from Patricia Cornwell making a call to her fans to contact everyone they know and strong arm them into leaving her positive feedback on etailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble because apparently she cannot believe that the people who have left negative reviews actually dislike her work.
Montgomery is a crime fiction reviewer/critiquer/commentator who has written for Chicago Sun-Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and Boston Globe. He says that Cornwell’s latest effort, Book of the Dead, is “just dull, silly and pointless, with unappealing characters and run-of-the-mill lousy prose. Giving it a one-star review is generous.”
Apparently he is one of the cabal that is coordinated by “someone or a group of someones” to attack her through reviews.
We have reason to suspect that someone (or a group of someones) might be mobilizing people to attack me through Amazon and Barnes and Noble, etc., to hurt my sales and reputation.
Patricia Cornwell graciously provides instructions to the reading world at large on how to best counteract a nefarious conspiracy to discredit an author’s writing ability.
Step 1. Make a call to all your fans and ask them to contact all their friends to gird up their fingers with the swords of truth.
So here is what I’m asking. Would you please encourage your friends and those you have contact with that if they like Book of the Dead, to please spread the word, and if so inclined, to please post their reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
Step 2. Provide detailed instruction on a) how to post a positive review and b) how to rate the negative reviews as unhelpful. Emphasize how easy it is to do this despite in some cases the requirement that the reader or friend will HAVE TO BUY A BOOK to post a positive review. It is still really easy. And for a totally worthy cause. And it only costs $9.99. And this Thanksgiving, Ronco will send you two Ginzu knifes for the price of one good review.
It’s easy to do. For Amazon.com, if you already have an account, you can post a review. Otherwise, open an account by buying a book. You can also check the boxes of other reviews to say you disagree or did not find their review helpful, if this is so. Barnes and Noble does not appear to require any account for posting reviews.
Step 3. Suggest that a high ranking government official cares enough about your career to organize a concerted etailer effort so that all the anti-Bushies and conspiracy theorists rush to your aid. Make sure you include more than one spelling error to show how grateful you are for having editors and to invoke a famous Democrat saying: “it takes a village.”
Over the past week there were about fifty bad reviews posted for a book that has gotten the highest reviews for any book I have ever written. If you see what I am saying. Interstingly [sic], this all started right after a Pentagon high official tried to get me to make a pro Bush, pro war appearance on an aircraft carrier and I refused, politely, a photo opportunity to contradict what is in my novel! Not to mention my battle over Ruth Graham’s burial. Suddenly, I am getting a barage [sic] of reviews discouraging people from buying my book, though there are some good ones as of today because my supporters are chiming in.
Step 4. Describe any detractors as hateful (as if suggesting that the detractors are puppets of the Pentagon is not enough) thereby suggesting that those who don’t love the author and don’t do as the author asks are the reindeer who wouldn’t let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games. And who wants to be a Rudolph hater?
Right now I need my supporters. I am not asking you to write anything you do not mean. But why should hateful people be the only ones heard?
Step 5. Remind people to read the book, encourage others to read it, and to post their honest feelings about it. As long as those honest feelings meet the above state criteria.
You and your friends can help by reading the book, encouraging others to read it, and posting their feelings about it – honest feelings.
Step 6. Post it at your website so that all the internet can read along and be encouraged not to be part of the hateful cabal under the control of the Pentagon.
***
I realize I have not been a good fan. I’ve not been trolling my favorite author’s amazon listings. I have not posted reviews on Amazon to counteract negative ones. I have not been rating negative reviews as unhelpful.
I think it is time for fans to make a gut check. Already buying hardcover copies on the release date and not before so that your favorite author can make the bestseller list? Turning your favorite author’s books face out instead of spine out? Going forth to blogs and message boards in groups to defend your favorite author’s honor? That is no longer enough.
If you are a real fan, you should post a positive review on Amazon and vote all negative reviews (anything with 3 stars or less) as unhelpful. If you don’t have an Amazon account, just buy a book. Because if you are a true fan, no money issue should prevent you from stepping up in support of your favorite author. Prove that you are a fan. Put your money where your mouth is. Or be a hateful minion of the Bush administration.
