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Chaos

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Chaos

By: Patricia Cornwell
Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
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No. 1 bestselling author Patricia Cornwell delivers the twenty-fourth engrossing thriller in her high-stakes series starring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

Someone is following you…
One summer evening in New England, two young girls stumble upon a body. Forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta arrives at the scene to find a young woman has been attacked with almost superhuman force.

Someone is taunting you…
Meanwhile, people close to Scarpetta start receiving suspicious calls. Could they be linked to Scarpetta’s anonymous cyber stalker, Tailend Charlie?

Someone wants to destroy you…
A second death shocks Scarpetta to her core. Because analysis of the body shows a material that doesn’t exist on earth. And it’s clear that someone, or something, is coming for her, and is hell-bent on creating chaos…

 Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Genre Fiction Medical Mystery Police Procedural Thriller Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Crime Suspense
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Continue the series
Rapid and Fatal cover art
Rapid and Fatal By: Patricia Cornwell

Critic reviews

Praise for Chaos:

‘Slick, fast-paced and brilliant’ Heat

Praise for Patricia Cornwell & 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 Book Review

‘Dazzling… After reading Cornwell’s thriller, most others will pale in comparison’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
All stars
Most relevant

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Most of it!

What was most disappointing about Patricia Cornwell’s story?

Rehashing the past yet again.

What aspect of Susan Ericksen’s performance might you have changed?

Too intense and toneless

Was Chaos worth the listening time?

No

Any additional comments?

Shame this series has degenerated into a Scarpetta Soap Opera

Oh, Dear!

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This was my first audiobook. I listened to this book as I've read the rest of the series so far, though they're getting a bit farfetched! However, it's always good to be able to straight into a book with all the familiar characters. I didn't particularly like the reader but then I don't have any comparison yet. I was surprised that I found the book more amusing than I would have reading it myself.

First audiobook

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Good book but a bit to descriptive n not enough action sometimes so can drag

Good book but a bit to descriptive n not enough action sometimes

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I’ve read or listened to all of the Scarpetta novels and I thought this was a good story, but I really struggled to bear the narration. (I found that with the last book too, narrated by the same person, but I forgot in the meantime.) My two issues are 1. there isn’t enough distinction between the narrator and a lot of the characters and 2. it’s almost all read in a tone of emphasis, making it exhausting and stressful for me to listen to.

Good story, poor narration

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Although I thoroughly enjoyed the books, the chapter numbers did not match what the narrator said.
I enjoyed this narrator much more than the one who read the other books I have listened to.

Chapters

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