![]() This book reminded me of the TV show Body of Proof. The lady who chose this book does not have a typical selection. She has chosen everything from Twilight Sleep (Edith Wharton) to Twilight (Stephenie Meyer). On a scale of 1 - 5 Sex: 1 Religion: 0 Gruesome: 1 Suspense: 1 Morality: 1 Sex - There is a reference to an attraction between Kay and a man she is seeing as an intense attraction. They started but stopped before anything significant happened. Religion - No mention of it. Gruesome - Female victims are bound and raped. Even though the idea of this is horrific, the presentation in the book was rather mild. As a Medical Examiner, Kay is very clinical when she is performing autopsies or performing evidence. It was nowhere near the caliber or gore or bloody details as Cutting for Stone. I think even Life of Pi was more gruesome. Suspense - Aside from being a who-dunnit novel, it was not very suspenseful. There were only a few moments at the end, four and a half pages, in which I was not sure if Kay was dreaming or if it was real life so that lessened the suspense in a potentially nail-biting moment. Morality
- Government officials plant false evidence. Adults let their life
interfere with quality time with a child. There were a couple of minor annoyances that were more inconvenient (because I had to back track and review) than they were detractors. Like when a man came to dinner at Kay's house a few pages after they had been in a meeting together. Obviously they couldn't divulge their relationship at work but not even the reader knew! I had to back track to see which guy he was. Perhaps the clues about the relationship were there but I just took them at face value as character descriptions. Discussion Questions When niece Lucy was upset
after reading the newspaper article Aunt Kay observed, "She read it with
an adult intellect yet to be weaned from a child's fearful imagination."
(p. 33) Question: Who did you think was the leak? Who did you think was the hacker? Question: Did you suspect any of the main characters? Who and why? Question: Were you satisfied with Cornwell's choice of perpetrator? Question: What were some theories you created? Question: Kay lost faith in Marino after she called him with the 911 tip. Did you? Question: Who did you think fired the shot in the bedroom and why? Question: If this story were turned into a movie, who would you cast as:
Theme Ideas Serve Italian food. Kay cooks when she's upset. She has childhood memories of Spaghetti or Fettuccine or Frittata on Fridays. Kay and Lucy made a homemade sausage pizza with Parmigiano Reggiano, green peppers, mushrooms and onions. (p. 109-110) Our hostess wore a lab coat like a Medical Examiner would. |
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