I know what I would rather be in this equation. After I am done eating turkey, watching football, taking my drug induced nap, playing with my daughter, socializing with my relatives, and reading a book by the fire, I promise to post at least one positive review. Or vote one review as not helpful. Or . . . Oh, hell, I’ll just be a hateful minion. Seems easier that way.
Related posts:
Nov 22, 2007 @ 06:27:13
Oh God. There’s nothing that can be said.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 06:53:25
Unfortunately she’s not the only author to go bananas over reviews on amazon and to encourage readers/fans/author buddies to either click on unhelpful or post positive reviews (or both). But at least she’s the only one with a Pentagon-conspiracy-theory. (Aren’t we lucky?)
I hope you’ll still enjoy your turkey, Jane. ;) Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Nov 22, 2007 @ 06:58:14
Amazing. I knew all those Pentagon guys were really getting defense ideas from reading romance!
Happy Thanksgiving.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 07:15:42
Mobilizing?
Time for a med adjustment.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 07:28:29
Oh, dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
And this is why I haven’t read one of her books since Trace, and will never buy another.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 07:28:51
Got Tin Foil?
You know if we could find the clever guy in charge of organizing these hateful reviewer cabals out to ruin Patricia Cornwell we might actually have someone smart enough to run it.
I say we find them and elect them president or at least Evil Overlord.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 07:29:03
Oh, and by the way, this post is so good I read it aloud to my husband.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 07:58:20
Evil Overlord!! Evil Overlord! I’d vote for him! Course I write fiction so I might have a shaky grip on reality and beleive in grand government, double secret …oh never mind.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 08:01:05
I’ll bet she knows who really shot JFK from that grassy knoll, too ;)
Nov 22, 2007 @ 08:05:11
It’s always a shame when a much loved series declines beyond redemption. I’m glad I stopped reading Cornwell while I still liked her books. I can see why an author might ask her fans to post on Amazon, but the conspiracy theory used to justify her plea seems way over the top. And the sad thing is that if she really believes there’s a conspiracy against her then she’s not hearing the (ex-)fans who are still buying her books in the hope that they’ll improve.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 08:18:51
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
It just goes to show that authors are the ones with the most power to tank their careers, and to shoot themselves in the foot.
All hail the Evil Overlord. (makes me want to go find that list about the 100 things an Evil Overlord would and wouldn’t do). Hey there is a blog for you guys. Top 10 things an author should never do.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 08:19:55
Hey I found the link: http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
Nov 22, 2007 @ 08:24:22
*rolls eyes*
Speshulsnowflakeitis strikes again.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 09:37:46
Uh…damn.
I think I’m almost speechless.Nah… no, I’m not.Must hang my head in shame, for although I thought I was a true fan to certain authors, I realize I have failed them. Buying their books and talking about them isn’t enough. I must now wage an online campaign.
How exhausting.
I’ll continue my shameful existence, then, because I’m too lazy to do more than buy a book and tell others when I like the book.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 09:43:56
I’ve never read a Cornwall book before, but I have to say, the comic potential in phrases like “….a group of someones…” makes me hopeful that there would be more funny gems.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 09:55:30
Wow. Just. Wow.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 10:06:49
Sigh. This is just amazing.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 10:19:03
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you have room for turkey after that extra helping of crazy.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 10:23:23
Wow. I’ve gotta say that I dropped Ms. Cornwell like a hot potato after Black Notice. I got tired of her whiny characters who never move forward (or backward for that matter). Now that she’s gone all bat poo crazy about Amazon reviews and the conspiracy by right-wing government officials to drag her reputation through the mud, I can see that my decision was a good one.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 10:44:12
So that’s why Bush and his buddies have been so ineffective in office. They’ve been focusing their efforts on Cornwall!
Deluded much?
Happy Turkey Day to my neighbours down south!
Nov 22, 2007 @ 10:45:06
Uh, given the stuff that went down in her personal life I’m not surprised she’s a conspiracy theorist. Remember back ten or so years ago when that FBI agent went crazy and kidnapped his wife and a minister because he believed she was having an affair with Cornwell.
I read like three of her books, but got angry when she used a bone marrow transplant as a plot device and never read her again.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 10:48:13
According to one of my Texas buddies, when a president is newly elected, he gets shown into a dark room and a short film of that day. When the lights come on, a man asks him, “Do you understand?”
I love those conspiracy theorists.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 10:50:23
She left me yawning a long time ago.
As much as I hate to say it, Montgomery was probably dead on in his review.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 11:53:24
So I suppose it’s beyond petty of me that I now want to run over to Amazon and click that unhelpful button – for Cornwell’s high-star reviews?
Nov 22, 2007 @ 12:08:14
While I do think the current administration invites conspiracy theorizing, I also imagine that they have bigger targets than Cornwall’s new book. The conspiracy theory alone doesn’t alienate me; it’s the pleas for good reviews. A paranoid-appearing author won’t stop me from reading her books, but an author who begs/guilts/otherwise tries to strong arm reader reviews will. Was she really invited to make a pro-Bush statement on an aircraft carrier, though? That IS a little creepy.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 12:51:50
Robin- Authors/Actors/Celebs are often asked to make appearances on Aircraft Carriers and on military posts, etc. It’s to support the troops and give them something fun. As many soldiers are anti-Bush, an appearance is not necessarily pro-Bush in and of itself, though I can see how a person could interpret it that way.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 13:13:33
I was hoping this was a joke. I’m sort of still hoping this is a joke. If not, this is a fine example of how some authors should stay off the internet…and, well, refrain from most other forms of public communication.
Write books and hide in your house. That’s my new motto.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 13:37:25
Oy.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 14:01:52
My Mom stopped reading when she had a character decide to become a nurse and then just go work as one (I believe this was in Cruel and Unusual), as if any old shmoe can be a nurse without getting a nursing degree.
Mom’s been a nurse for twenty years. Her rage was palpable.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 14:34:15
If she started writing good books again, she might just not get as many vicious reviews from disappointed readers. You’d think she’d get that.
I have to admit though that I did buy Book of The Dead. I haven’t read it, but I paid good money for it. Shoot me now, because apparently she’s an addiction that I can’t give up, no matter how much she abuses my trust. Big Effing Sigh.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 14:59:43
Karen said it: “If she started writing good books again…” Seems a number of quite popular–and quite egotistically myopic–authors haven’t been getting this point. The god/goddess complex some writers develop is very strange, very strange.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 15:32:44
OMG, what a sad reflection of my current level of stupidity. I knew that, Lorelie, but between my complete Thanksgiving brain death and my own feelings about Bush, I didn’t realize when I read the statement that she was *interpreting* the invitation. LOL. Duh. I better do anything challenging (like multiplication tables over 1 x) before turkey dinner.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 16:02:29
Would you like some crazy sauce on that turkey?
Nov 22, 2007 @ 16:37:30
That’s the problem, she doesn’t think her writing is that bad. I’m just mystified that she seems to think that the problem lies with some secret government conspiracy against her rather than her poor writing skills (or so says her fans).
Nov 22, 2007 @ 17:22:25
Yeah. WTF?! To me it’s beyond the books – good or bad. She’s gone around the bend. How embarrassing.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 17:44:23
The sad thing is that this will actually *create* a movement to diss the book.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 17:44:55
She just seems petty to me. I’ve never read Cornwell and this is not making me want to read her. I am however in love with the term hateful minion.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 17:46:05
Well. That snapped me right out of my post turkey coma. Holy crap.
And to think all I do is read books and talk about how much I like them.
I’m ashamed that I’m not doing more, more more.
Must drown my sorrows in another helping of pie…..
Nov 22, 2007 @ 18:25:39
Heh… yeah, that’s a keeper for sure. I’ve always loved the word ‘minion’ anyway, but the ‘hateful’ adds a certain something.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 20:11:16
I saw her do an interview about the new book before it came out. Bottom line, she was smirking that her fans wouldn’t like the new book much and we’d better just deal with it. So she wrote a book her fans wouldn’t like, then when they didn’t like it, it’s a government conspiracy.
Anyway, I took her at her word and didn’t buy the hardbound. Will wait for paperback just in case I, too, think it stinks.
But I am willing to believe any other Bush conspiracy theories that folks want to throw out.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 20:56:32
As a reader who does occasionally post a review at Amazon (a book has to either be great or really bad) she needs to understand that it’s her FANS that are pissed, not the Pentagon. She hasn’t written anything worthy of more than 2 stars beginning with Blow Fly and it’s a shame because the books in the Scarpetta series up to that point were fantastic.
I think Shannon hit the nail on the head and when they do adjust the medication, maybe they could find the old Patricia Cornwell in there somewhere (you know, the one who can actually WRITE) and set her free from this inarticulate and pity inspiring Patricia Cornwell. But that’s just me.
BTW, Happy Thanksgiving everyone (who celebrates!) :)
Nov 22, 2007 @ 21:02:27
Has she suddenly become friends with LKH? I expect things like this from her, but never somebody that’s been around as long as Patricia Cornwell. A word of advice, honey. Take a lesson from Nora Roberts who has never been known to whine in public about a negative review. Remember, WWND?
Nov 22, 2007 @ 21:24:48
Do you suppose this really could just be a “clever marketing strategy”?
Sigh.
I had to check my booklist. I stopped buying her books after 2000, whenthe last 3 had been just too disappointing. I read a couple more (through Trace), but finally added her to my “just-too-painful-to-keep-trying” list.
Every now and again I see one of her older books at a bookstore and it makes me a little sad to be reminded of an old favorite author.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 22:24:57
Ooooo-Kaaayyy – I’ll get right on that one
Not
Another author gone loony – sad.
Nov 22, 2007 @ 22:35:42
I guess this makes reason number 4,347as to why I never look at Amazon reviews, and since I don’t read this author, no big loss for me either way.
Nov 23, 2007 @ 00:22:47
Geez… it’s both funny and sad. I would have thought that Patricia Cornwell was beyond this sort of thing. But then I haven’t read any of her books in quite a while.
Nov 23, 2007 @ 00:26:37
Dear fans,
The President thinks I know about his remoteviewing talents. His minions, the CIA, suspect I have the secret ingredients to the Serum. They are angry because I’m revealing it all in my book, Virtually His.
That’s why there are these 1-star reviews on Amazon.com — to detract people from the truth, the secret, the answer. (Virtually His, Virtually His, Virtually His…)
You have to go now to Amazon and Barnes and Noble and write several five-star reviews of my newest book. That will show the President that the good people of the United States is behind me!!!!!
Sincerely,
Gennita
Nov 23, 2007 @ 00:29:11
Arrghh… that was supposed to be a close parenthesis, not a smiley face icon. :::head desk:::
And “the good people of the United States ARE behind me.” Sigh. I need the edit button back.
Nov 23, 2007 @ 01:11:07
Oh no! Tryptophan and subliminal marketing.
Must buy Virtually His.
Nov 23, 2007 @ 03:14:30
“But I am willing to believe any other Bush conspiracy theories that folks want to throw out.”
Maybe she’s counting on that.
Nov 23, 2007 @ 09:14:58
Wow, this is eye opening! I have read three of Cornwell’s books, all older ones, and really enjoyed them. It’s a little disappointing to find out she’s out trolling for amazon reviews. And that she feels it’s a conspiracy against her! I can’t imagine the White House taking the time to target authors’ amazon ratings!
Nov 23, 2007 @ 12:15:27
I knew she was a little disconnected from reality when she manufactured ‘evidence’ to support her Ripper theory some years back. (Which was the point at which I said to myself, ‘Self, we could be reading Kathy Reichss instead of spending hard-to-find book money on this kind of nuttiness.’)
But, well, just wow.
Nov 23, 2007 @ 12:25:31
So… Has anyone ever seen LKH and Cornwall in the same room?
Nov 23, 2007 @ 12:26:15
Or indeed Cornwell?
Nov 23, 2007 @ 12:53:26
Day, I’d forgotten all about that. I didn’t actually buy the book, but quite a few Ripperologists ripped her a new one on that one. (Pun intended.)
Nov 23, 2007 @ 15:53:27
Oh, my, you mean readers don’t always run to Amazon to post their positive reviews on my books and rate down any bad ones? (Are there bad ones?) I prefer my conspiracies to be happy ones! Let’s face it, in this business, all authors have to be crazy. The trick is not to show it.
Nov 23, 2007 @ 16:29:13
Heh. Can I get that emblazoned on a T shirt?
Nov 23, 2007 @ 17:21:19
Not sure what to make of her doing this, but from what i hear Book of the dead is a return to form for cornwell…I have a few friends who are reading it and have had nothing but praise. I was getting ready to pick it up this weekend.
Nov 23, 2007 @ 18:45:04
*shakes head*
Nov 23, 2007 @ 19:53:21
I was going to say something, but I am overcome with a strange compulsion to go buy Virtually His…
Nov 23, 2007 @ 21:21:19
Well, crap. I’ve been doing it wrong. All this time I’ve spent making up socks and posting own one-star reviews for my books in the hopes that readers would come out in droves and post great ones … I really just needed to say Bush hated me.
Now, off to by another copy of Virtually His, because I’m a lemming. Damn you, Low! *shakes fist*
Nov 24, 2007 @ 07:25:50
It is amazing though, that anyone with an axe to grind or any vendetta against an author or anyone related to a product sold on Amazon has the power to affect their star rating, which of course can be fraudulently manipulated. I must say that her newest book is really quite good, I just bought another copy for a friend. I simply interpreted this message she’s posted as an invitation for those who like the book to actually rate it, since like so many others, I never bother rating the things I like, only the ones I really don’t like. After so many years and so many great books, I’m sure she feit she could ask for honest reviews from those who are interested. The Bush thing is sad, but likely true, given all that’s happened.
Nov 24, 2007 @ 09:05:09
Wow.
Sad, but… wow.
What an astoundinglly deluded person.
Nov 24, 2007 @ 09:05:30
I can’t comment on the book one way or another, since I haven’t read it. But I find it
very, veryOkay, I find it impossible to believe that somebody in the White House is out to trash some writer over a book or because the writer didn’t want to do a speech.If the writer wants to ask for honest reviews, hey, I really don’t have much problem with that, but the conspiracy theory is over the top, expecting somebody to buy a book just so they can post a review is over the top, and to get that up in arms over a negative review, especially for an author as established as Cornwell is pointless.
Authors will get negative reviews. It’s a fact of life. Negative reviews can actually help sell books because they make people curious.
If it’s a good book, it will sell. Word of mouth, etc. Plus Cornwell is certainly an established name. IMO, she doesn’t have anything to worry about.
But displays like this probably hurt sales. There’s a heavy implication there that anybody who dislikes her book is hateful. That’s presumptuous and unfair. There’s a heavy implication that if a reader really likes her, then the reader should go post a review. Not everybody likes to mess with reviews. I’d imagine the majority of readers don’t.
Her send out to her supporters isn’t going to do anything but turn this into another amazon review debacle. Aren’t there enough of those already?
Nov 24, 2007 @ 09:10:20
P.S. How can you be a lesbian and support the Republican party?
Oh, by being bipolar? Oh, okay then.
Nov 24, 2007 @ 09:46:06
Dear fans,
I’m so thankful to have readers who care like you, going out to buy Virtually His to show the President that you love me more than him. And writing those five stars reviews on Amazon (Virtually His, Virtually His) has been noticed, let me assure you, by the Minions.
On Thanksgiving day, while my hand was up a turkey’s behind, I found an unusual bag full of stuff. Pulling it out and on close examination, I’m convinced that they have secretly put a microeye (you know, the kind in Virtually His) inside my turkey! These CIA minions are crazy like that!
I don’t fear their little mind control games. They’re just afraid because, my book, Virtually His, shows the world how it’s done through virtual reality and remote viewing. Go write more five-star reviews to show them you’re not afraid to be behind me one hundred and fifty percent! (Virtually His, Virtually His).
And I suggest you all check your turkeys’ asses too.
Sincerely,
Gennita
***************************
P/S Thank you, Teddy Pig, Charlene and Meljean for playing along. All lemmings welcomed!
P/P/S Christmas is coming. (Buy That Book, Buy That Book)
Nov 24, 2007 @ 11:55:46
Oh, how freaky… you found stuff up a turkey’s behind?
:-O
heh heh
Nov 24, 2007 @ 13:40:55
Oh dear God. I’d always suspected she was losing that tenuous grip on reality, and here’s the proof. What can possibly be said. Just…oy.
Nov 24, 2007 @ 13:48:59
Oh, my gosh.
I’m embarrassed for her. Really.
I read the first several Kay Scarpetta books. I think I stopped after The Body Farm.
Nov 24, 2007 @ 16:31:52
P.S. How can you be a lesbian and support the Republican party?
Tammy Bruce?
Nov 24, 2007 @ 20:56:31
Why am I searching Amazon for something titled “That Book”?
Nov 24, 2007 @ 23:58:51
My, My. If my next book doesn’t sell, I’ll know who to blame, won’t I? I’ll start with the Bush administration, and finish up with the fans who actually like my books well enough to spend their money buying them, but who don’t bother to tell the world on Amazon…
Nov 25, 2007 @ 00:58:46
Paranoia, delusions of grandeur and grandiose fantasies and delusions of persecution are all hallmark symptoms of untreated or undertreated bipolar disorder, which Ms. Cornwell has publicly discussed living with. I’m sorry that she doesn’t have someone who can run a bit of a filter for her with the public, because she’s made some similar comments in the past, usually right before quietly “going away” from the public eye for a little while for treatment or medication adjustments or other care. I hope that happens again for her soon.
Oh, and that she realises that the switch from a warm and likable first-person narration to a cold third-person omniscient narration who calls her star character solely by her last name was the death knell for her most popular series.
Nov 25, 2007 @ 02:07:57
Gotta love Wikipedia. Someone has updated their info on Cornwell to include the full text of her letter, but included the following after it.
“Curiously, the three previous books in the series (published well before the events Cornwell mentions) had also very negative reader reviews.”
Nov 25, 2007 @ 02:23:56
Ah, Kate, that explains a lot, and is very sad. It seems we should be more sympathetic for her plight.
Nov 25, 2007 @ 06:46:57
A-effing-men.
Nov 26, 2007 @ 15:12:23
She used to be one of my absolute favorite authors, but it has been a chore to get through her last few books. *sigh* The negative reviews are probably deserved. She’s just gotten a little big for her britches. This makes me less inclined to wade through – not more.
Nov 30, 2007 @ 09:41:59
Kate says:
Paranoia, delusions of grandeur and grandiose fantasies and delusions of persecution are all hallmark symptoms of untreated or undertreated bipolar disorder, which Ms. Cornwell has publicly discussed living with. I'm sorry that she doesn't have someone who can run a bit of a filter for her with the public, because she's made some similar comments in the past, usually right before quietly “going awayâ€
———————————–
She’s married to a psychologist who works at McLean Hospital and teaches at Harvard. I guess Cornwell wears the pants in the family.
For what it’s worth, I keep buying Scarpetta looking for old friends, but they’re less and less in evidence. The book really stunk. The characters were full of mean and petty dislike for one another, the plot was all over the place, and the characters were hyper-sexual cartoons.
Dec 01, 2007 @ 00:40:08
This is funny, since I have long felt that Cornwall herself had a poorly disguised fascist streak. She seems to think that the country would be better off if we got rid of those silly civil liberties and just let the FBI run everything.
Why isn’t she George W. Bush’s soulmate? Is is just the issue of sexual orientation?
Dec 05, 2007 @ 18:09:09
who killed all the headless and limbless bodies in the novel “UNATURAL EXPOSURE” I have read up to TRACE but have not found the answer
PLEASE HELP
Dec 13, 2007 @ 19:05:07
I am with HelenKay Dimon. Are you all sure this is not a joke. It just sounds far out there. I used to be a fan, but I quit a long time ago, can’t even remember which book. she used to be so good. Too bad!!!!
Dec 29, 2007 @ 21:02:29
got myself book of the dead for christmas wrote the following on barns and noble, and now i discover i’m a Bush cronie!! GOD HELP ME! SAVE YOUR SELF…, money and time, December 29, 2007,
filled with righetous indignation
Jeez i thought i bought a murder mystery/ thriller… not a modern ‘disjointed’ Pride And Prejudice! wahh wahh the whole way through, which wouldnt be so bad if you could actually follow this epic trian-wreck of a plot line. Its as if the whole crime part of this crime novel was an afterthought. Not to mention the ending is about as powerfull and satisfying as clipping your toenails. overall…sloppy plot, poorly developed charactors’they used to be believable’ redundancy of language, and above all a exorbadent fee for all the above stated pleasures. I’da’ givin’ a half a star just for sqeezing this by a publisher, but alas thats not possible.
Jan 09, 2008 @ 14:26:51
I review books for a newspaper. I have authors ask me to read their work all the time. However, I’ve never had one tell me how to vote at amazon or call me “hateful” because I didn’t like what they had written.
And, to pull the government and Ruth Graham’s final resting place into the mix is just beyond bizarre.
If the government asked me to write something, then I should have gotten compensation. The check’s in the mail, right?
Jan 10, 2008 @ 01:02:53
I love the phrase “hateful minion.”
Jan 14, 2008 @ 22:43:20
This is fantastic! I havent ever really tuned into this kind correspondence before will daily for this entertainment!! Poor Patricia Cornwell, how hard it must be to please every person with an opinion about your work. You like, love or hate the fictious characters in her books, it doesnt take away from her credibility as someone that has carved a place as an author within the world. I counted 47 posts on this page, now compare that with her book sales over the years and divide it by “hateful minions” and you still have a very succesful woman that, sadly, still doesnt like to hear people putting down something that she’s done. I have read Book of the Dead (reluctantly at first) and was suprised and pleased that she had once again found her form and produced something that I couldnt put down. As for all of the conspiracy theories, bi-polar and alike, two words – Britney Spears! Any publicity is good publicity! Sad but True!
Jan 15, 2008 @ 04:11:10
I love Patricia Cornwell and the controversy that follows her. She is strong minded, incredibly talented and i imagine at times – quite willful. How much of a contribution will she make to and has already made to our society in her field of work? I love you Patricia Cornwell, keep me intrigued with Scarpetta and do us all a favour and kill off Pete Marino, better yet, let Lucy slow cook him for what he did to Kay.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 14:08:14
It’s one thing not to like hearing negative comments from readers.
It’s quite another to blame the government and the Billy Graham family for the bad reviews.
Cornwell used to be one of my favorite authors and Scarpetta — warts and all — one of my favorite fictional characters. In recent years, however, both she and her editors have let the quality slide.
Hopefully, she’ll take notice of the comments and take more care next time out.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 14:09:27
t’s one thing not to like hearing negative comments from readers.
It’s quite another to blame the government and the Billy Graham family for the bad reviews.
Cornwell used to be one of my favorite authors and Scarpetta — warts and all — one of my favorite fictional characters. In recent years, however, both she and her editors have let the quality slide.
Hopefully, she’ll take notice of the comments and take more care next time out.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 14:10:56
Sorry for the double post. Computer problems on this end.
Apr 01, 2008 @ 11:35:54
Cornwell inspired me… Now I’ve actually made an underground Cornwell-hating group of people called The Truth Society. Not posting any links because we hope to remain anonymous and we’re not listed on google, so don’t try. We have official forums but not a website. If anyone actually WANTS to join you can contact me at invision2k7@gmail.com.
We do more then Cornwell, we also have Paolini tagged for it, too. It’s fullfilling. Bad authors who are full of themselves… Why not?
The Truth Society
Apr 17, 2008 @ 05:31:36
I just love reading pat,….i dont kbnow anything about promo,s sales and such just that i like dr scarpetta. just looking for a list of all her books and found this place,….im sure she has to not only produce a wonderful book but then as with anything else sellin power Baby!. sorry but thats importain to people who produce things and want to get paid and why not,.guess id freak too
Reply
May 09, 2008 @ 16:00:30
Can’t believe most of the comments I just read, if you don’t like her books don’t read them – why do you all feel you have the right to bad mouth a person’s writing ability or life for that matter. Why do people only have insulting comments, my mother always told us “if you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all” I have tried to stick to this rule as life is hard enough without people speaking ill of you as well!!
May 29, 2008 @ 08:56:46
Just found this, and thought I’d stick my nose in, assuming the thread is still open. While I don’t know who in the Pentagon invited Patsy (as her family calls her) Cornwell to appear on an aircraft carrier, her brother is (unless he’s retired) a field grade officer in the Air Force, and he may have asked her. I’ve known her brother’s family for years, had assignments at the same bases, her nephew Jonathan and my son are close friends – it almost broke my heart when Jonathan came over to my house to ask me if my son knew about his aunt’s lesbian affair (it had just hit the news) and to talk to me about it – his parents wouldn’t discuss it. Jonathan has a younger sister, so I wonder how his parents felt when Cornwell had her alter ego have a lesbian niece. (Details courtesy of her nephew, I haven’t read her books, and after watching Jonathan struggle with the publicity years ago about her same sex romance, I don’t think I ever will) Anyway, my point is that her Pentagon contact may well be her brother – since I doubt they approved of her extra-curricular activities, she would probably give him an emphatic “no.” But conspiracies? That one has me scratching my head.
Jul 29, 2008 @ 23:33:32
This was rather embarassing, at first i thought it was a joke but it is not. The saddest thing is that her last books are embarassing too, characters lack of reality… Well i guess i just don’t care that much about her personal life or if she thinks there is a conspiracy against her, i just want to read another great book, like the ones she used to write in the past, with true characters!
We all loved the Scarpetta’s serie, please return back to reality!
May 07, 2010 @ 11:23:01
People need to realize that Patricia Cornwell is an evil psychopathic racist who hates the jewish people and wants to kill them. I believe she should be behind bars in a maximum security prison for the rest of her life. She has even bragged about that she can get away with murder because she has very close ties with the Bush Family. Plus the Bush family financed Adolf Hitler’s rise to power from George W. Bush’s Grandfather Prescott Bush. Don’t believe me do your own research and you will be shocked on how evil,racist and corrupt Patricia Cornwell and the Bush family really are.
May 07, 2010 @ 14:17:15
@Ryan: lol. Are you really Leslie Sachs back from evil minion exile?
Aug 16, 2011 @ 05:46:10
How disgusting what you haters do! This article is a shame, along with David Montgomery’s review – it is simply untrue, unfair, and offensive. I hope you and Montgomery will find a better way to spend your time in the future than badmouthing someone who has got talent (that you guys do has not). Cornwell is an amazing author, all her books are good and very enjoyable – how many similarly good books can YOU write? Then leave Cornwell alone with your idiotic criticism.
Jan 30, 2012 @ 14:14:49
I have read all of Patricia Cornwall’s books and to be honest they have become very mundane, but I still buy them as I hope she will return to her initial quality. It is so sad that she has to resort to this sort of activities. It is also everybodies right to have an opinion and as an ex fan i think I have every right to say her works are dull now. Sadly I have been doing some research on Patricia and there is plenty of evidence, court reports etc so show she has been involved in a number of dodgy situations, a DUI, comments about being able to murder people without punishment and stealing autopsy reports that’s without the of the involvements with Dr Sachs. Whilst I am a athiest I resepect others rights to believe in what they like but the ramblings of the corupt Billy Graham (a foster figure in her young life) you have to worry about her political and spiritual leanings!